A Bit of Round Randomness

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Sanitary Telephone Card from Baltimore Steam Packet Company.  Used to protect against germs while using the phone.  It was also supposed to slightly amplify the voice.
Sanitary Telephone Card from Baltimore Steam Packet Company. Used to protect against germs while using the phone. It was also supposed to slightly amplify the voice. (2000.14.32)

A bit of randomness today as I offer a selection of round items from our collection. And a few thoughts on how any museum collection can be inherently random by the very fact that it exists.

All collections can be grouped in some way, and many of our pieces are part of a whole or set of items. For example, a tea set used onboard a ship. Let’s say it consists of a teapot, cream pitcher, sugar bowl, two cups, two saucers and two spoons. Of these items, the teapot may have come in from one source, the pitcher and bowl from another and so on…. Yet each of the items eventually made their way to the museum where they were joined together in our Collections database. They are now linked together by their association to a particular ship or ship line.Read more

Welcome to our Workroom–please excuse the clutter

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Creativity.  Rachel wrapping a canoe with blankets and stretch wrap.
Creativity. Rachel wrapping a canoe with blankets and stretch wrap.

Today I offer a true “behind the scenes” look at our museum world. Welcome to our workroom. A small, but vital area that sometimes looks as if a tornado blew through it and other times it looks so pristine that you would swear we probably don’t do any actual work here. The ambiance of this area depends on who is using it at the time, whether we are expecting a visit from a donor or researcher, and which projects are underway.

This is the place objects moving in, out and around the museum make a stop during their journeys. Shelving and closets house new artifacts, incoming and outgoing loans, and artifacts being moved on and off display. Items we are trying to identify or research will also find a temporary home here. The length of time an object will stay in the workroom ranges from a few minutes, a few weeks, months, or as long as a year (or more), depending on what needs to be done. It could take just a few minutes to replace an identification tag that was removed before exhibition and a year to complete the extensive paperwork and processing for a donation consisting of hundreds of items.Read more

Summer Roofers

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切除后剩余的屋顶上的支柱the turret (see previous post below), conservation staff shifted their work efforts to its interior. Over the last several weeks we have been using an assortment of pneumatic and other hand tools to remove remaining concretion and loose corrosion products embedded in between the roof rails and on the main roof support beams. The following link is a video put together by The Daily Press, which provides a good overview of the work.

http://www.dailypress.com/features/family/dp-nws-monitor-turret-20110730,0,7028584.story

Wool Garment’s Treatment Status

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Time flies… the last blog update about the wool coat was April 30thof 2010!

Since then, a significant part of the garment’s conservation treatment was completed. The coat is now clean, dry and thoroughly documented!Read more

What About the Other Artifacts?

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Of the approximately 1600 artifacts recovered from the USSMonitor, 1/4 of them have been conserved. Many but not all of the 400+ conserved artifacts are now on display in the USSMonitorCenter at The Mariners’ Museum. So what do we do with the artifacts that aren’t currently on display at the museum? The museum must safely store these artifacts under precise temperature and humidity controls in order to guarantee their long term stability while awaiting exhibition.

The following pictures show one of the many climate-controlled artifact storage areas at The Mariners’ Museum. This specific location houses manyMonitorartifacts that aren’t currently on display.Read more

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