‘I just have a knack for finding a good thing’

When Hans Lindemann asked Shirley Lindemann to marry him eight years ago, more than their lives intertwined. Both avid antique collectors, the two combined their collections, and Shirley has been working off and on ever since to renovate their Museum of American Treasures. Originally opened in 1955 by Hans, a retired chef and ice carver, the private museum grew from a personal fancy for amethyst-colored glassware into a whimsical collection of marble busts, election memorabilia, ship and church bells and, more recently, pieces added by Shirley. Shirley, 54, a former seamstress, hairdresser and crafts maker, now operates the museum at 1315 E. 4th St. in National City. It is open 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays, and by appointment for groups. It was recently included in the Historical Sites Tour by the National City Historical Society. Shirley Lindemann was interviewed by Times staff writer G. Jeanette Avent and was photographed with Hans Lindemann by Bruce K. Huff.

When Hans opened the museum in 1955 as the Halls of Desert Glass, he just had glass in it. It’s the kind of glass that turns purple from the sun’s rays because of the high manganese content. Manufacturers stopped putting manganese in glass before the first world war because it was needed for war purposes.

Then Hans started collecting salt and pepper shakers, marble and bronze busts and anything handcrafted. I’ve taken his collection and selected pieces of interest. I was over here working before we ever got married.

Hans got real sick, and I just took over. Now he’s doing pretty well for 91 years old. He worked at Lubach’s Restaurant until he was 82. He had never been married. Hans always said he couldn’t afford to get married because he had 40 girlfriends, talking about all his marble busts.

He lived in the museum. He didn’t buy anything new. He just purchased things one by one. He’d get a loan. He said he had eight loans at one time.

I met him in a local restaurant and bar. He told me about the museum, so I came over, and the first thing I did was paint the door. I just started dusting and cleaning.

Hans had things set up haphazardly. He would just purchase things and then put them down, and they would stay there for 15 years. My girlfriend and I have gone through hundreds of barrels and thousands of pieces of things to pick what I wanted to put in the showcases.

I have added my things to Hans,’ and I try to make interesting little collages. In the kitchen showcase, I try to put all the baking stuff together. I put in my mother’s mixer. She was about to toss it. Hans had the coffee grinder and all the glass things. I had been collecting the plastic-handled silverware. I also found a little, electric poached-egg cooker with three little cups in it. It’s darling.

I’ve started collecting sewing things--old snaps and hooks, an old tape measure, a needle book, some old buttons and bobbins. In the ‘40s during the war, you couldn’t go to the store and buy new socks or shoes; you’d have to mend all your socks, so you’d stick those little wooden things in the heel where you’d wear out your sock then you’d do all of your darning over it instead of on your finger or your hand. I used to do it, and my mother used to resole shoes.

We’re not limiting the museum to any one period, but many of the pieces are about 100 years old or more. There’s a Navy commission paper, dated February, 1863, signed by Abraham Lincoln, and a hand-corrected letter from Theodore Roosevelt, dated Nov. 10, 1899.

My favorite piece? I hadn’t even thought of it that way, but I like the busts. My favorite bust is Zemira. She’s a Gypsy princess, and I’m Bohemian. My great-grandfather left his family in Wisconsin and joined a Gypsy tribe.

In the doll display case, I have my father’s doll, a little boy doll. It’s wooden, jointed and has real hair. My father’s high school graduation diploma is also here, and there’s an old report card dated 1894.

I haven’t traveled too much to find things. I find really good things at local church bazaars. I found a beautiful silk kimono, hand painted. I got it for $5 about seven years ago.

I get all kinds of things like pottery for 50 cents. I go to second-hand stores two and three times a week. But I just have a knack for finding a good thing.

I still have to do a lot of research because I want to put up little identifying tags on each of the showcases. I want to get a little more history down, so people can browse through on their own and just enjoy a few hours. It’s really nice when two to three generations of families come in. There’s something here for everyone. It’s nice to hear grandparents say, “I used to put ice in the rolling pin and roll the dough.”