Coal, at least anthracite, is black and shiny and tends to fracture in flat planes. Lava is grey, porous, and dull and has a sort of bubbly appearance. Too bad, though, as it's nice and light. Anne Anne T Lane, Collections Manager The Charlotte Museum of History where history has a home 3500 Shamrock Drive Charlotte NC 28215 704-568-1774 X110 Fax - 704-566-1817 [log in to unmask] ________________________________ From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Barbara Hass Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2010 11:19 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Charcoal types for historic house museums how about lava rocks? these are sold in bags for gas grills and they look like chunk coal Pictured on this web site http://www.gasproductscompany.com/gas-products/lava-rock-20-lb.html found by diligent searching using the terms fake charcoal gas grills Barbara Hass, retired librarian In a message dated 10/13/2010 5:37:54 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Hello All, I work at an 1891 historic house farmstead with original coal burning fireplaces and stove. However, we are not a living history museum and do not use the fireplaces or stove for demonstrations. Some staff members want to have bituminous charcoal samples in the fireplaces and coal buckets to show children what would have been appropriate. I am hesitant to have actual coal in the historic house instead of reproduction for fear of combustion, off-gassing, and dust particles harming the collection. I have found that lignite is extremely volatile, but have not found the likelihood of combustion on bituminous. I would like to have some facts or statics to show our director on why we should not, or if it is okay, should use actual coal. Any thoughts or comments from those who have dealt with a similar situation would be most appreciated. Thank you, Hillary Kidd Curator of Collections Heritage Farmstead Museum Plano, Texas 972-422-6481 fax www.heritagefarmstead.org<http://www.heritagefarmstead.org/> ========================================================= 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]<mailto:[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]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= 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]<mailto:[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]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= 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).