Precious Tea & Tour: Mikey Hilburger and Lizzie Hilburger

In boyhood Mikey collected coins, rocks and shells, learning the Latin names for his finds. In the early 2000s he met his now-wife, Lizzie, an avid collector of beaded purses and other gentle items, and by her side, he began collecting again, in various categories. At one time he had 40-50 Weber kettle barbecues in different models and colours, which had to be brought inside if hail threatened. His quest for a better axe to chop barbecue fuel led Mikey to the much-loved, renowned collector Steve Lehmann, who had more than 2,000 axes in his ‘shed’ in Ipswich.Mikey has about 120 axes now. His love for them drew him into the broader field of ‘garagenalia’, comprising the signs, petrol tins, rusted and restored tools, oil drums, tin toys and so on that now crowd his ‘Urban Lumberjack’ stalls at Empire Revival, Paddington and The Emporium, Kalbar.

Familiar with antique stores and art galleries from childhood, Lizzie was always drawn to textiles and needlework. By 2001, when she married fellow collector Mikey Hilburger, she had 40 beaded purses. At its peak, her collection comprised more than 500, which she refined to the 200-250 outstanding examples she now owns. She often reflects on the hands of the women who once worked on them or took them out on special occasions. She also has, or has had, collections of objects relating to hands and legs, vintage kitchen items, Vesta strikers, paper clips and Depression era furniture – particularly pieces made from cotton reels.In 2011 Lizzie opened a shop in Given Terrace, Paddington, calling it Hobohemia. In 2014 she moved to a stall in the Paddington Antique Centre (now Empire Revival) on Latrobe Terrace.