Day 20: 23 February 2011

Oh, honey please, it's Dior...


FIND OF THE DAY...

This little gem just kind of jumped at me from a sea of amazing silk turbans and other hats. Turn it over to examine its condition and what do I see? Yeah. That. Vintage, 60's Dior. Yes please, I'll take two to go. 


ANYWAY. The hats today were mostly 1900s onward, pill box and other small hats. Very cute. The silk hats with which the Dior was hanging out were lovely [see below]. Such vibrant colors. Oh to have a hat for every outfit. 

All of the following hats [and those up there] found a new home today. It seems like they are pretty ok with it. I would be. Its nicer downstairs. 

I love this hat. That is really all I have to say...

En route to a new space, our little Dior friend is hiding there in the back row. 

I am envisioning adorable old ladies drinking tea after church in these guys. So many flowers....

I was hoping Blossom would make an appearance. And here she is. Eight year old Kristen is totally jealous.

So thats the long and short of wednesday. Ta ta lovelies. 

Day 19: 22 February 2011

Caps, caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!


So they aren't for sale, but they are moving fast [as fast as my little fingers can load them and get them downstairs, I guess...] and I do love that book[ Caps for sale! ] We started moving bonnets, some were pretty adorable but most reminded me of the grim reaper [mmm personification of death...]. A lot of the hats needed to be moved to the conservation room [one plus of this move!]. By the end of the day Andrea had a webinar to "attend" and I moved to helping Jon and Kaila move ethnology artifacts [we have a tiger. I will get a photo tomorrow.]. 


We also have a ton of grass skirts and while they are very cool, they are kind of a pain to move. 

One adorbs little sun hat.

Not even my department but I found it to be some pretty solid labeling. 

So... this person walked into their haberdasher and said, "One of everything please". Or that is at least my take on it... [straw, flowers, sequins, ribbon, beading, lace...]

"Merry Widow Hat (Gibson Girl Ere)". This hat was enormous.

Kind of an uneventful day [except that we have a TIGER]. Happy Tuesday.

Day 18: 17 February 2011

Are You There Oxygen?


Kaila and I worked in the basement all day today packaging clothing for conservation. It was kind of a long day in a very small room [with what we found to have very poor ventilation]. I do feel that we were very productive today.... we heard the same Rihanna song twice, completed the cycle. The pieces we worked with today really kept me going, though. I saw some of the most amazing dresses and coats from the 1800s and some beautiful ceremonial outfits. I probably took too many photos. Here are some of my favorites.

My photos really aren't the best today, I blame the lack of Oxygen.

We aren't quite sure what is sewn into this jacket, but it was too big to be a button [maybe a coin?]. The silk on the inside of this jacket was a dark pink from one angle and a bright baby blue from another. Awesome.

[Oh na na, what's my name?]

This jacket was dated late 1800s. The quality, however, looked brand new. It amazes me how they made their clothes. Tell me that your J. Crew sweater will look this good 150 years from now...

The detailing on this jacket was just beautiful. I will take two please.

Sailor style jacket and skirt. I just loved these buttons.

This dress blew my mind. Red velvet, so many ruffles. The thing weighed like twenty pounds and had the most adorable bustle on the back... 

Beading and proof that its not always tacky... Also, whose waist is that small?

Again, just so cool. I'm a sucker for ruffles.

This is the jacket of a wedding dress from the late 1800s. Yes please.

Then we hit the 1960s outta nowhere. yikes.

[Made in Hong Kong]

A dress from Poland. I loved the colors and the stitching on the sleeves..

This is a girls blouse from Holland. So teenie, so cool.

So, clearly not clothes, but I have been wanting to take a picture of this little guy for weeks. Hey buddy.

Day 17: 16 February 2011

Cake Day and Vintage Computers


And its Cake Day again! I do love Cake Day, happy birthday Februarians. I started the day doing data entry [and I am yet again covered in pink and orange highlighter] because there wasn't enough room in the van that was going to the Ford Museum to pick up a wheel chair. [A creepy FDR wheel chair.] I love my office at the CARC facility, I have a door and a ceiling and today I got to shut myself in and input to Bing Crosby and The Andrew Sisters. My oh my.


Then we headed over to the public museum a bit early and I tried to get set up to do a little more on the database. 

It was a lovely bonding experience between myself and this machine while it booted up. 

Then I ate some cake, drank some punch and chatted with a few museum execs about the new Grand Rapids tumblr page [not museum affiliated]. [http://fygr.tumblr.com] 

More data entry and a pretty delish Wednesday was over. Happy Hump Day. [I really don't like that phrase.]

Day 16: 15 February 2011

Oversized Errything


Kaila, Andrea and I [I think Jon was around the corner with our radio] worked in the basement moving quilts to a conservation through the oversized collections. Our work in the conservation room consisted of repackaging clothing, quilts and other textiles for long term storage. We wrapped them in tissue, placed them in plastic sleeves and heat sealed 'em up. Bugs and moisture are simply no good for super old stuff.

[Adorable Dinotrain in the oversized collections. I took mostly pictures in there today even though it really has nothing to do with me....]

Once again, I played registrar even though I'm super ok now! I promise.... So I recorded all of the accession numbers and made notes on their new locations and what they were. Then we figured out there was just enough signal to put on my Ace of Base pandora station and finished pre-break time with a packaging dance party. 


Successful.

[I ride this to work. Seriously.]

[I get a strange Indiana Jones vibe from random box #8. No one told me what was in there.]

[This is the room I was stuck in. The large space to the left of my finger is where I needed to be. And below is the creepy freezer that I spent some time with while waiting to be rescued.]

I love this boat. Note the creepy Hearse Carriage in the background. 

Kaila and I look good next to plastic wrap, no?

One can always tell when I spend an afternoon entering data. I am simply covered in highlighter by the end. Why can't I close a marker? I have a college degree for Pete's sake! It was a quite enjoyable second half of the day. I entered location codes to the tunes of A-ha, Toto and just a little Phil Collins. And dancing along in my head. 

Side note.

I Have These Things in Ma Brain


So, even though I am all of a three-day-a-week intern, I'm getting a little passionate about this place. I continue to be surprised and excited by the things that I find and the people that work in the archives. 


I feel like this facility is a huge part of the culture of this city. The Public Museum itself is a simply amazing place as well, but I am a little biased. Maybe. [yes]


AND


I have been thinking and pacing and losing sleep [ok just thinking] over ways to utilize the old museum building and incorporate things that I have found in the collections that are particularly interesting or super weird or really anything. I want to show people what we are working with here and what an asset this place is. I want to put together a small, weekend exhibit showcasing these pieces of the collection, invite the public in, show 'em what we got.


I have absolutely no idea if this is even a teenie possibility but I wanted to get it out of ma brain. Before it explodes. Or something.


Happy Ferris Wheel Day!

Day 15: 10 February 2011

My My, Do We Have Military Jackets

I took a pretty epic spill yesterday on some ice after leaving the museum and was a little worried that I would be useless today. I was. But luckily, someone useless was exactly what was needed. The clothing collection is currently housed where the city archives are moving and they need to get outta there. 

Andrea, Kaila, Tim and Jon all worked at getting a start on the moving process. I was assigned task of artifact number registrar. I basically sat and wrote down each number as things were put onto a rack. I felt pretty lame all day. 

Most of what we moved were old military and other public service uniforms. Very cool. I love buttons and it is very interesting to see how they are used on these types of apparel through the years, along with badges and patches. I found an old military button in Baltimore [shout out] last summer and it was a nice little side project looking into what dates it was in use and what uniforms it  was used on. 

[This is my button from Balitmore. I know, totally amazing.]

Anyway, I promise not to fall again and to be more helpful.