Eric - There's a tobacco museum here in Ontario, Canada - believe it or not, even this far north we can grow tobacco quite successfully. Successfully until of course, the anti-smoking lobby got very active in the past few years. (No I'm not a smoker and not an ex-smoker, just making an observation.) A number of the tobacco farms have been turned over to peanuts (believe it or not!) and ginseng. But there is still tobacco being grown. You can reach them: Mary Baruth, Operations Coordinator/Curator, Ontario Tobacco Museum & Heritage Centre, 200 Talbot Road, Delhi, Ontario, Canada N4B 2A2. Or call (519)582-0278 or fax (519)582-0122. I'm sure Mary would be happy to speak with you about their operation and others they are familiar with. Good luck. At 03:18 PM 7/17/97 +0000, you wrote: >We would appreciate any help or advice in our effort to establish an >international tobacco museum. We are new to the museum world, but we >hold the world's largest archive on the tobacco issue. Here is some >background information... > >At least a dozen or so tobacco museums have documented tobacco's history >reflecting the role of tobacco in the economic and social development of >the United States and other countries around the world. These museums, >that explore the diversity of cultures that have shaped and been shaped >by tobacco trade, are supported primarily by the tobacco industry. For >example, the Museum of Tobacco Art and History in Nashville, Tennessee, >supported by United States Tobacco (UST) features a unique collection of >pipes and other artifacts from every part of the world and traces "the >history of tobacco dating from pre-Columbian times." > >We have had the opportunity to visit many of these museums in a number >of countries, including Sweden, France, Japan (the Tobacco and Salt >Museum), Canada, and Germany. In not a single museum is there an >accurate reference to the public health efforts during the past century >to counteract tobacco use and its promotion. > >For more than two decades, through the work of an organization known as >DOC, we have monitored, documented and saved every bit of information on >both sides of this controversial issue. Several years ago, we >established the DOC Tobacco Archive and International Resource Center. >This vast collection of materials in print, audio, video, and other >media, documents the history of tobacco use, the influence of tobacco >advertising on society, and world-wide public health efforts to >counteract its use. > >Newspapers, magazines, trade journals, annual reports, and other >documents from major tobacco companies, advertisements, point-of-sale >promotional displays, posters and signs, audio cassettes, video footage, >books, photographs, slides, toys, and other ephemera demonstrate the >role of tobacco in popular culture around the world. Political and >legislative activities of the tobacco industry and public health >organizations are documented by transcripts, Congressional records, >hearings, depositions, conference proceedings, internal correspondence, >and other documents. > >The collection holds more than 200,000 tobacco industry documents >covering a variety of topics including research, marketing plans, and >the industry's 14-year collaboration with the American Medical >Association (yes, you read that correctly). > >The archive also includes a rare collection of cigarette advertisements >in medical journals from the 1930s to (believe it or not) the 1980s. >These are quite rare, as most of you understand that when the journals >are bound for libraries, the advertising pages are removed. We have >literally tracked these journals through medical societies throughout >the country over the past twenty years. Additionally, the 2,000 books >in the collection (including more than 200 rare books) provide a great >history of this controversial subject that seems to have dominated >headlines around the world. > >With access to more than 7 hours of original one-inch reels of cigarette >commercials made for television in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, we >produced a video called "Smoke That Cigarette" (named after the once >popular song). The film uses vintage clips of tobacco company executives >juxtaposed with pioneering researchers like Dr. Alton Ochsner (one of >the first to make the connection between smoking and lung cancer in the >1930s). Mixed in are the old, but memorable jingles in cigarette >commercials. > >This socio-cultural resource on the tobacco issue covers the issue from >all vantage points over a period of more than a century. We feel the >materials naturally serve the establishment of a museum, and we've >established this as a three-year goal. > >We are members of the Texas Association of Museums (TAM). We presented >this topic at their annual meeting two years ago, and we are excited to >becoming a part of the museum community. TAM has been very helpful in >our planning stages, but we seek advice from anyone interested in >providing a helping hand. > >While we are currently based in Houston, Texas, we are shopping around >for any community that thinks we can be an added attraction or point of >interest. Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions? Please share. > >Thanks. > >Eric Solberg, M.A. >Executive Director >5615 Kirby Drive, Suite 440 >Houston, Texas 77005 >(800) DOC-9340 >[log in to unmask] > > Thomas A. Reitz Manager/Curator Doon Heritage Crossroads R.R. #2 Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2G 3W5 Telephone: 519-748-1439 ext. 227 Fax: 519-748-0009 e-mail: [log in to unmask] http://www.region.waterloo.on.ca/doon/