Colin,

As I recall, Smithsonian Air & Space sold framed bits of fabric, with an
authentication certificate, from historic aircraft (seems to me one was the
Wright Flyer) as a means of supporting their mission.

Like all registrars, I am constantly faced with the problem of collecting
vs. storage.  Obviously, we must take a balanced approach.  From my point
of view, much of these scraps, no matter how "historic," are not worth
keeping.  Salvaging for the collection certain displayable parts, such as
your institution's gear with the manufacturer's name, makes sense; keeping
all the scraps of leather, old stuffing, corroded bits of aluminum, rusty
(and more often than not, broken) springs, burnt wiring, etc. that results
from restoration does not.  I would want the restoration project videotaped
and I would keep a few samples of the scraps to tangibly illustrate what
the restorers had to deal with.

Friends who are on Museum-L know I could run on for hours, so I'll end
here.

Tim Bottoms
Registrar
Cape Fear Museum





Colin Macgregor Stevens <[log in to unmask]>@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
on 08/23/2000 03:43:23 PM

Please respond to Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>

Sent by:  Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>


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Subject:  Re: I Am Very Concerned-- What do with replaced parts?


A dilemma.

A museum is restoring a typical Model T Ford vintage vehicle. The rotten
tires are replaced, the seats may be reupholstered, and rusted out metal
parts may be replaced rather than repaired. Some components may be rebuilt
with a kit so there will be lots of little bits left over. The old seat
cushions may be non-original, incorrect, mouldy, chewed up by mice etc.

What to do with the left over bits?

Sometimes the decision is easy if it is a major piece. In our case have a
1912 C.W. Parker "Carry-us-all" (Carousel) serial number 119 that was
rebuilt to full working order with over 30,000 hours of volunteer labour.
The main gear wheel sections had to be replaced. I put those into the
collection and one section, with the maker's name as part of the casting,
is
on display in our orientation plaza. What however is one to do with all of
the little bits of rotten wood, frayed electrical wires, rusted metal?

Consider the situation of an air museum restoring a salvaged airplane to
flying condition where flight safety becomes paramount and many parts need
to be replaced. Or, consider the Canadian Museum of Flight in Langley,
British Columbia, Canada that is restoring a WWII RCAF Hampden bomber (one
of only 2 Hampden's left in the world I believe) for static display. In
both
cases there are many corroded or damaged metal parts. This Hampden bomber
for example was salvaged from the sea bed about 400 feet down. The Hampden
is being reskinned so virtually all of the original aluminum skin is being
replaced. This leaves one big junk pile of "the real thing".

What about when one restores an historic building? One can end up with
piles
of old lumber, wallpaper scraps etc.

Now, what is a museum to do with the parts that have been replaced from a
restoration project?

* Some museums might garbage all or some of these items.
* Other museums, with LOTS of storage space   :-)  might "bag and tag"
everything (well, maybe not the old oil and stinky gas that they drained
out
of it.)
* Others might sell off some of the surplus scraps with authentication
certificates. ("Buy an authentic piece of the ____ and help the museum!")
Many people would love to have authenticated relics of a famous aircraft
type.

I suspect that there will be a variety of opinions, practices etc.

I was once given an old life ring from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
St.
Roch (pronounced "rock") which was discarded when the vessel was restored.
She was the first vessel to sail through the Northwest Passage West to
East,
the first to traverse it in a single season, and the first to
circumnavigate
North America. She is now a museum ship in Vancouver, BC.  I later donated
the St. Roch life ring to the RCMP Museum in Regina, Saskatchewan. [As an
aside, the St. Roch II, an RCMP vessel temporarily renamed for the
occasion,
is traversing the Northwest Passage as this memo is being written.]

What if a museum decided to dispose of the scraps and not offer them to the
public under any circumstance? Not everyone would agree with such an
approach.

Comments?

Colin Macgregor Stevens,
Curator,
Burnaby Village Museum,
Burnaby, BC, CANADA

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