« Mr. Reitz's Sitting Room, Zurich 1929 »

A handwritten note on the back of the print says, "That is not a fitting name for this room because you could not sit anywhere without breaking something; besides that every chair is loaded with books or ship models!" I count 12 ship models, enumerable nautical items, 7 bird cages, a cricket cage and floor-to-ceiling plants.

Was Mr. Reitz a collector or a pack rat? As one who has deep sympathy for the disease of collecting, I think he has retired with his interests and the mementos of his entire life close around him. All he loves and values is here. It seems odd that a seaman would live in land-locked Switzerland, but he has brought his years of travel as a merchant seaman to Zurich which sits where the river Limmat issues from the large alpine Lake Zurich.

The clue to his life as a seaman is the tiny life preserver attached to the side table which has W. Reitz, Escher-Wyss & Co. He has his dog, birds and plants as living companions. Is there a (sainted) Mrs. Reitz at this address? I think not. There would be no place for her to sit. A second view and some closeups follow.

Timebinder suffers from the collecting malady for which there is no known cure. Besides antique photos, cameras, antique maps and documents, he has hundreds of railroad locomotive models, automobile models, miniature chairs, antique child's chairs, and antique toys (his wife says they are all toys – which he emphatically denies).