When I worked at the Paul Revere House in Boston, the first question most visitors asked was "is it real?" (the house, that is). The staff kept a secret list of answers to that question that we couldn't say to visitors ("no, it's a figment of your imagination...). We tried to use the question to discuss the problem of restoration vs. reconstruction of historic architecture. This went over some heads, so sometimes we had to settle for "yes, it is". In my opinion, some people don't care if something is a reproduction or not as long as they are told honestly what it is; while others will miss the "holy grail" experience if the object is anything less than perfectly intact. Restorations and reproductions have to be honestly labelled, and used as an opportunity to educate the public about the fragility of historic objects. Carol Ely Virginia Discovery Museum