I have beeen given old WW2 Nazi memorabillia.
- Thread starter enmow
- Start date
Having worked in a museum and aided several others, plus having a couple of degrees in history, my personal policy on display material is very simple: I DONATE NOTHING, but I will LOAN ALMOST ANYTHING.
This way the material is shown to the public but remains your property. You can leave it to your kids or whatever, but educate them along the same lines as to having some regard for our history; they just might surprise your ghost and keep the loan in operation.
Do it this way and you can be pretty sure that the items won't be just shovelled into a box, allowed to get wet.... and then thrown out.
Yes, museums DO throw things out. I have a collection of WWI manuals, about half of which are directly traceable to a single individual. I hauled them out of a museum's garbage bin before the sanitation department got there.
LOAN, not give..... if you respect the things yourself.
.
This way the material is shown to the public but remains your property. You can leave it to your kids or whatever, but educate them along the same lines as to having some regard for our history; they just might surprise your ghost and keep the loan in operation.
Do it this way and you can be pretty sure that the items won't be just shovelled into a box, allowed to get wet.... and then thrown out.
Yes, museums DO throw things out. I have a collection of WWI manuals, about half of which are directly traceable to a single individual. I hauled them out of a museum's garbage bin before the sanitation department got there.
LOAN, not give..... if you respect the things yourself.
.
We tried that with the Canadian War Museum. We have our Father's cousin's nose art from his Hurrican IIIc "Hurribomber". Fighter nose art is rare compared to bomber art, and this art is from the plane of one Canada's WWII aces, a DFC holder, and one of only a few pilots to garner kills in both Europe and Asia. They said they'd be happy to take it as a donation with no guarantee of display. Thanks, but no thanks.
Anyone can start a Museum. It's only when the Museum starts displaying (shock! dismay!) guns that the regulatory BS starts, meaning that there are storage considerations, inspections and all the rest. For firearms, an alarm system and secure display is mandatory.
If you stick to 14th Century Ruthenian needlepoint, you're okay, but half of your customers might be bored to tears.
Nice thing about a museum is that the museum itself becomes the permit-holder.... and a museum, licensed and approved, can own anything.
.
If you stick to 14th Century Ruthenian needlepoint, you're okay, but half of your customers might be bored to tears.
Nice thing about a museum is that the museum itself becomes the permit-holder.... and a museum, licensed and approved, can own anything.
.
- Location
- Tucson, Arizona
Funny one; Many years ago,one of our local museums was donated some WW1 stuff by the widow of a Vet. One of the items was a "potato masher" The curator was going through the box and found it, Out of curiosity, he unscrewed the cap on the end and a string with a little porcelain ball on it fell out! EOD from our airbase was called and took it away.
