Can crusher crowns family collection of curiosities

Just west of Highway 27 in Fairfield is a treasure trove of local history, painstakingly collected and saved over the years by Andy Gortsema, 84, and his sons, Marvin, 64, and Gary, 54.

The Lost Dutchman is an eclectic collection of tools, lanterns, engines, knives, watches, typewriters, furniture, old calendars from local businesses and a little bit of this and that. Gary Gortsema said the items in the museum had been collected by his father and brother over the years.

“We have had donations,” Gary Gortsema said, but he estimates that only about 5 percent of the items in their museum were donated. “The rest has just been our collections,” he said. He compared the collection to the museum in Fairfield, noting that the Fairfield museum is an actual museum.

“We’re kind of just a collection of stuff in a building,” he said.

He said that when folks come to visit the museum they are in awe.

“They can’t believe all the different things that are just hanging around,” he said.

Perhaps the most curious item in the family’s collection was built by Andy Gortsema, who is a member of the Inland Empire Steam and Gas Buffs. “It’s the greatest attraction at the Spokane fair,” Gary said, about his dad’s creation.

The contraption is like a Rube Goldberg device – a complicated device created to perform simple tasks.

In this case, it’s a pop-can crusher.

Powered by a 1911 Stover Engine, the machine uses a blast of air to blow aluminum cans through an arc of tubing. The cans slide into a tube, while a little wooden man turns a crank that winds up a chain connected to a 15-pound weight. A little wooden woman pushes a can forward, a bell rings and the weight drops to crush the can flat. The flat cans are pushed into a chute which empties onto a conveyer belt which ultimately leads to a bucket.

Andy said he started working on the contraption about 15 years ago. While it’s running, he makes adjustments here and there to make sure it’s working right, while feeding more cans into the chute.

“Sometimes that lady doesn’t do her job quite right,” he said.

The Lost Dutchman doesn’t have any set hours of operation. Gary Gortsema said folks are welcome to just show up, and if someone is there they’ll unlock the door for you.