Attorney collects everyday objects depicting art, history

Russel Winick still recalls as a boy going into the basement of a friend whose parents collected antiques and seeing a spinning wheel.

"I remember going home and telling my mother about it. I thought it was so cool," he said. "Old things just appealed to me."

The Naperville attorney didn't start collecting old items then, but he's made up for it since.

Placed prominently in the conference room at his law office is a framed prenuptial agreement from 1797. Sitting on the shelves is a glass and ceramic scales of justice that was broken and mended. Dotting the walls are the covers of sheet music with titles relating to the legal profession.

That's only a small sampling of what Winick has collected over the past 30 years. He owns thousands of copies of sheet music from the Tin Pan Alley era of the 1880s to the 1930s and hundreds of salt and pepper shakers, in addition to African carvings, art deco advertising and posters, fruit crate labels, sports memorabilia, art glass, old postcards and miscellaneous items that have caught his eye.

"Being able to shop for and just sit at home and look at this stuff makes me happy," he said.

Finding places to put all the stuff her husband collects can be a problem, said Winick's wife, Vicki, but she willingly tolerates his passion.

"He just loves doing it, which is wonderful," she said. "It's a great hobby for him."

With a busy law practice and two athletic teenage sons to run to sports events, hunting down historic stuff is a way to unwind, Winick said.

"It's the one thing I do in life that has no stress attached to it," he said. "Meandering in an antique shop or a series of antique shops is the most relaxing way I can spend the day."

Winick, who also purchases on eBay and directly from dealers, isn't looking for valuable antiques. He rarely pays more than $20 for an item, he said.

"I don't have a thing in my house that is especially valuable," he said. "To me, that can add to the enjoyment - the everyday nature of the stuff."

That's what first intrigued him about sheet music.

After college, he went to visit friends, had some time to kill before meeting them, and stepped into a store that sold sheet music. The son of a graphic artist, Winick was taken by the covers and started researching the history of sheet music.

"I'm probably the only collector around that doesn't read a note of music. I just collect it for the history, art and depiction of the human condition," he said.

Many of the covers were drawn by well-known artists, such as Norman Rockwell.

"Almost anything he did, you have to get happy just looking at it," Winick said. "I tend to get the ones that are colorful, interesting and fun to look at."

But other sheet music covers and advertising from early in the past century depict less savory aspects of the human condition. Blacks often are pictured in derogatory ways. One rare exception that Winick owns is a "Coffee Cooler's Tea" sheet music cover showing well-dressed blacks dancing and having fun.

Winick keeps the derogatory art hidden away but said he has had African-American friends ask him to show it to their children so they can see what conditions used to be.

"This drives the point home in a way words don't always do," he said.

As the first type of item he collected, sheet music holds a special place in Winick's heart. But he went on to add salt and pepper shakers to his collection and then a multitude of other items.

He purchased the 1797 prenuptial agreement between George Hastings and Ann Harrison of England for about $35 from a dealer who specialized in historical documents.

Some items in his collection have personal significance. His grandmother used the mortar and pestle. His great-great-grandfather smoked the long, curved pipe dating from the Civil War era. A friend of his father drew the poster depicting all the figures from the Watergate hearings.

Winick, a former high school athlete with a love for sports, said his most treasured item is a colorful fruit crate label from the 1920s showing women playing basketball.

"I just think it's stunning," he said. "If we had a fire in the house and I had time to rescue one piece, this would be it."

As a business lawyer, Winick also feels a personal connection with a sheet music cover that reads "Let's Incorporate."

"My favorite thing is to help people achieve their dreams by incorporating," he said.

Winick has given sheet music and art deco pieces as wedding and birthday presents when the items had a connection with the person's name or the event they were celebrating.

"They've loved it," he said.

Winick's own dream for when he retires is to place ads in small town newspapers for sheet music.

"My feeling is there's still a lot out there undiscovered," he said.

• Do you know someone with an unusual job or hobby? Let us know at sdibble@dailyherald.com, (630) 955-3532 or 4300 Commerce Court, Lisle, 60532.