Kim,

Although you can't match the hats to the box now, you might be able to do so
in the future (with a great deal of research).  I sympathize with your
storage dilemma, but the best choice would be to keep all the boxes and at
least try to document which 2-3 hats were found in each one. Second best is
to photo document them all and save one or two of the best examples from
each business or maker represented by the boxes. Hat boxes are an
interesting part of the hats' history and origins and your boxes are part of
the donor's original collection.   Good luck!

-Carmen Langel
Nat'l Czech & Slovak Museum & Library




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kimberly Kenney, Curator" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 8:55 AM
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] hat boxes -- to keep or not to keep?


> Hello all,
>
> We just received a fairly large collection of mid-20th
> century ladies hats.
>
> Many of these hats came to us in hat boxes, but the
> problem is that 2-4 hats are inside each box.  Most of
> them cannot be authenticated as "THE" hat that came in
> the box, because labels don't match, etc.
>
> I am planning to remove the hats from the boxes and
> place them in acid-free storage boxes.  But what do I
> do with the hat boxes themselves?
>
> What do you do at your museum?  Do you accession the
> empty boxes separately and take up double the storage
> space?  Or do you pitch them?  Does it matter if you
> can match the hat up with the correct box or not?  Do
> "orphan" boxes matter?
>
> There are quite a few boxes in this particular
> collection -- so we aren't talking about one or two.
> Storage space -- like always, everywhere -- is
> limited.
>
> I also have this question about shoes that are or
> aren't in their original boxes.  Do the boxes
> themselves matter?  Usually if the boxes are
> identified with a local department store, I have been
> keeping them and accessioning them as their own
> artifacts (that goes for shoes, hats, clothing boxes,
> etc).  But if the box comes from a major department
> store that could have been purchased in town or across
> the country, do I want to keep that?
>
> Incidentally, I can't ask the donor.  She is suffering
> from dementia in a nursing home, and the hats were
> brought in by her son, who has no more information to
> provide...
>
> Any advice is greatly appreciated.
>
> Kim Kenney
>
>
>                           Kimberly A. Kenney, Curator
> Wm. McKinley Presidential Library & Museum
> 800 McKinley Monument Dr. NW
> Canton OH 44708 * 330-455-7043
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ar."  -- 25th United States President William McKinley
>
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