It starts with words on a wall, and then we bring in the objects. They get hung up, placed, arranged, listed, reported. They’ve already been photographed and cleaned.
This might be my favorite case, though it is very brown. We’re adding a daguerreotype today. The Dorr Rebellion was a local phenomenon, but then, all politics is local.
The biggest goal this time? Washing the inside of the glass!
A view of the interior of busy French barracks shows a more domestic atmosphere than military although weapons and other gear adorn the walls and lay scattered on the floor.
And now you know what can feel like trying to get an exhibit mounted, though at least the cats are only at home and the children are in school.
Like most people, I have good days and bad days at work. Unlike most people, I sometimes get to use my hobby at work.
We have a new audio tour at the museum, and one of my colleagues is working on the rack card for the tour. He got an idea that needed people in costume, and lucky for him, my friend and I have wardrobes handy. He dressed, too–those deerskin breeches are really fantastic–and another colleague took the photos.
This was the first outing for the Curtain-A-Long dress, and its friend IKEA Curtain petticoat. I like it, though I have petticoat issues. Every time I wear any dress, I find some new thing to tweak. Fortunately, the problems are pretty simple to solve and involve channels for petticoat waist ties.
It was a fun morning, playing in the house, and only makes me want to do more living history tours and costumed interpretation. (Apologies to my Library compatriots for being late getting back!)
When I wear the Curtain Gown, I think of the Sandby drawing of Sarah Hough, and I think of well-turned out housemaids. It would be a great deal of fun to develop more behind-the-scenes tours. After attending the first-person interpretation workshop, I had hoped to work on more tour ideas. Not yet, but I’ll get there someday this year!
We probably won’t actually spray filthy water on those lovely breeches, though. It would be a shame, and I know who made them!
It’s not done, it’s as simple as that. I had a shift in hand for HSF #2: UFO. Along the way, I made significant progress: side seams sewn up, sleeve seams sewn up, and all of them flat-felled, until, at last: One sleeve band and a hem stood between me and completion. Whatever week that was, on that Sunday evening, reader, I slept. Work does that to me.
Luckily, I can kick it forward to HSF#3, Under it All, because that petticoat isn’t cutting itself out. It’s not its fault: there’s homework piled on top of the table, a bill from the dentist, and other assorted bonnet-related chaos. All day long the linen and cotton listen to my howling assistant, then the Young Mr comes home and coughs, and what’s yardage to do? Drape over a chair, flat-out, folded, and exhausted.
It’s not history until it hurts, and I can assure you that from how my colleagues and I feel, our Library is chock-full of history goodness (along with 18,240 moved books and a great deal of newly assembled Ikea furniture).
Kirsten Hammerstrom 
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