He's an eclectic curator with an eye for quintessentially Queensland collectables, an encyclopedic knowledge of dates and events which shaped the Sunshine State, and a penchant for Hawaiian shirts.
Glenn Cooke's collection of tea towels and Story Bridge souvenirs, meticulously selected over decades, are held by the State Library of Queensland.
They contain everything from pristine 65-year-old Irish linen towels with beach and reef motifs, to a glittering 1970s kitsch painting of Brisbane's famous bridge on black velvet.
Glenn's backyard in Brisbane's West End is bursting with creations of his own design — garden edges of glass bottles and plant pots mosaiced with broken crockery from yesteryear — some of it he discovered while digging in the garden.
"In the olden days … there was not much rubbish collected in Brisbane and everything ended up in the backyard, so the bits and pieces I found tell you about the history of ceramics used in Brisbane," he said.
What's clear about Glenn's collectables and creations, is that each has a story and all of them help to paint a picture of the man who brought them together.
"Well I guess I was a born collector … I actually started out with that usual system — collecting stamps," Glenn said.
An early love of gardening led to a collection of succulents. An interest in visiting galleries inspired collections of art and ceramics.
The son of a shearer and a waitress, Glenn grew up in Blackall in western Queensland. As a child, he had no idea he'd develop a passion for decorative arts that would take him around the world.
"That's even a mystery to me. I'd describe my career trajectory as drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds," Glenn said.
Glenn's working life started in the 1960s as a clerk in the court of petty sessions in rural Queensland.
After moving to Ipswich, he developed an interest in interior design and embarked on a course while working at Tritton's Furniture at Woolloongabba in Brisbane.
He also took private art lessons and mingled with those in the local scene, before being lured by the "brighter" lights of Melbourne.
"One day at a Wickham Terrace gallery, I looked around and discovered I knew everyone who came through the door," he said.
"So I thought, Brisbane might be getting a little bit small, so I went to live in Melbourne."
That's where his university studies began in earnest, leading him to further studies in Washington before he eventually returned to Brisbane, where he became a curator at the Queensland Art Gallery for 32 years.
It was while perusing second-hand stores in Queensland that Glenn noticed a style of design that he believed was unique to Australia.
He found whole collections of ceramics decorated with interpretations of Aboriginal artefacts and motifs — that were not created by Indigenous artists.
"I thought this is a bit strange because when I was in the United States, I saw nothing equivalent," he said.
"So I then started what I do normally — collecting to learn.
"They're evidence of cultural influence and that has always been something I'm interested in."
That collection is now held by the Queensland Museum.
What followed was an obsession with the Story Bridge.
"One of the things I noticed is that there is a proliferation of souvenirs of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and very few of the Story Bridge," Glenn said.
"It got me thinking — well, what was the difference because both were designed by Dr [John] Bradfield, who was a Queenslander."
He believes the Story Bridge, which opened in 1940, did not get the same kudos because it was just another bridge across a river, while the Harbour Bridge connected the north and south shores of Sydney for the first time.
Also the Story Bridge had stiff competition from another landmark.
"The icon of Brisbane at the time was the City Hall because it opened in 1932 as a symbol of the unification of Brisbane," Glenn said.
His Story Bridge collection, which contains everything from teaspoons and drink coasters to felt pennants and jigsaw puzzles, led to his realisation that Queensland has a fascination with tea towels.
"While I was looking for souvenirs for Story Bridge, I started coming across souvenir tea towels," he said.
"Apparently Queensland has produced more tea towels than the other states.
"It really became clear that the influx of tea towels developed with the development of the tourism industry and also then segued into tea towels produced in smaller centres like Rockhampton."
They were also created to celebrate commemorative events — anniversaries for shows, churches and schools. Others feature prominent Queenslanders such as former premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, and even the recipe for Flo Bjelke-Petersen's famous pumpkin scones.
"One of the tea towels everyone finds amusing … is called Augathella meat ants. I thought it was pretty quirky until one of the ladies told me that the Augathella Meat Ants was the name of the local footy team and Augathella had taken it up as an icon for the town itself," Glenn said.
"So, tea towels were produced and became collected in their own right — given away after holidays to friends for looking after the dog for instance. In fact, one of my aunties had about 400."
Eight of Glenn's auntie's tea towels are among the1,500 or so he has collected, many of which are hanging from the ceiling and walls of the State Library as part of an exhibition until January next year.
Glenn believes it's the biggest tea towel collection in the world.
Robyn Hamilton, the lead of the Collection Building team at the State Library Queensland, is happy to have Glenn's contributions.
"Glenn has been a collector and curator for many years and he has a wonderful eye for interesting kitsch — and really quality kitsch," she said with a raised eyebrow and a smile.
"Most of the State Library's collection is documentary and a lot of it is print-based … but Glenn's collection is full of lovely objects.
"They can tell you an awful lot about places and events and people and the time that they've been produced in.
"I think Glenn's mind is very crowded with stories — we're just delighted that he's shared some of them."
While he's still finding tea towels, Glenn's keen to pass the baton on to emerging collectors.
"You have to hand over at some stage and leave it up to others to find and if they know the collection is there … they can add to it," he said.
