What Museums DON'T Collect

Last week I went on a bit about how museums are interested in collecting more than just “old stuff,” so this week I thought I’d look a little at what museums don’t collect.

I should note first off that museums, being human institutions, can be as quirky as people are. So, here’s where I insert the usual disclaimer that what follows are my own opinions, limited to my own experience,and should not be taken to represent Universal Truth for all museums.

The Esplanade is a local social history museum; we collect artefacts to represent the human experience of Medicine Hat and the surrounding area. That mandate restricts us in what we’ll collect; we’re not collecting natural history specimens, or ancient Egyptian artefacts, or coin and/or stamp collections. For the most part, we collect pieces that have a known (ideally, documented) history and association (called “provenance” in museum-speak) with the local area. That generally excludes things that don’t have a known history; many times were offered items that people have acquired from other family members, or friends, or have just been in a barn for the past 70 years—and they can’t tell us much about the piece except, “it’s old.” If we don’t have the history of use for an item, it makes it hard for us to use the item to explain the history of the area. So, there’s Reason #1 why a museum might not collect a certain thing—no specific history on the item.

Reason #2 might be that an item is damaged, broken, or incomplete. If, for example, a particular game set isn’t a good representation of that game because it’s missing key pieces, it’s tougher for that particular game set to be a good representation of the larger social picture. There’s some room for exception here, if the provenance is particularly good.

Reason #3 might be if the piece physically represents a danger to people or our existing collections. This, thankfully, doesn’t come up often—but we have been offered live artillery shells, acid-soaked wooden boxes, and poisonous chemicals. We try not to take many of these…

Reason #4: we might already have 16 of them in the collection. Storage space is a precious commodity for most museums, so we try to avoid collecting more than 2 or 3 examples of any one thing. If we end up with 16 desks, for example, we might not be able to acquire a more unique piece of furniture, for lack of space to put it.

Reason #5: inability to care for an item. This generally applies to larger pieces, like vehicles. Everything we take into the collection comes with an obligation for us to preserve it for the future; if we don’t have the resources to preserve something, we can’t in good faith accept it in the collection. If we have to store a large piece, like a vehicle, out in the elements (which we have done in the past, before acquiring some warehouse space), it will deteriorate, and we’ve failed to preserve it. So, if we know at the outset we can’t preserve something, we won’t accept it in the first place.

So, if you’re ever in a position to offer something to a museum, please understand why a museum might not accept your gift. It’s not for lack of appreciation for the offer—many museums will be flattered that you consider them a suitable home for what you’re offering. It’s just that we have to be selective to ensure we can do our jobs of preserving the items that truly reflect the history of our community.