We recently exhibited a gallows. Due to the recent stories of children
hanging themselves in washrooms from cloth continuous towel dispensers, I
instructed that our Designer make it a 'break-away' noose. Sure enough, we
found it pulled down several times over the course of the exhibit. The rope
was not the original, so cutting it and fastening it in place lightly at the
point where it passed over the overhead beam was not a problem.

I had to tie the noose using information from my old Ashley Book of Knots
(1944) that I had acquired in my sea-faring days. This is THE book on knots
for anyone having to use or exhibit ropes, knots, braiding, nooses etc.
Tells you the knots used by sailors, cowboys, bakers, whalers, painters,
housewives, mountain climbers etc. ANY kind of knot you can image is in
there.

Colin Macgregor Stevens,
Curator,
Burnaby Village Museum,
Burnaby, BC, CANADA
=================================================================
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Belinda Nickles
Sent: March 23, 2000 14:46

When I was on the curatorial staff at Boot Hill
Museum at Dodge City, Kansas, I always had people
ask why we had removed the hangman's noose from a
tree in Boot Hill Cemetery.  I explained that the
noose was dangerous (people were always posing for
pictures with their head in the noose and standing
on tip-toe) ...Belinda Nickles Museum Consultant

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).