Industrial Museums

In this post I would like to call attention to John Cotton Dana’s chapter entitled “An Industrial Exhibit in a Municipal Museum.” Overall, I think Dana’s explanation of the exhibition sounded excellent. There was a single focus, varying displays, and interpretation. Moreover, I loved that there was to be a potter working on a wheel for three hours every day. The audience that the Newark Museum pulled in was described as diverse and intrigued (although he did not give his means of gathering this information). Moreover, this model Industrial Exhibit even featured a civic theme as it was associated with “the ‘Buy in America’ campaign (p.154).

Today it seems industrial sites do not have the personal appeal that many other kinds of museums. However, by following some of Dana's advice, progress could be made. Granted the industry of potting is significantly easier to interestingly interpret than say the construction of a sofa or the production of chicken breasts, but the same ideology can essentially be applied.

We live in an increasingly materialistic society. Our things are said to define us, and yet somehow there is a disconnect in between our interest in the making of our things and the emotionality of a little retail therapy.Perhaps if we connect the buying to the interpretation, and do a department store style museum, there would be more interest in seeing an object’s creation just like the TV show “How It’s Made.” Moreover, if the objects were built on site, is there any better “Buy in America” advertisement for today? The tangible connection to the past could be invaluable. Old Sturbridge Village in MA sells the products their living history actors create, would it be too far to push an industrial museum to do similarly? This could be a dangerous proposition for a nonprofit (or a for profit), and the ethical boundaries would need to be set. However, in this economy wouldn’t the sale of goods be able to make up some of the lost donations and admission?

Regardless, Dana had some excellent ideas for interpreting industrial sites.