I have a couple of annecdotes to offer on the topic of Goulish subjects! A couple of years ago here at Colonial Williamsburg we had a special program in which an 18th century gallows was reconstructed and a hanging "event" was staged for public consumption. At the last minute, of course, the prisoners were reprieved. Some members of our public audience were very disappointed that a hanging did not occur and they were vocal about it! I think that this is a good lesson that when we engage our visitors in museum interpretations we shouldn't set up expectations that we can't carry out! :) I also had the pleasure of talking to a museum director in New Jersey whom related to me that the original owner of their historic house & site had served as a judge on a notorious murder trial. The accused was found guilty, he was hung, and then flayed - and his skin was tanned and made into "souviners". The director related to me that some of these "souviners" are still extant in the form of little purses, which some families in the town still proudly possess! It reminds me of the old saying about "making silk purses..." ;) One of my favorite museum experiences when I was a child was going through the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Musuem in St. Augustine FLA - it is the closest thing to a cabinet of curiousities which I've seen. Dave Harvey daveh@everest Conservator of Metals & Arms Colonial Williamsburg P.O. Box 1776 Williamsburg, VA 23187-1776 804-220-7039 =:|\Pinnacle Online - Open and dynamic Internet services:= =:|o\. | | | ______ := =:|_/||\ ||\ | |\.| __ | Voice: 804/498.3889 email: [log in to unmask]:= =:| || \|| \| o | \| \_ .| Data: 804/498.9762 login: guest or new :=