I agree - and I think it's their dedication to the truly ordinary that makes
them so appealing. One of the most successful exhibitions I've ever seen was
one done by my friend Ed Laine, an historian at the Canadian Museum of
Civilization. - which was successful for, inter alia, precisely this reason.

"Cradle to Grave" was an eclectic collection of materials of popular culture,
ranging from the 1790s to the present, used at every stage of life from birth
to death. There are VERY few artifacts in our Canada (history) Hall to which
visitors can relate from their personal experience; what made "Cradle" very
appealing was the high proportion of objects to which visitors - of ALL ages
(and this is important!) could relate, and around which tell stories to their
families and friends. We saw this all through the life of the exhibition. While
a number of our colleagues called it "boring", "a mish-mash", a "cabinet of
household junk", and a few even less friendly names, it was a VERY popular
exhibition which quite obviously allowed visitors to use it as a teaching and
communications tool in their relationships with other visitors. For me, this
represents ultimate success in an exhibition, especially one of popular
culture.

Harry Needham
Canadian War Museum