Door Prizes : Collector of Antique Doorknobs Keeps Hand in the Family Business

Gripping a doorknob, Bud Wolski believes, is like “shaking hands with a building.” If that’s true, he’s met a lot of them.

Wolski is a collector of antique doorknobs, and he’s got more than 4,000 of them, in every size, color, material and design. They decorate walls. They are stored in cupboards and in display cases. They are tucked away in drawers and in cardboard boxes on wooden shelves.

The doorknobs take up most of an anonymous-looking bungalow on Manchester Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles and overflow into two walk-in metal cargo containers he uses for storage.

Wolski’s collection, which he believes is the largest in Southern California and among the largest in the United States, reflects the dizzying diversity of antique doorknobs. He specializes in the Arts and Crafts bungalow knobs manufactured in Los Angeles in 1910. But the Victorian era is well represented, as well as Art Deco, Mission style and the funky ‘50s.

The knobs are made of everything from brass, bronze and wrought iron to carved wood, plastic and white porcelain (with and without flower decals). He also has marble and onyx knobs that are smooth and cool to the touch.

But it is the glass knobs that catch the eye first. One is a perfectly formed clear glass orb with bubbles inside. Other glass knobs look like sparkling, outrageously large faux gemstones. They are in shades of brilliant turquoise and green, garnet red, amber, pink and purple.

Wolski, 73, is coy when it comes to the value of his collection. He says his doorknobs range from “free” to several hundred dollars in price. But there is one knob he will not part with for any amount of money. It comes from actress Marion Davies’ former beach house.

More than 35 years ago a contractor was repairing the structure, which by then had been converted to an apartment building and had suffered fire damage. When he needed a doorknob to replace a damaged one, he approached Wolski and a deal was made. Wolski got the oversized glass knob that the flames left attractively crackled.

“Just the thought that Marion Davies had her hand on this knob is a thrill,” Wolski said.

Wolski comes by his interest in doorknobs naturally. His father made windows and doors, a business Wolski continues in the same South Central location where the company was started more than 70 years ago. The doors required hardware, so Wolski Sr., a scavenger at heart, scrounged up doorknobs and hinges from odd lots that hardware stores were liquidating. His son still owns some of those knobs.

Today Wolski continues to add to his collection. Good sources are garage sales, flea markets and the basements of old hardware stores that are going out of business. He also acquires them at sales and auctions held at conventions of the Antique Doorknob Collectors of America. “The doorknobs are antiques, not the collectors,” Wolski added, with a chuckle.

Wolski had always thought of himself as just a pack-rat until Maud Eastwood, a legend among doorknob aficionados, took one look at what he had and announced, “You’re a collector and you don’t know it.”

Drawn by word-of-mouth, decorators and old-house renovators show up at his compound, which consists of three bungalows, one of which he was born in, an extensive woodworking shop and an outdoor accumulation of stuff that ranges from old sinks and tubs to chandeliers. Sanford & Son would feel at home in Wolski’s place.

A number of his doorknobs have been used in television series, and one had a starring role in the movie “Beetlejuice.” In the movie a teen-age character peers through a keyhole and there on the screen is his porcelain doorknob “shining out there white and pretty,” he said.

The knob was among $1,000 worth of household hardware a representative of the production company bought from Wolski. She, like others in the movie business who insist on authentic set design, knew of his collection and contacted him.

Wolski is one of 35 Californians in the 250-member doorknob collectors association; it is the largest contingent in the group, according to Ray and Loretta Nemec, Illinois collectors who edit the association’s newsletter.

Collectors are attracted by the beauty of antique doorknobs, Nemec said. In the early decades of this century, the heyday of these unique decorative pieces, European artists were imported to create the bewildering array of designs.

Collectors specialize in knobs from fire and police departments, hotels or telephone companies. Knobs from public schools and state and federal buildings are also popular.

Other collectors specialize in geographic areas. One man, for instance, has knobs only from Des Moines, Iowa, and another only wants ones from Chicago buildings.

No matter their preference, one thing is certain. These collectors will never take the lowly doorknob for granted. “After all,” Nemec said, “what would we do without them?”

Learn More About Antique Doorknobs

If you want to learn more about antique doorknobs, contact Ray and Loretta Nemec and the Antique Doorknob Collectors of America by writing Box 126, Eola, Ill., 60519-0126; (708) 357-2381.