nanner nanner!

[heatherhistorian]

Hey guys just had to rub it in...I am at a museum with my daughter's class and since I am a museum person I got to hold a 240 yr old flintlock pistol.  Pretty Cool!

[old salt]

HEY how come there are not pictures?

[quigleysharps4570]

I'll be disappointed if there are none. 

[heatherhistorian]

You guys are gonna be disappointed.  I didn't have a camera.  The museum's camera is usually what I take in it is out of commission. I would have used my phone, but I didn't know if there was flash, which you can't use in a museum and if there was, I didn't know how to turn it off.  Sorry, would have liked to have had one myself.

[quigleysharps4570]

Where abouts were you Heather...might check it out.  ;)

[heatherhistorian]

Museum of World Treasures in Wichita.  They broke out the pistol to show the kids what would have been used during the Burr-Hamilton duel.  They the kids re-enacted it with toy pistols.  It was cute.  They have some really neat stuff.  Started from a man's personal collection.  Two mummies, Dinosaurs skeletons, Mayan items, Mesopotamian items, Militaria etc. 

[quigleysharps4570]

That the one in old town?

[heatherhistorian]

yes

[Stumblin Wolf]

 :-\ fer a "museum historian" you should have a lot more access to COOL STUFF! Tell yer "superiors" we want to see it! If museums would give a hint at what they got instead of a teaser....some of us might be willin' to go fer a road trip. Case in Point ...a nearby museum, meaning within 800 miles: let it be known that they had a collection of 18th century powderehorns for display. But there was no info on their website. I'm not gonna pack up and go with as little info as that.

[quigleysharps4570]

yes

I've drooled over some of them firearms in there. 

[heatherhistorian]

I have access to cool stuff, but this was not at my museum...they just don't let total strangers hold artifacts all that often. :)

[Three Hawks]

I've been to some museums where Los Honchos Grandes seem to have the attitude that it's all their private things and letting anyone else even look at 'em is a big imposition because all our proletariat stupidity might contaminate "Their Toys".

On the other hand, places like the Museum of The Plains Indian  in Browning Montana and The Museum of The Fur Trade in Chadron, Nebraska invite you in and make you feel right at home.   The only no-no I was given was no flash photos becasue the flash raises caine with the things on display, even more than sunlight.  I was there pre-digital so I just bought some 800 speed film and took dozens of exposures.  At the M. of the FT, the late Dr. Hanson even opened display cases so I could  set up my camera on a tripod to get clearer pictures.  I got the feeling he would have liked to give away free samples, but pictures were the best he could do.

Three Hawks

[heatherhistorian]

Well Three Hawks, I am sorry that you feel that way.  One thing you have to understand is that it is a museum's job to preserve the material culture for future generations and that the artifacts in a museum do not belong to the museum, but to the constituency.  Therefore, we have to treat them with the utmost respect.  Another thing is that different artifacts require different preservation techniques whether that is light, temperature, humidity or even handling.  Some things cannot be picked up and moved alot. Some items have their own microenvironment inside a case that has been established by a curator in order to preserve that item better, so sometimes opening a case is not feasable.  Another reason that some museums can't go opening cases is because the method of opening them is difficult or inaccessible, sometimes certain staff don't have the authority to open the cases for security reasons and lets face it...sometimes we are just plain swamped and don't have the time to do that. 

At my museum we try to make the visitor feel as welcome as possible.  We try to spend time visiting with them and making them feel at home.  I know that some museums are kinda reserved if you want to call it that, but there is usually a reason such as policy.  So, I hope that you don't have or get an overwhelming dislike for museum staff, because there is usually a very good reason for certain behavior.  We are usually really kind hearted and friendly people.

[kit_carson]

Well Three Hawks, I am sorry that you feel that way.  One thing you have to understand is that it is a museum's job to preserve the material culture for future generations and that the artifacts in a museum do not belong to the museum, but to the constituency.  Therefore, we have to treat them with the utmost respect.  Another thing is that different artifacts require different preservation techniques whether that is light, temperature, humidity or even handling.  Some things cannot be picked up and moved alot. Some items have their own microenvironment inside a case that has been established by a curator in order to preserve that item better, so sometimes opening a case is not feasible.  Another reason that some museums can't go opening cases is because the method of opening them is difficult or inaccessible, sometimes certain staff don't have the authority to open the cases for security reasons and lets face it...sometimes we are just plain swamped and don't have the time to do that. 

At my museum we try to make the visitor feel as welcome as possible.  We try to spend time visiting with them and making them feel at home.  I know that some museums are kinda reserved if you want to call it that, but there is usually a reason such as policy.  So, I hope that you don't have or get an overwhelming dislike for museum staff, because there is usually a very good reason for certain behavior.  We are usually really kind hearted and friendly people.

heather, that was a great and true answer, Ive been around museums all my life (my father was one of the leading contemporary artists in this country) and these are exactly the reasons.

and three hawks, relish the experience you had, thats very rare, and such an honer that you recieved at the museum that you mentioned.

remember museums first duty to there collection to preserve, and to protect. second to to make the collection available to the public.

[heatherhistorian]

Thanks Crowkiller.  Who was your father?  Would I know any of his artwork?