July/August 1985
Gerry Lestz
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Volunteers Helen Hutchings, Bob Wise, and Virgil White taking inventory.
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If you are an organization which holds shows and operates a
museum as one of your activities, or if you are set up solely to
operate a museum, this article opens a series which may be
helpful.
The engine collection and restoration hobby has grown by leaps
and bounds in recent years. It covers the United States, and much
of Canada, and is strong in other countries such as Great Britain,
Germany, Holland, Sweden. Our magazines have chronicled the growth
from early days.
Museum operation for many organizations has been an offshoot of
the main thrust, but it has served a vital purpose for it has
preserved much that might otherwise have been lost. Today's
visitors can gain some idea of what life used to be like, by
walking into any of these sets of exhibits.
There are also many museums which are professionally funded,
staffed and operated as fulltime places for the public to visit.
The Smithsonian Institution has excellent exhibits; so does
Greenfield in Michigan. Many museums are members of the Association
for Living Historical Farms. Agricultural museums display engines
or farm implements and hold events which tie in with this
hobby.
Can you learn anything from the way other museums are operated?
That's up to you. We'll try, in this series which will
present articles at intervals when the information can be
assembled, to bring you the latest on what is being done in the
fields of steam, gas, implements and machinery, and in specialized
museums. We will welcome letters and articles if you care to submit
them.
We are interested in all phases... finding items that can be
made part of a collection; acquisition; restoration;
identification; labeling; housing; exhibiting to best advantage;
use of museum objects; security; keeping of records and archives;
financing; seeking grants; establishing authenticity; advertising
and publicity; handling of visitors; reliance on paid staff and
volunteers, and anything else our readers feel is to the point.
This month's article ties in with a report from Bill May, of
the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum, at Vista, California,
near San Diego, whose institution we visited this past winter. Bill
was a good host and guide to our cousins, John and Jean Baucus of
Helena, Montana, and Margaret and me. I think you'll find this
information stimulating.
Construction and Identification
Erection of a new building, and making a record of all items in
the collection, are only two of the many phases of museum activity
going on at the same time at the Antique Gas & Steam Engine
Museum, Vista, California.
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