Accomplishments and Records

When Collecting Stamps Just Doesn’t Do it For You

Graham Barker shows off 26 years worth of belly button lintGraham Barker shows off 26 years’ worth of belly button lint.

People who collect coins are called numismatists, and stamp collectors are known as philatelists, but what do you call a person who collects belly button lint? At present, the best term for such a person is “Graham Barker,” who holds the record for the world’s largest collection of navel fluff.

Barker, a resident of Perth, Australia, first harvested and saved the contents of his belly button on January 17, 1984, and has been making a daily practice of it ever since.

As of October 2010, he had collected 22.1 grams, filling 3.25 jars. Barker, who is a librarian by trade, once considered using the collection to stuff a pillow. Instead, he sold three of the jars to a museum for an undisclosed amount of money.

Bloom County, by Berkeley BreathedBloom County, by Berkeley Breathed

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