The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I am debating if I should offer this museum some help with their rather "interesting" horn crane.

Would be a nice thing to do. Have they asked for help? I've found that when offering unsolicited help to museums, etc., that they suddenly get suspicious of my motives. Or, they insist that the way it is, is perfectly right and proper. Maybe it's just me

I've had similar experiences, Jerry. Only about half of the institutions take advantage of my offers for free help. Maybe it's the tattoo on my forehead...

George P.

I am going to contact them soon.

phonogfp wrote:I've had similar experiences, Jerry. Only about half of the institutions take advantage of my offers for free help. Maybe it's the tattoo on my forehead...

George P.

George: I really think that it is those shifty eyes of yours!!
Bill

This has given me the motivation to offer a restoration of a Edison bell gem at a Victorian living museum near me. I'd say contact them.

StL Bill wrote:

phonogfp wrote:I've had similar experiences, Jerry. Only about half of the institutions take advantage of my offers for free help. Maybe it's the tattoo on my forehead...

George P.

George: I really think that it is those shifty eyes of yours!!
Bill

JerryVan wrote:Would be a nice thing to do. Have they asked for help? I've found that when offering unsolicited help to museums, etc., that they suddenly get suspicious of my motives. Or, they insist that the way it is, is perfectly right and proper. Maybe it's just me

well most museums today tend to be run by bureaucrats
once a friend of mine offered his help to a museum with a machine that recently broke its spring this was the reply...
''yes we know the machine is broken but that's part of its history now, it at one time broke down''
what a load of ######!! what they are really saying is we don't want to spend money on repairs (they just asume you want to get payed) with those people, i just wanna lay down and die and yes that's me there practicing! last said

tino

Yes, museums have really changed in the last 20 years or so. I agree, they have become bureaucrats rather than folks interested in history and preservation. I was working on a list of items after I'm gone. I also collect military memorabilia from the Spanish-American War until the dawn of the Korean War. Most of my stuff is Navy. I contacted the local Navy Museum, and their attitude is the collection can be broken up and sold. That's the same with the local historical group. I decided, that my stuff will be sold to private collectors, and my family will get the proceeds. As far as I am concerned, the hell with the museums. I cannot and will never support them. Besides, most of the stuff they have, I can see it at my house free of charge.
Harvey Kravitz

Yeah, that has been my experience with museums too.
Most of them don't seem to want cylinder machines
which are in good working order. One such museum in
a small town in Illinois got me to working on their
Edison Standard Model D machine. They have it on display
and available for people to hear.

It would not run at all at first, so they had me work
on it enough to get it running. I had to take all my
tools there to work on it. Got it going, but it still
needs lots more work. They are not interested in making
it really right.

About the only museum which I know of that actually
does things right is the Edison National Historical
Park in West Orange, NJ.