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Reprinted from The Daily Record, Wooster, Ohio
Diana Wohlford was interviewed by Linda Hall of The Daily Record.
This collection won't melt in your hands
Wooster - When an animated M&M figurine jumps out of a clock and talks to you, you may be fairly certain you have entered a different world. When the colored candies surround you on posters, lunch boxes, flip-flops, T-shirts, and brownie mixes, you may be absolutely certain the world yo0u have entered is the home of Diana Wohlford of Wooster, where three rooms are devoted to M&M collectibles. For 15 years, anything with an M&M insignia has been fair game for Wohlford, who began her collection with holiday tins. She quickly became hooked on M&M "people." "They're colorful, and their faces are happy", she said. Her son, Mark, 15, has become so immersed in his mother's hobby, he can document the changes in M&M figurines over the years, from their inception as stick figures in 1954. Mark pointed out their evolution between circular and elliptical, noting, "The older ones have colored legs." Mark; his brother, matt, 17; Wohlford; her mother Carol Ewing; and other family members and friends are always on the lookout for a new collection piece. "No matter what store you're in, you've got your eyes open (for M&M collectibles)", said Wohlford, adding the Internet is a gold mine for purchases, as are collectors' picnics and conventions, where collectors buy and trade their wares. Wohlford's collection has become so vast, she is getting a little pickier now, limiting what she buys to really novel items, although she already has a lot of those as well. Many of her collectibles, purchased from sites including M&M World in Las Vegas and a Canadian duty-free store, are European or Australian. They advertise Olympics, baseball teams, and presidents. Wohlford's collection includes personalized boxes, distributed to guests aboard Air Force One, from the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations. "I get a lot of things by swapping and trading", Wohlford said. While she can't keep track of all her hundreds of items, she does try to maintain a record of her older collectibles. "I've got a book (about them)", she said. The others are harder to inventory. "When I get somewhere and (see a collectible), I say, Do I have that?" Wohlford admitted. She is currently looking forward to an M&M Collectors Picnic, for which she is acting as hostess, to be held at Timken Park, 2219 Prairie Lane, Wooster, July 20, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Guests are welcome to set up displays for trading and purchasing collectibles beginning at 9 a.m. Hot dogs, pop, snacks, and dessert will be provided for lunch. Even though only 300 members are registered worldwide in the M&M Collectors Club, Wohlford anticipates 50-60 visitors at the picnic. As they meet in Wayne County, as well as other global sites for picnics and conventions, it is hard to imagine their finding anything more novel than what Wohlford already has. The M&M man who pops out of her cuckoo clock declares 'M and M adoodle doo' on the hour, in addition to bragging - based on the M&M dangling as a pendulum - "I'm also a professional stuntman".
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