Cedarburg History Museum’s Collectors Weekend
Saturday, October 3, 2026 • 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 4, 2026 • 12:00–4:00 p.m.
Cedarburg History Museum, N58W6194 Columbia Road, Cedarburg
History isn’t just something to look at behind glass. During the Cedarburg History Museum’s Collectors Weekend, visitors can see, hear, touch, test, and experience the technology of the past.
This special two-day event explores the science, engineering, mechanics, and ingenuity behind everyday objects from earlier generations. See how a mechanical typewriter transforms the push of a key into a printed letter. Examine the gears, levers, springs, and mechanisms inside vintage tools. Hear a working jukebox select and play a record. Visitors will also have opportunities to try their hand at vintage tools and historic technology and discover how people solved everyday problems long before computers and electronics.
On Saturday, members of the Wisconsin Division of The Wheelmen will bring the science of early bicycling to life. The Wheelmen are part of a national organization of collectors, restorers, riders, and historians dedicated to preserving America’s bicycling heritage. Their interests span the remarkable evolution of the bicycle—from early velocipedes and “boneshakers” to enormous high-wheel bicycles and the later “safety bicycle.”
Rather than simply displaying these machines, Wheelmen traditionally ride and demonstrate historic bicycles, helping audiences understand how and why their designs developed. At Collectors Weekend, visitors can get an up-close look at the engineering of early bicycles and explore questions of balance, gearing, wheel size, steering, materials, mechanical advantage, and the physics that made these extraordinary machines work.
On Sunday, the Cedarburg-based Rods-N-Relics Car Club takes the spotlight with vintage automobiles. The club brings together local automobile enthusiasts around its mission of “Fun with Cars” while also supporting the community, including assistance for young people pursuing careers in the automotive field. Visitors can examine classic vehicles up close and discover how automotive technology evolved—from engines and transmissions to steering, suspension, braking, and other mechanical systems. It’s an opportunity to talk directly with the people who collect, maintain, and preserve these pieces of transportation history.
Throughout the weekend, the museum will also feature a working jukebox, typewriter demonstrations, vintage tools to try, and opportunities to explore materials from the Cedarburg History Museum Archives. Collectors and demonstrators will be on hand to answer questions and show how historic objects actually function.
This year’s Collectors Weekend will also honor Ruth Cook and her contributions to preserving and sharing local history. Museum visitors can enter for door prizes, and free root beer will add a little old-fashioned refreshment to the weekend.
Whether you love bicycles, automobiles, mechanical gadgets, local history, or simply want to know “How did that thing work?”, Collectors Weekend offers a chance to experience history through the machines, tools, and technology that helped shape everyday life.
Saturday, October 3: 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Featuring the Wisconsin Wheelmen
Sunday, October 4: 12:00–4:00 p.m.
Featuring the Rods-N-Relics Car Club
Cedarburg History Museum & Visitor Center
N58W6194 Columbia Road, Cedarburg, Wisconsin
(262) 377-9620
