Looking into my crystal ball of the 1980's, I can hear the voices of Muriel Green and Clive Petty describing on C.B. (Citizen Band) radio features of Schramm's Cottage to eager visitors.
This was one of the fascinating aspects of modern developments in museums, and historic monuments my family and I saw in U.S.A. recently.
On entering the Maritime Museum on Fishermen's Wharf in San Francisco, we were given hand-held radios and a detailed map of the area indicating the listening posts to use the C. B. radio. At each spot indicated, a tape recording described the feature fully. As a spoken description can convey so much more than a written notice, we came away feeling that we had learnt a great deal about the early sailing days of San Francisco.
Where museum features were chiefly internal, wide use was made of press-button information on exhibits. In Jerome, a "ghost" mining town in Arizona, a full-scale model had been made of the old copper mine and the underground sections were cut away to clearly show the mine workings. As a button on the outside of the model was pressed, a voice described in interesting fashion, the whole story of the mine. Everywhere we went, great care had obviously been taken to protect valuable ïdocuments and photos from damage. These were always behind glass to offset any difficulty in viewing, strong lights could be switch on, to enable visitors to see and read easily. Visitor participation was an important point, not overlooked by museum management. Tables were set out with exhibits - rocks, minerals, etc. which visitors were invited to handle to compare weights and colours. At Tuzigoot, a thirteenth century ruined Indian Pueblo settlement in Arizona, visitors were allowed to use the primitive stone implements to grind corn and till the soil. We felt really as though we were transported back seven hundred years. Perhaps Beatty Beavis could organise some spray pump practice for visitors to Schramm's! !
Americans are well-known for their abilities to advertise themselves to the fullest. This was very noticeable in the management of their historic homes and continuing projects. Whenever future development was envisaged or sections of the area were incomplete, apology was made for the unfinished sections, and maps and notices describing what is to be done were prominently displayed. Visitors seemed to feel that they are being taken into the confidence of the management and were eager to contribute, to the future development in money boxes placed nearby.
Of course, in U.S.A. almost unlimited supplies of manpower are available to organise and maintain places of historical interest. Money also is more readily obtained than in Australia with our small population. However, I feel that it is possible to do more to project our image as historians without necessarily commercialising ourselves too much. Sometimes it seems that we are a little too inclined to regard ourselves as history purists and to scoff at money-making as too commercial. In all historical museums and re-creation of historic towns in U.S.A. a lot of interest is maintained by the selling of reproductions of old documents posters and appropriate photographs. At Old Tucson, in Arizona, a re-creation of an old western town, full of old buildings, an authentic Archeson, Topeka and Santa Fe steam locomotive, complete with railway station, a gift stall sold all kinds of literature about the area, photos and all kinds of mementos to tourists. Much of the money thus obtained went to the maintenance and improvement of facilities in Old Tucson and I felt was fully justified.
As we travelled about the country, we were amazed at the ease with which we were able to find our way to the various attractions. Every hotel, tourist bureau and motel has a display of brochures advertising the places of interest in the district. My plan on reaching a motel in the evenings was to gather up a pile of these pamphlets. While Ron registered at the front desk. Then, in our motel room, we could decide where we wanted to go the following day using the very explicit instructions on the brochures. Full details of opening and closing times of museums was given, with clear instructions and often a diagram of the exact location plus other useful details. For instance, in the Sonora-Arizona desert museum, suggestions as to suitable clothing to wear for the various seasons, details of the number of steps ñ mainly to advise the elderly and cripples ñ and the type of refreshments available.
To make viewing easier and to form a more logical sequence, copies of a map of the area and suggested route to walk to see each section of the exhibit were given to each visitor at the desk on payment of your entrance fees. On the whole entrance fees were comparable with our own, although most concepts were very large, taking sometimes three or four hours to view adequately - thus up to $5 or $6 was a usual entrance fee.
A great deal of attention was given to all aspects of viewing exhibits. Spectacular effects were a prominent feature of the Desert museum which was a specialised museum showing animals, plants and minerals in a certain desert area in Southern Arizona and Northern Mexico. Simulated night conditions were used for animals never normally seen due to their nocturnal habits. I was thrilled to see a group of ardvarks through the one-way glass in dark conditions comfortable for the animals, and perhaps a never-to-be repeated opportunity for me to experience. A group of otters could be seen at their amusing antics on the surface of the water, then by walking down stairs they could be seen frolicking underwater. Even a small section of one-way viewing glass showed the otters hideaway sleep area where the young ones slept blissfully unaware of the visitors gazing in at them! Every possible care was taken that both animal exhibits and human visitors enjoyed each other to the full in idyllic surroundings.
Judith Leaney writing in 1977 02 DTHS Newsletter
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