Nestled in the village of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin lies one of the largest cat figurine collections in existence – and you can even take a tour!
According to the report by WTMJ’s James Groh, husband and wife Shawn Redner and Hilary Siegel-Redner have their eyes set on breaking the Guinness World Record for having the largest cat figurine collection in the world after turning their own home into Redner’s Rescued Cat Figurine Mewseum in 2020. But they aren’t stopping at just the record as they are focused on helping save cats and fund rescues along the way.
Shawn told Groh, “This is all we do, this is, this museum has taken over our lives.”
When the Redner’s first started their collection, they had around 4,000 pieces. As of July 2022, they’ve added 3,000 more unique items and have another 5,000 in storage. The current world record is 21,000 items so while they have a ways to go they have made great progress in just two years and continue to expand.
You may be wondering – how do the Redner’s source these figurines? Not only do they personally find the items secondhand from various stores, but others also donate items to the collection. Some people have even sent their entire personal collections from across the country to be displayed in the museum, WTMJ reported. There is not one duplicate piece.
Photo by James Groh
“It’s just a cat figurine museum on the surface, but when you get down to it, it’s Anne’s life, and Jan’s life, and Barbara’s life, and Sandra’s life. This is all part of somebody’s lives,” Shawn told WTMJ. “It’s not just cat figurines. It’s them essentially.”
The museum is open for tours, no reservations required, on the third Sunday of every month from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. So far, through tour donations, the couple has donated about $2,000 to their local shelters.
They also have 8 live cats who visitors can meet when touring the home.
“My goal is to hopefully move all this into a coffee shop where we can have adoptable cats, so visitors can come have a cup of coffee [and] hopefully bring home a cat. And then the museum will be a separate entity to the coffee shop,” Shawn said.
You can learn more about the museum and follow the Redner’s on their Facebook page, Redner’s Rescued Cat Figurine Mewseum.
