City Man's Collection Brings History To Life

Some three-hundred entnes in u a collection of Ann Arbor ( tory aid in bringing back to life some of the memories of Ann Arbor when it was still in lts first century of existence. The collection belongs to Ronald Schulz, 30, a lifetime resident of Ann Arbor who started his collection two years ago. Of the many items that he hasl in his collection his most prized possession, which he keeps locked in a vault, is the com-,i plete register of thè men in E Ann Arbor who served in the s Civil War. Other things that he has are numerous old deeds to land in the city; such as a deed signed by the Kingsley Family, early Isettlers in Ann Arbor. He has ah collection of Polk Directones from 1896 to the present. I The Omega yearbook, the yearbook of Ann Arbor High School, from 1900 to the present is also a member of his historiJcal family. He also has a diploma that was issued by the I school in the year 1895. An old City Council proceedings report tells of the plans to build the first brick street in the city. He has an old frying pan which was built by the Ann Arbor Stamping Plant on N. Main. The most unusual item in his collection is his Arborphone ra-1 dio. The speaker is housed in a I separate cabinet. The radio was Imade in Ann Arbor by ArborI phone Radio Sets and Supplies. ? Other items include old beer I bottles from the Michigan ion Brewing Co. (Crème Top), Drescriptions f r o m old drug stores dated from 1880 to 1886, and a receipt of a resident who contributed a dollar to the fund for the building of the Washington Monument. In addition, old cook books, documents, booklets and photographs, deeds and abstracts dating back to 1828 are part of the collection. ■ When Schulz first started his collection he collected antiques and bottles. The bottles were from stores throughout Southern Michigan, consisting of old medicine bottles, milk bottles and a variety of others totaling 800. Because Ann Arbor doesn't have a museum of city history, Schulz said, he became mterested in collecting these items. Some of his pieces are on display at the Ann Arbor Federal Savings, which is celebrating its 80th birday. Schulz is very proud of nis collection and has received help] from his wife Sandra and his Itwo sons Ronald and Donald in finding some of the things he has. , Most of the bottles were ob- tained from dumps around towni while a lot of the other items I carne from friends, neighbors, sales, auctions, and bits and pieces that he picked up. To his f e 11 ow collectors, Schulz offers his help in any way that he can. He said the world of antique collectors is one in which there is a great interest in helping other collectors ünd what they are looking for to add to their collections.