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Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 11:55:21 EST
From: "Byron A. Johnson (813) 228-0097" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Bob Vila strikes again
To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
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Delivery-date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 12:42:00 EST
Posting-date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 12:41:00 EST
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The responses to this program are interesting -- and puzzling.

First off, one cannot ASSUME anyone outside of a museum professional or an
antiques specialist would have a vague idea of how to pick up (or not)or
touch (or not) an artifact. Had I not had a Winterthur alum as a professor
in museum graduate school I might never have known the right and wrong way
to pick up a chair. Just because someone has a home improvement show does
not mean they know a thing about conservation or materials handling.

Also, anyone who has worked around a camera crew knows that they bathe
anything that is shot in high intensity light, knock lights around with
abandon, usually work like a 6 o'clock evening news crew on deadline, and
know nothing about museum objects. At X-hundred-dollars an hour most of
them just want to get in, shoot and get out. Allowing unsupervised or
unrestricted access, then criticising, is like handing a 6-year-old a
pistol and then crying with grief when he/she shoots someone.

Secondarily, sorry, but historic house or no historic house, irreplaceable
materials should not be placed in a situation of jeopardy or handling. Many
historic houses display one-of-a-kind items in period rooms and try to keep
people out -- sort of a contradiction in terms. Others use replicas and put
the real items in adjacent display areas. Frankly, I think irreplaceable
items should not be on open display, and it should be ACCEPTED that items
in period settings will be subject to limited use and handling under
supervision.

Placing anything in an historic house setting enhances visitor appreciation
but raises the risk factor considerably. And this risk does not always come
from humans. I know of several historic houses that lost irreplaceable
table settings, furniture and other dec arts when chandeliers or plaster
lath fell down, when earthquakes hit, when rivers overflowed their banks,
when fires happened (and no supression systems were in place because it
would have interefered with the period ambiance). Let's face it, the
Declaration of Independence is not kept on the writing table in
Independence Hall.

Another question is whether allowing Bob Vila to wander (or bumble, as some
have implied) through was worth it. Did it increase attendance, revenue and
visibility? Was an extra 2,500 visitors worth the touching of the Wooten
Desk or the furniture? Was a University President touching and emoting
about the antique glass goblet worth the $25,000 check the donor wrote that
night? Especially if it saved someone's job. Is the President of the United
States told, "you can have that Lincoln chair in your office (or Roosevelt
desk), but don't touch or use it." How many historic houses, struggling for
visitors and funding, could say "I'm sorry, we don't allow filming in our
rooms," or, "stop the cameras! you can't touch anything!

In my experience, preparation is everything. Having a museum employee play
"Vana White" and open drawers for the "personality" works, as does handing
them gloves BEFORE the walk through. MOST important is a talk with the crew
before setup -- I have seen more crew-inflicted damage than "personality"
damage.

----------------------------
The Tampa Bay History Center
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
after 2/26 The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
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