A man who set a Guinness World Records mark for the largest collection of traffic cones says the hobby began for a reason he never expected: a legal battle.
David Morgan, from West Oxfordshire, England, worked as a sales director for a plastics company that was among the biggest producers of traffic cones. In 1986, the business became embroiled in a dispute with a rival manufacturer over a cone design.
“A competitor wanted to take us to court because they said we had copied their design,” he told the Oxford Mail.
To show the design had existed earlier, Morgan traveled around the country searching for different types of cones.
He said his research helped his company win the case — but it also sparked an obsession that never faded. “I started collecting cones, and I haven’t been able to stop,” he told the Oxford Mail, explaining how he tracks them down.
“I’ll find out where the roadworks are and go and look for them. But the best ones are from more unusual places — like from village halls and from undertakers, who always have different ones and look after them,” he said.
Morgan also stressed he would never “pinch” a cone, because they’re used for safety. Instead, he asks permission.
“I usually ask the foreman, but people aren’t really bothered, and most of the cones I get have been stuck on their own for years — sometimes 15 years after the roadworks have finished,” he said.
For Morgan, the variety is part of the appeal. “It’s really interesting. There are so many different shapes, sizes and colors. And the models are always changing,” he told the Oxford Mail.
His search has taken him far beyond the U.K. He even picked up a cone during his honeymoon at an airport in Corsica in 1988 — a rare 1980 Adapterform model. The oldest and most treasured item in his collection is a 1956 Lynvale rubber cone from Scotland.
Guinness World Records previously verified his collection when it stood at 137 cones. Years later, the Oxford Mail reported it had grown to more than 500.
Morgan told the outlet he was still hunting what he called the “Holy Grail” of cones: “I am still looking for a rare five-sided cone from Manchester,” he said. “I hear about sightings, but by the time I get there, they’ve gone. It’s like looking for Elvis.”
His then-teenage daughter, Poppy, said she doesn’t share her dad’s enthusiasm — but she’s seen how much others enjoy it.
“She’s ‘not a particular fan of cones,’” the Oxford Mail reported, though her friends were “all impressed” by her father’s “unusual” collection.
“If I see a new cone I’ll always tell him where it is,” she added. “Though I wouldn’t bring it back myself.”
Morgan’s wife, Breda, has long since adjusted to the hobby, since he began collecting before they met. Still, she admitted the collection can complicate everyday life.
“Mowing the lawn is difficult when they’re out in the garden,” she said, adding that the cones are usually stacked in the garage “in subdued lighting, to preserve them.”
