Is a museum where objects go when they die? Or is it a place where the potential of objects is unleashed?

Those were the preliminary questions posed the Unleashing the Power of Objects session I attended at the joint MPMA AMM conference this year, led by Steve Friesen (Director of the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave), Kiersten Latham (School of Library & Information Management, Emporia State University), and Eli Paul (Director of the National World War I Museum).

The session covered more than the “hide, protect & preserve” versus “show, educate & share” philosophical debate, but rather focused on the sacred and secular powers of objects. Some scholars call these kind of experiences “numinous”.

One example of this is Abraham Lincoln’s hat.

Top Hat Worn By Lincoln At Ford Theater

Lincoln and his hat are very popular. Lincoln is mentioned so often at conferences, at workshops and during lectures that hubby and I joke, “Everybody loves Lincoln.” It’s not an exaggeration. When the Smithsonian created an exhibit of 150 of the most popular (powerful) objects in their collection, Lincoln’s hat made the cut.

“It’s not unusual to see people raise their heads from examining this thing and see tears in their eyes,” said J. Michael Carrigan, the exhibition director, of the hat.

Why we are all so attached to Lincoln’s hat is debatable. Maybe a hat just makes him seem real, human, and vulnerable; maybe we just are drawn to an everyday object from a time long ago, which draws the line between yesterday and today. Lincoln certainly had no idea that his hat was or would become iconic. He didn’t opt to wear it to become powerful or memorable, it was just the fashion at the time. In fact, his top hat was a cheap hat made of cardboard with beaver fur glued on. But whatever ‘it’ is, the hat’s power is more than a symbol; it’s a connection.

When we stand before it, we “feel” or “know” Lincoln in a way that reading, visualizing, or even seeing a photo of it can’t compete with. We want to see it — make pilgrimages to see it; we’d touch it if we could. We have numinous experiences with that hat.

The Smithsonian is aware of the power of Lincoln’s hat, which means the museum is now facing a difficult decision.

Lincoln’s top hat is in bad shape — the kind of bad shape where it’s days are numbered. (Being a cheaply made hat of 143 years, it’s lucky to still be here to cause visitors to weep.) The Smithsonian can either prolong the object’s life, putting it away in the temperature controlled dark for ‘future generations’, or leave it on display and have it deteriorate before the our eyes — slowly, but surely.

The riddle this poses is rather like those questions posed at the top of this post; the ones listed in the museum conference session description. Is it better to preserve and protect the object — letting it physically survive (at least a while longer) at the expense of it’s death to the public; or is it better to let it live and be loved until it physically passes away — allowing the people who come to stand before it have their numious experience?

Let’s say you are the one who has to make that call; what do you do?

Hubby, ever the pragmatist (and believer in technology), says he would put it away under the faith that better conservation methods will one day be available, allowing the old hat to be safely displayed to the delight of those future generations.

But I wonder if Lincoln’s hat, long hidden and perhaps forgotten, would then be returned to display only to be placed in front of people who didn’t have the same connection to it…

Since we don’t know exactly what causes us to stand before Abraham Lincoln’s top hat and have such profound reactions, we can’t necessarily say that the hat’s ‘it’ factor will be here engaging and evoking people as it does today.

So, is it better to save the hat for future people who may not care so much, or to allow it fade away to nothing in front of the people who care so much they weep?

So I’m flipping through an issue of the National Enquirer from 1979, as I’m wont to do — don’t look at me like that, you’d do it too if you had some.

Women Born From 1905 to 1909 Had The Fewest Children

Anyway, I find this snippet (buried on page 63 of the issue dated February 20, 1979), titled “Women Born From 1905 to 1909 Had The Fewest Children.” And it fascinates me.

You know how I love to read about that feminist stuff — or, as some might say, turn everything into feminist stuff. But there’s just the three scant paragraphs. And it’s the National Enquirer for gosh-sake.

So, being in ‘the library’ (yes, that’s a euphemism for the bathroom) and, still pondering the subject of childless women who were born in the early 1900’s, I reach for whatever other reading material might be laying in the magazine rack.

Through what, again, can only be described as the Serendipity Of The Collecting Gods, my hand finds a back issue of The Keynoter, the Journal of the American Political Items Conservators published by the American Political Items Collectors.

On page 42 of that Winter, 2007, issue is an article titled “I Am For Playgrounds” by Steve Baxley. It describes the story behind the William Howard Taft celluloid button bearing the same slogan.

Taft: I Am For Playgrounds

You, like political memorabilia collector Steve Mihaly, might wonder why this would be a political slogan — after all, who could possibly not be for playgrounds?

Baxley explains how back in the 1890’s urban areas were opening play lots where children could play within urban areas. Baxley writes:

Many women involved in the women’s suffrage movement also became involved in the Mother’s and Children’s Movement, which tried to influence state and local legislators to pass legislation protecting women and child laborers and create schools, kindergartens, and playgrounds to keep children off the street. Though these women could not vote, they were very successful in influencing stare and local government officials in achieving these goals. By 1905, many of the larger cities were providing appropriations for the maintenance of playgrounds.

In 1906 the Playground Association of America was founded. President Taft supported the group’s work as well as appropriations for playgrounds; this is where the button comes from.

What’s all this got to do with the low birthrate among women born between 1905 and 1909 — the very girls who would have played on those playgrounds?

I don’t know. Not really.

But the historian in me must make (educated) guesses.

The women born between 1905 and 1909 were the same young girls who grew up during the years of the women’s suffrage movement in the US. They would have seen the struggle, heard the talk, and knew they could have greater freedom of choice in living their lives. They too would see, if not quite be, part of the flapper movement. Activism and parenting being almost completely at odds with one another, some may have opted not to have children — and at this time, birth control, thanks to Margaret Sanger, was becoming a realistic option.

And, just as these young women were perhaps thinking of starting a family…

Along comes The Great Depression — the one of that started about 1929, not the one some say we are approaching now — and the birthrate fell about one-tenth globally from the rate during the “prosperous” 1920’s. In America, the birth rate dropped below the replacement level for the first time in history.

Pretty good guesses, huh.

But then I have all my ephemera to thank for that.  And my ‘library’ time.

Last week’s Hawaii quarter may have been the first time the island state has appeared on U.S. currency, but there were far more coins minted in Hawaii’s honor than most people know.  The Hawaiian dollar existed for only a short time, but reflects a unique time in the U.S.’ influence in the South Pacific.

Hawaii’s first modern government was established in the early 19th century, but it wasn’t until 1847 that they established a modern treasury and issued currency.   Prior to this time, the native currency of traders and visiting ships was used, and the local economy was so small it was not difficult to trade in foreign money.   As the economy and population grew, it became more difficult to exchange disparate monies, so a new, local money was established. The 1847 Kamehameha penny was the first coin issued by the Hawaiian government.  The penny was just the smallest denomination, with one “dala” (or dollar) was the largest, and several coins in between paralelling the structure and value of the U.S. dollar of the time, and all were minted in copper.   These coins were produced in small numbers, just enough for the small population on the island, by a private U.S. mint known for producing Hard Times tokens. The public didn’t completely take to the money, so the local banks had plenty to use, and no more coins were produced until the reign of King Kalakaua.

King Kalakaua was much more a product of Victorian times than his predecessors, and wished to make Hawaii a power in the South Pacific.  He increased trade with the United States, bringing more income to his small nation, and as such needed new money to improve his country’s economy.  The old coins were eliminated from circulation, and a new set of money was commissioned.

The U.S. Mint (as it still does today for other countries) produced this new coinage for Hawaii, and in 1883 they came up with Hawaii’s four requested coins: 1 dollar, 1/2 dollar, 1/4 dollar, and 1/8 dollar.  The first three matched U.S. coins of the same size and value, but the 1/8 dollar was a sticking point.   Coming up with a custom coin size would require a significant amount of mint re-working and new planchettes just for Hawaii, so a compromise was made:  Hawaii would have a dime instead.   While the 1/8 Dollar never reached regular circulation, in 1884 20 ‘proof’ sets of Hawaiian currency were produced by the Mint in Philadelphia…and the 1/8 dollar was included.    These 1/8th dollar coins are the most rare coin from Hawaii’s kingdom age, nearly impossible to find aside from private collections.    Pre-1880s coins are also extremely rare, due to their destruction and unlikeliness of leaving the islands at the time.   The Kamehameha pennies were slightly more common, because the lack of a penny denomination in the Kalakua era meant some people still circulated the old pennies for making change between the dime and the quarter-dollar coins.  Larger denominations were also produced as paper currency, up to a $500 bill, in the allegorical style of most Western Hemisphere money of the time.

In 1898, Hawaii officially became a territory of the  United States, and eventually the U.S. dollar supplanted their local currency.   Because the Hawaiian dollar was already based on U.S. dollar parity, it required no significant effort.   This wasn’t the end of special Hawaiian money, though.    In anticipation of World War II spreading throughout the South Pacific, the U.S. Treasury came up with a plan to avoid inadvertently financing Japan’s war.   Money distributed to Hawaiian banks was stamped with the word “HAWAII” on the front and back.    As long as Hawaii remained under U.S. control, those dollars would be the equivalent of a regular U.S. dollar, but if Japan were to invade and take over Hawaii, raiding their banks for funds, the Hawaii-stamped dollars would become as valuable as Monopoly dollars.  Thankfully, that day never came, but money stamped “Hawaii” remained in circulation for a short amount of time, a few returning in the pockets of sailors and soldiers stationed in the South Pacific.  These do not appear to have been minted specifically for Hawaii, but were stamps added to regular-circulation dollars in preparation for shipment to Hawaii, and most are of the 1934 and 1935 varieties.    As these eventually went back to the treasury and were destroyed, few still exist today.   While they can be relatively easy to find, they do demand a significant premium, $10-$50 depending on denomination and condition, and appeal to both numismatists and WWII collectors.

As discussed, I’m a huge history nerd. To make matters ‘worse’ I am also one of those parents who prefers that kids not only learn but seek knowledge. I see collecting as one way to instill such passion in our kids (and adults too). Sure, our kids are called ‘weird’ — apparently for just not falling far enough from their weird-parent-trees. (Thanks, Wes Cowan!) But in this age of video games and passive entertainment, I’m thrilled to produce geeks & nerds.

However, instilling such passion in your children is work. It means you have to make the time, be it at home, the thrift store, or right there on the auction floor, to educate your kids… Maybe push them a little bit too. And it means you need to look past a lot of mainstream stuff (i.e. popular toys) to find gifts for your children which will delight as well as continue to quench their nerdy curiosities. That’s not always easy to do. And it’s even more difficult to find something that you can collect together.

So far we’ve bonded over games, vintage vinyl, books, and History Detectives. But there are less ‘new’ items which seem to meet all my (admittedly persnickety) needs. The Noah’s Pals animals are neat, helping with those environmental lessons, but what about history?

Historical Plush Beanie Collectible Figures

Enter the Famous Be’an Collectibles.

Made by Creation Station LLC, Famous Be’an® Collectibles are plush ‘bean stuffed’ toys like Beanie Babies — however, Famous Be’ans are famous historical beings.

Each historical figure is dressed in their appropriate period attire and includes a hang tag with an original colorful illustration and accurate historical information — in poetic verse and prose, to pique interest (we all hope!).

You’ve got your presidents, like Lincoln and JFK, and their wives, such as Mary Todd Lincoln and Jacqueline Kennedy; but there are so many other historical figures and legends too. Activists & authors, explorers & entrepreneurs, inventors and scientists, outlaws & musicians — even animals.

Plush President Lincoln & Other Famous Be'an Collectibles

Standing in front of their booth at the recent museum conference, I was giddy. So many cool plush toys — and so many possibilities for collecting with my kids!

Aside from just being cool history themed things to collect, there are many other reasons why adults will enjoy collecting Famous Be’ans with children:

• There’s a wide variety of historical figures to choose from.
• Because these collectibles are being made today, kids can put their favorite Famous Be’an on holiday lists for Santa and on birthday lists for extended family members.
• And the familiar/understandable topics means people know what the heck the kids are talking about — which means adults can more easily find and purchase the gifts as well as have actual conversations with the children about their collection. (And isn’t that part of what both collecting and gift giving are about?)

Socks The Cat As Famous Be'an

You (or grandma!) can even sign up for the Famous Be’an® Collectible of the Month Club and have a new plush collectible come to your home every month. The company allows you to specify particular areas of interest (Civil War, Native American, etc.) and if you send them a list of which Famous Be’ans you already own, they’ll make sure not to send you duplicates.

For all this ease, Famous Be’ans are real collectibles. Figures will be retired — in fact, some already are! This adds to the thrill of the hunt as you try to find ‘who’ you can while they are available — then search the secondary market for those you have missed.

The company also offers Famous Be’an bookmarks and collecting accessories, such as display cases and display stands. (And if you’re a teacher, there are even Famous Be’an lesson plan books.)

To add to the fun, there are even exclusive designs sold as souvenirs and fundraisers to museums and other organizations. That means you & your family can enjoy discovering new historical figures when you travel to historic sites and exhibits — like Socks the Cat at the Bill Clinton Museum. Now you can get the kids excited about ‘another family car trip’ *wink*

Museum Souvenir Historical Figure Plush Toys

(While some of the exclusives are listed on the website, other gems like Socks and the Headless Horseman shown here are not. Contact Creation Station for a complete list of Famous Be’ans and locations.)

Mom, Dad, hubby… anyone who knows me, if you’re reading this I’ve simply got to add Susan B. Anthony and Rosie the Riveter to my ‘feminist’ collection. Belle Starr too.

And then there’s the kids… Hunter will want Abe Lincoln, Destiny will want Blackbeard, and Allie will want Seaman the dog.

OK, I’m pretty sure that between the kids and I, we want them all. They are just too-too cool.

Vintage Ford Service Station, Lenexa Garage, Courtesy Johnson County Museum

Meeting In The Middle, the 2008 annual conference for both the Mountain-Plains Museums Association & the Association of Midwest Museums, was held last week. One of the Wednesday sessions that I attended was Create Access To Your Collections — Digitizing Collaboratively, which was all about the process of creating JoCoHistory.net, a collaborative project of the Johnson County Museum, Johnson County Library, Johnson County Archives, and Olathe Public Library to provide greater access to historical materials related to Johnson County, Kansas.

Now, before you non-technical &/or non-Kansas folks let your eyes glaze over or begin to reach for that ‘back’ button on your browser, let me tell you this is one fascinating project for collectors.

1979 Halloween Party Photo, Courtesy of Johnson County Museum

And just plain fun for those of us who just love looking at old photos.

Sure it’s focused on one county in Kansas, but as far as online databases go, it’s so much more than that. With this easy to use site, even if you aren’t a collector of Kansas, you certainly can find images and information on rather any historical collection you have. Along with search options, there are easily understood categories (people, places, groups, etc.) & collections (by museum, society etc.), all cross referenced with a timeline.

Along with providing greater access to old photographs, valuable ephemera, & historical information (and preserving those fragile photos & paper), JoCoHistory.net makes connections that might otherwise have been missed.

Antique Photo Postcard, Children Riding Ostrich, Courtesy Johnson County Museum

In schools, for example, teachers are finding the resources to make the connections between the national or ‘big picture’ history lessons and the local stories, heroes and events — including finding places for field trips & tours.

And students can get help with with their homework! No, they won’t be given cheat-sheets or the answers, but they will be assisted in where & how to find the answers. Local biographies, something largely missed in school texts, standard history books and even on the Internet, are luring students into pursuing more individual research. Students of all ages are becoming interested in history! And JoCoHistory is quickly discovering that interest in the site isn’t only local — parents & kids from other locations around the US are contacting the site for help in making the connections to their own locations.

OK, call me a history nerd, but how thrilling is that?

But wait, there’s more! Like the Ginsu knives, JoCoHistory offers much more for collectors and amateur historians.

• It’s all easy to use, with the candy (images) right there for sweet instant gratification. That’s so important for me; when researching I often prefer to scan photos to see if a database really has what I am looking for.
• You can get prints of the photos &/or higher quality scans of the images to print yourself. With each listing you’ll get information on Owner, Ordering Information, Resource Identifier, & Photo Use and Limitations — complete with links for easy access.
• Research tools for further help.

Retro Smaks Drive In Sign, Photo Courtesy Johnson County Museum

Perhaps the coolest feature is the History Mystery section, where JoCoHistory features images they’d like help with. If you can identify something or someone in the image shown, you can easily send in your information. What’s more, this feature is active on all images on the site simply by clicking the link by Feedback. David LaCrone, Digital Content Manager for the Johnson Country Library, says they’ve received 522 comments since the site began two years ago, with tips coming from folks scattered across the globe.

Feedback and comments on items in the database are verified before any information in the official record is changed; if it cannot be substantiated, comments are saved and included as Public Comments only. Hey, these are museums, historical archives & other organizations dedicated to factual details — that’s why we trust them. But these comments are always interesting, varying from the completely informational to the sublime “This is not so-and-so; I know, because I am so-and-so” and the “How great to see family photos; ours were lost to Katrina.”

Vintage Fashion Show, Pember Co. Department Store, Courtesty Olathe Public Library

At the beginning the site had 15,000 images and now it has over 28,000. They’ve learned that the more images and information they upload to the site, the more popular the site gets — and that’s something they intend to exploit. Along with increasing the number of images uploaded, and the number of collaborative partners from other historical societies, museums and organizations (each with their own unique collection of images), JoCoHistory will also be adding other objects — artifacts of the 3D variety in photographic form — as well as audio files to the database. Too cool.

Many other organizations could should take note of all that JoCoHistory has done; it sure would make my life much easier. (When I spend hours at JoCoHistory, it’s because I’m delighted and interested, not frustrated.)

Note: The site is just two years old, yet they will be updating their site by early 2009, including (if it’s possible) an even more intuitive design and a blog. I saw a brief preview and was impressed. So bookmark the main page of JoCoHistory now, kids; the other pages linked to here could change and you won’t want to miss anything.