Comments by "Andrew Brendan" (@andrewbrendan1579) on "The Worst Hoard in American History (The Collyer Brothers Mansion)" video.

  1. The weight of the hoard was so great and it was piled so high that the hoard was holding up the house. Civil engineers said the house had to be cleared out from the top down. --- The two brothers' bodies were interred in a family mausoleum and then the doors were sealed shut. As in life, the brothers were closed off from the world.
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  2. What a horrible, tragic story. --- Ken, you and your viewers might be interested in the 1954 novel "My Brother's Keeper" by Marcia Davenport. It's a very well-written story based heavily upon the Collyer brothers. Not only is it an excellent work of fiction, but I think it accurately shows how and why people gradually become hoarders and this was long before there was much research on or knowledge about the subject. There's also a non-fiction book about the Collyer brothers called "Shadow Men". -- I think videos such as this one are not only informative and interesting, but provide a public service because they can motivate people to look at their own lives and to take action to prevent themselves from going in the same direction as the two brothers.
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  3. I wouldn't be surprised if some treasures were in that house --- and ruined because of the contamination from the cats and rodents. I woudn't be surprised if there was mold in the Collyer house also. Such waste...of people and of useful and valuable things.
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  4. If my memory is right the brother who went out had some secret way in and out of the house that no one figured out.
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  5.  @TimeWarp2000  Excellent point. That house was well built. I doubt many houses built in recent decades could support that enormous weight even for a short time if at all.
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  6. The pickled remains would have been from the father's medical practice. ....At least I hope so!
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  7. I remember that show. I don't recall that episode, but would enjoy seeing it.
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  8. I was just mentioning that in my own comment! I've read "My Brother's Keeper" and it's a terrific book and a real cautionary tale.
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  9.  @roberthaworth8991  We don't know a lot about the day-to-day lives of the Collyers, what may have started the hoarding. Could have been various things, maybe a combination. Some years back I read Matt Paxton's book "The Secret Lives of Hoarders" and he mentioned three things that often occur with hoarders: a high level of anxiety; a painful or traumatic event such as a divorce, the death of a loved one or being estranged from a loved one; a family history of hoarding. When it comes to the Collyers specifically, I wonder if the inbreeding may have been a factor. From watching "Hoarders" I've seen a number of episodes in which the hoarding was triggered by the death of the hoarder's mother.
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