COLLECTING POTTERY IN EARTHQUAKE COUNTRY

I have to be crazy to collect pottery in Earthquake Country.  I live in the San Francisco Bay Area which is definitely the land of rock and roll!  However, I cannot control what I love.  I have rationalized that nothing is forever.  Certainly not even humans!  So I live with whom and with what I want to enjoy.  That said, I needed to figure out a way to somewhat earthquake proof my pottery.  Of course, that is impossible.  A large earthquake is similar to a bomb.  A smallish one is like being on a sailboat.  Having owned a sailboat in the 1970s, I purchased wooden dowels that I hoped would keep my pots on my shelves.  They did help with the occasional slammed door by an exuberant teenager.  I tried to figure out how to keep plates from popping out of wire holders on the wall (also a problem with slammed doors).  I use QuakeHold or a similar product.  I have also put QuakeHold on the backs of flatware and on the bottoms of hollow pieces.  It can ruin your wooden furniture or painted walls, so beware.  I have bolted all of the large furniture, including the dresser seen below, to the wall.

Notice the dowels that prevent (hopefully) the pottery from falling off a shelf.  QuakeHold sticks the upright plates and platters to the backs of the shelves.

Everything on the dresser is stuck down with QuakeHold

 The top of the dresser is bolted to the wall (left of the Staffordshire figure of Dick Turpin)

The top of the dresser is bolted to the wall more than once (right of the Staffordshire figure of Tom King)