Do you own a museum?
Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2024 7:55 pm
Is your home a museum?
From my very youth, I loved museums and libraries. Everything was there to look at in real life, in detail. Everything was at your fingertips in 3D. Museums are of course educational displays of niches of the world, but they are also collections.
I'll not wax on about what psychologists say about collectors, their needs, the drivers, their insecurities. To me, a collection is a museum, right at home. A library BTW is a collection of books yet I rarely see the shrinks say much about peoples' libraries.
The problem with museums and libraries is that to the experience they are mundane and boring. They are limited to what they display. Not to say the displays aren't cool- look at the insect displays at AMNH and Carnegie. But they don't have everything. And, you can't touch them.
My parents called me "Dr. Why" because I always asked "why." I want to know it all. I must know. I must do it. How do you time the chain after replacing the cylinder head? What does make the AK47 so special, and why do people still actually believe Kalashnikov designed it? Why does our Tiger Swallowtail look different than the rest? What do you mean there were significant economic factors that would induce New England to embrace war with the southern states? What type of bird is that in the headdress? Why do people from Norway look different from the Indonesians? What do you mean Norwegian language is related to Hungarian, how can that be? When did they stop making US coins with silver? Is Stanleyville any better off now?
And so, my home has become a museum and library. And, even better, there's no stupid Starry Night reprints, no junk machine made carpets, it's all cool artwork- bokhara carpets, papyrus paintings, real insects, Fiji warclubs, precolombian masks, antique Hmong hill tribe outfits, Meow tribe silver jewelry, Original US Army photos used for small arms training manuals, Tongan Tapa mats, my god what else, etc.
The library of course delves into incredible details you won't find in public libraries- long forgotten explorers, now forgotten battles of WW2, global history, nature, you name it. Plus of course the antique books.
My wife will tell you I never got rid of anything. This is true; I have my grade school artwork, 50 YO Aurora dinosaur models, cap guns, bb guns, a piece of USS Constitution, you name it, I got it. Except stamps- those I laminated and use for bookmarks. Coins? I search every handful I get and pull out silver and wheat pennies which go in the jug of silver dollars and Kennedy halves. I have type specimens, and in other fields I have the earliest, I have the only one known to still exist.
Oh no! A psychologically challenged collector! Perhaps, but I do part with stuff. When the missus asked how we were going to pay for a new boat I said "I'll sell this item I've had" and done. When she needed a new vehicle I said "oh I just some some of this old stuff, let's pay cash." My museum has never crashed and lost as much as my 401k. And some of this old junk is now stupid money. My god, I wish my dad let me buy that 1969 Shelby Cobra GT500 for $7500. I'd be retired today.
I do not like boring homes with repop artwork prints and cheap fake flowers. I like MUSEUM HOMES! And garages. The focus may not be my thing, so it's fun to explore, ask questions, handle, and learn. YES I DO want to see your Buprestids! One buddy has hundreds of those old planes, he can recreate any crown molding dating back to the early 1800s. Another has motorcyles behind a velvet rope- in the living room. Another who recently passed had every machine gun known to man. The brother restore 1930s vintage racing sailboats (they have some cash.) Another couple has their own maritime museum focusing on local history. I LOVE museums. I suppose since they're not MY collection they don't count for the shrink analysis.
I am in the process of downsizing. Aside from artwork-type stuff that could be considered standard fare for a normal house, at one time the stuff was under every bed, filled every closet, and packed the basement. It's not like you had to navigate through piles of stuff to get around the house. Not that I have a problem with that- the best private museum ever was the Sargon Museum of Natural History (my coin, it didn't actually have a name, just an apartment number.) And this place was floor to ceiling packed with butterflies you've never seen, cultural artifacts, antiquities, fossils, you name it...and not the stuff you could get with money, it was the stuff you could only get with the best connections. Despite what some would call "cluttered" you didn't actually have to move, you could sit on the sofa and just look at stuff. Or, pick up the mammoth ivory arm band, or the Viking spearhead sitting on the coffee table next to a 2' tall stack of books. It was joy.
Some interests go, but the collection doesn't. When I was a teen we'd go to the bank, buy $50 in silver dollars, and sort out the real silver coins. I haven't done that in 45 years but I still have those coins; haven't seen them in three years though. I know I have some old black power cannons- actually shoot- from museum gift shops back in the day. LOL. Not any more! Wait, you want to eat dinner with Cutco knives? Not in this house. I'll admit to having parted with the 1960s Hoover vacuum...technology put it to shame. I do have every single cell phone I've ever had, functional, including the Motorola Brick; this isn't collecting, I may need one some day. It's about time to rotate the 7' hand painting of Angkor Wat for something else.
Why spend money on a new Honda Civic when you can buy used the first year 2009 Acura TLS SHAWD with 307 naturally aspirated HP for less? So every time you need a car, you don't buy a cheap new one, you buy a cheap classic. I'll admit though, without a storage barn the autos became a chore and I did part with most of them. Like everything, if you take care of it it will last a long time, and if you keep them all next thing you know, you have a collection. Uh oh. It creeps up on you.
The library. I always loved those old British manor estates, passed down through generations, because they have a five tier library. Now we're talking. Why toss old books, your great-great-great-grandson might want to read it. So while my library wasn't even three tiers, it was pretty extensive. Wife said I can't keep it all when we move. I was aghast. But there were books I'd never read again, despite being great books, and nobody else seems to want to read them. Heck, nobody in my family has read the books I've written, I just can't understand, doesn't everyone love reference books? So the books have been going to new homes- most, not ironically, other collectors. I've dumped virtually all of my old SciFi, though did pull out Canticle for Leibowitz to read one last time.
So incidentally, almost accidentally, in-depth interests and time have conspired to build me a fabulous museum. You know, I like it.
What's your museum look like?
From my very youth, I loved museums and libraries. Everything was there to look at in real life, in detail. Everything was at your fingertips in 3D. Museums are of course educational displays of niches of the world, but they are also collections.
I'll not wax on about what psychologists say about collectors, their needs, the drivers, their insecurities. To me, a collection is a museum, right at home. A library BTW is a collection of books yet I rarely see the shrinks say much about peoples' libraries.
The problem with museums and libraries is that to the experience they are mundane and boring. They are limited to what they display. Not to say the displays aren't cool- look at the insect displays at AMNH and Carnegie. But they don't have everything. And, you can't touch them.
My parents called me "Dr. Why" because I always asked "why." I want to know it all. I must know. I must do it. How do you time the chain after replacing the cylinder head? What does make the AK47 so special, and why do people still actually believe Kalashnikov designed it? Why does our Tiger Swallowtail look different than the rest? What do you mean there were significant economic factors that would induce New England to embrace war with the southern states? What type of bird is that in the headdress? Why do people from Norway look different from the Indonesians? What do you mean Norwegian language is related to Hungarian, how can that be? When did they stop making US coins with silver? Is Stanleyville any better off now?
And so, my home has become a museum and library. And, even better, there's no stupid Starry Night reprints, no junk machine made carpets, it's all cool artwork- bokhara carpets, papyrus paintings, real insects, Fiji warclubs, precolombian masks, antique Hmong hill tribe outfits, Meow tribe silver jewelry, Original US Army photos used for small arms training manuals, Tongan Tapa mats, my god what else, etc.
The library of course delves into incredible details you won't find in public libraries- long forgotten explorers, now forgotten battles of WW2, global history, nature, you name it. Plus of course the antique books.
My wife will tell you I never got rid of anything. This is true; I have my grade school artwork, 50 YO Aurora dinosaur models, cap guns, bb guns, a piece of USS Constitution, you name it, I got it. Except stamps- those I laminated and use for bookmarks. Coins? I search every handful I get and pull out silver and wheat pennies which go in the jug of silver dollars and Kennedy halves. I have type specimens, and in other fields I have the earliest, I have the only one known to still exist.
Oh no! A psychologically challenged collector! Perhaps, but I do part with stuff. When the missus asked how we were going to pay for a new boat I said "I'll sell this item I've had" and done. When she needed a new vehicle I said "oh I just some some of this old stuff, let's pay cash." My museum has never crashed and lost as much as my 401k. And some of this old junk is now stupid money. My god, I wish my dad let me buy that 1969 Shelby Cobra GT500 for $7500. I'd be retired today.
I do not like boring homes with repop artwork prints and cheap fake flowers. I like MUSEUM HOMES! And garages. The focus may not be my thing, so it's fun to explore, ask questions, handle, and learn. YES I DO want to see your Buprestids! One buddy has hundreds of those old planes, he can recreate any crown molding dating back to the early 1800s. Another has motorcyles behind a velvet rope- in the living room. Another who recently passed had every machine gun known to man. The brother restore 1930s vintage racing sailboats (they have some cash.) Another couple has their own maritime museum focusing on local history. I LOVE museums. I suppose since they're not MY collection they don't count for the shrink analysis.
I am in the process of downsizing. Aside from artwork-type stuff that could be considered standard fare for a normal house, at one time the stuff was under every bed, filled every closet, and packed the basement. It's not like you had to navigate through piles of stuff to get around the house. Not that I have a problem with that- the best private museum ever was the Sargon Museum of Natural History (my coin, it didn't actually have a name, just an apartment number.) And this place was floor to ceiling packed with butterflies you've never seen, cultural artifacts, antiquities, fossils, you name it...and not the stuff you could get with money, it was the stuff you could only get with the best connections. Despite what some would call "cluttered" you didn't actually have to move, you could sit on the sofa and just look at stuff. Or, pick up the mammoth ivory arm band, or the Viking spearhead sitting on the coffee table next to a 2' tall stack of books. It was joy.
Some interests go, but the collection doesn't. When I was a teen we'd go to the bank, buy $50 in silver dollars, and sort out the real silver coins. I haven't done that in 45 years but I still have those coins; haven't seen them in three years though. I know I have some old black power cannons- actually shoot- from museum gift shops back in the day. LOL. Not any more! Wait, you want to eat dinner with Cutco knives? Not in this house. I'll admit to having parted with the 1960s Hoover vacuum...technology put it to shame. I do have every single cell phone I've ever had, functional, including the Motorola Brick; this isn't collecting, I may need one some day. It's about time to rotate the 7' hand painting of Angkor Wat for something else.
Why spend money on a new Honda Civic when you can buy used the first year 2009 Acura TLS SHAWD with 307 naturally aspirated HP for less? So every time you need a car, you don't buy a cheap new one, you buy a cheap classic. I'll admit though, without a storage barn the autos became a chore and I did part with most of them. Like everything, if you take care of it it will last a long time, and if you keep them all next thing you know, you have a collection. Uh oh. It creeps up on you.
The library. I always loved those old British manor estates, passed down through generations, because they have a five tier library. Now we're talking. Why toss old books, your great-great-great-grandson might want to read it. So while my library wasn't even three tiers, it was pretty extensive. Wife said I can't keep it all when we move. I was aghast. But there were books I'd never read again, despite being great books, and nobody else seems to want to read them. Heck, nobody in my family has read the books I've written, I just can't understand, doesn't everyone love reference books? So the books have been going to new homes- most, not ironically, other collectors. I've dumped virtually all of my old SciFi, though did pull out Canticle for Leibowitz to read one last time.
So incidentally, almost accidentally, in-depth interests and time have conspired to build me a fabulous museum. You know, I like it.
What's your museum look like?
