Mayer had a number of hobbies including photography and travel in Mexico and abroad. As a photography, he admired Hugo Brehme and collected some photographs. These and photographs Mayer took himself are now part of the museum collection. However he is best known for his collection of decorative arts which filled his house in the Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, and first registered by Gonzalo Obregón, an antiques dealer, in 1953. He began collecting textiles as early as 1905, often buying Mexican ones to send to family and friends in Europe as gifts. As a collector, Mayer amassed more than 10,000 works of art and a similar number of books. Mayer began collecting fine art through different auction houses beginning in 1933, with many of the catalogues from these house at the museum. The museum also has a collection of letters Mayer wrote inquiring specialists about acquired pieces or those he had an interest in. Art was followed by books, including various editions of Don Quixote and the collecting of Talavera ceramics and tile began in 1943. Mayer also had a collection of orchids, cactus and azaleas, cared for by a gardener named Felipe Juárez.