DANVILLE – It was her mom’s idea, three decades ago.

Back in 1971, Mary Brushwein was in the student Senate at the University of Maine, getting ready for a field trip to Nova Scotia.

“My mom had said before I left, ‘Mary, you’ve got to start thinking about collecting something,’ and she suggested egg cups – there it started.”

On the way back to campus, the six or seven students stopped at the home of Alice Tufts, Mary’s mother, for beef stew, and Brushwein showed off her first purchase: a small, white cup featuring a blue Nova Scotia tartan.

Today, they’re all over her house, poking out in rows above door jams and window casings. On the fridge, the table, the wall, more than 200 in all.

Some are white, others are painted or carved. Her favorites, brought back by a friend from Germany, have little cups resting on feet that wear skis, clogs, galoshes and puppy slippers.

“I like that they’re all different, they’re all unique, and Philip (her husband) finds me great ones,” Brushwein said.

She’s only lost one cup to the swish of a dog tail. With four dogs, that’s not bad.

Philip’s had the most luck at Orphan Annie’s and flea markets. When visitors walk in the house, “Most people don’t know what they are,” he said.

They’re still part of everyday eating in Europe, but they didn’t really take off in the states. (According to the online Egg Cup Collector’s Club of Great Britain, the hobby’s officially called “pocillovy.” The slight range of cup sizes stems from Elizabethan farmers raising and eating everything from quail to swan.)

To eat a soft-boiled egg like a pro, set it in the cup, heavier side of the oval down. It’s individual preference whether you want to flick off just the top of the shell and spoon out the innards or take off the shell entirely.

Brushwein doesn’t eat too many eggs herself. Health reasons.

She’s worked at Bates College for 28 years and word about the cups has gotten out among students and staff. Walking past a shelf of them, she ticked off their origins: “Greece. My friend went to Ireland, she brought this one back. Toronto. This one is France.”

“She’s been given egg cups by virtually every friend she has,” Philip said.

Sometimes he moves them around just to test if she’ll notice.

“My husband is the best,” Brushwein said. “I think he enjoys the collection as much as I do.”