Christine Whelan FEO, May 23, 2024, VOL. 5 ISSUE 19

Bob Fretz, a local resident, historian, and collector, seeing his 70th birthday in sight, has made an incredibly difficult decision. And now, he’s looking for a suitable owner for his collection.  So, he took to social media. As members of his Facebook page, he wanted them to find this out first.

He posted, “I have decided to sell my collection in its entirety. Many of you have shown an interest in a portion of my collection, but I feel breaking it up is something I would not want to see happen. It has taken me 50 years to assemble it, and I believe you could not build a collection of this magnitude in today’s world.

Bob and his wife are collectors. Their home holds their evidence. Behind this collection is a plethora of stories wrapped in details, dates, twists, and fun facts. I sat with him at his kitchen table for an hour of show-and-tell.

“This has been my passion. It’s still my passion. I’ve sold one piece in 50 years, and even then, I didn’t want to.” But Bob knows it’s time to pass it on.

It’s not for everyone, he knows. His daughter is not interested in any of the collections. He knows, however, that there is someone somewhere.

THE COLLECTION: Defined as “Memorabilia of Bertie Township”

Bob explained the parametres he made for himself. “I realized at a young age that if I were to allow myself to collect everything I liked, you wouldn’t be able to walk in our house. So, I had to define my collection as memorabilia from Bertie Township.”

He explained, “Bertie Township runs along the Niagara River, along Lake Erie, over to Townline Road, which goes to Sherkston, and then out to Netherby Road.”

In 1970, Bertie Township became the Town of Fort Erie. So, this means Fretz has collected local artifacts up to 1969.

Each item also has to have a name on it. “That confines me to all kinds of things.”

From his huge collection, he selected a few smaller items and a stack of framed items to show me. Each artifact has a story. Each story, Bob could tell.

Company advertising was the easiest way to make it into his collection. “Years ago, a business would give you something to use in your house, and it had their company name on it.” Calendars, thermometres, pencils, fridge magnets, and an ashtray from a gas station in Stevensville.

“The old stuff is fun to find because those businesses are gone now.”

He has close to 1,500 postcards, “all different from the Fort Erie area. I have over 60 yardsticks. I have hundreds of matchbooks, many with the three-digit tone number.”

There are milk, medicine, and soda bottles. There are Bank of Fort Erie notes, Fenian medals, tokens, blotters, and telephones.

Yes, telephones.

“I drove to Massachusetts to get a Bridgeburg telephone. If you’re a telephone collector, it’s one of the rarest, made on Courtwright Street. This one, I found on eBay.” Bob added that he has six Bridgeburg telephones.

He brought out a rare bottle, “It says Northern Springs, Crystal Beach. And it’s a big size. The ones you usually see are smaller.”

He then brought out what he called his baby. A rare, one-gallon stoneware crock with the maker’s mark that says, FK Hardison and Company Grocers Wine and Spirit Merchant Ft. Erie, CW, circa 1830. The CW stands for Canada West.

Fretz stated with a smile, “This is from before Canada was Canada, 1830. Canada became Canada in 1867.”

There are photos of this find, on Bob’s Facebook page.

He has a two-gallon stoneware crock that says, A. B. Hurrell, General Merchant, Amigari, Ont. Bob expanded, “Hurrell was the first president of the Masonic lodge in Fort Erie. He also had a store in the west end when it was called Amigari.” On some maps, you will still see that Amigari was in the area where Thompson Road and Bowen Road meet.

Fretz says he has about a dozen crocks.

The collector held out another treasure. “This is one of the rarest collectibles, honey tins. In 50 years, I’ve found four honey tins from the area.”

He then laid out several badges from the fire department. Pointing, “There’s Bridgeburg. A tough find.”

Some of the items Bob lovingly calls fun junk, like a key for a room from the old Niagara Hotel that burned down, once next to the infamous old King Edward Hotel in the south end, on Niagara Boulevard.

Bob talked about the artifacts as if they were pieces of a puzzle, tying together documented history, and providing proof of written details of the past.

When asked how he has obtained so much over the years, and where he has gone in search, he answered, “Everywhere.”

Often, once he finds an item, he then has to do the digging to learn the story behind it. “That’s half the fun.”

Bob hopes to keep the collection intact. He would prefer his collection not to be a project that is organized by a committee but rather owned solely by one person who finds the collection as much a treasure as he does. “But if a group of people came to me and said they wanted to buy it, then I would realize I would no longer own it.”

He added in consideration, “I’d be willing to work with someone to help them recognize what items are and tell a little bit of each history, maybe show how to put together a display. I would be available to help,” like a consultant.

While preferring to hand the collection in its entirety over to one person, he is open to other ideas. “Maybe someone is only interested in sports-related stuff. There’s hockey and baseball in Fort Erie’s history. What about the dairy stuff? There are a lot of dairy collectors. Milk bottles, milk tokens, letters from the dairies, milk caps, labels, tickets for buying milk, needle and thread holders from the different dairies,” describing the large frame filled with items related solely to dairy alone. This gives you an idea of just how extensive this collection is.

“I don’t know what the plans are for this collection.”

He shared that, if he could somehow make it happen, he would love to see a business-like Cracker Barrel take the collection on and display it all over the walls. Smiling as he openly dreamt, “There could be a Crystal Beach room, an Erie Beach room, or a Bridgeburg room. I’ve got enough to fill the walls of a huge restaurant.”

Wherever it lands, Bob says he would like to see it on display for anyone who wants to see it. “I’d like to see it where it can be accessible; where school kids can come in to do a project and see local history. Or where seniors can come in and say, ‘Wow, that was from my grandfather’s business.’

“There is a degree of safety and care you want with a collection like this. But it would be nice if it was user-friendly. Where people can enjoy and touch.”

The asking price for the Memorabilia of Bertie Township collection is one Bitcoin. As of May 16, one Bitcoin is worth $89,624.91.

If it is on the Facebook page, it is in the collection. Artifacts can be seen by using the “search” feature or by just scrolling to enjoy them.

Facebook Page – Fort Erie Collectibles / Bob Fretz Collection.