Getting Real

This week has been a mish-mash of activities. My 25-year-old niece, Carly, is visiting from Ohio. She’s volunteering at the museum where my husband works—the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Va.  She’s working on her master’s degree in Historic Textiles, Costuming and Material Culture. Um, er, or something like that. Interesting, isn’t it? I never knew such a degree existed.

She is hoping either to get into teaching or museum work—although after finding out more about museums and how little they pay and so on, she’s giving it some serious consideration. I envy her on the one hand because she has her whole life in front of her—a world of opportunities. She's smart, educated, has a common sense approach to life and I think she will be fine. More than fine.

But on the other hand, it is not easy getting real about your life, no matter how smart you are.  Sometimes I think our culture forces our young people to make choices too early about what they want to do with their lives. How does an 18-year-old really know what they want to be for the rest of their lives and so are able to choose a college, a major, and a place to live and so on? When I think back to when I was 18, I know now that I didn't have a clue. Even though I knew I wanted to write. Even at 25, I'm not sure how much of a clue I had.

Very few of the folks I went to journalism school with are actually doing anything in the field, for example. One brilliant journalism major I knew is now the executive director of a small nonprofit. Another one works in fundraising for public television. Yet another is a minister.

For most of us, life isn’t a linear progression. Especially these days, many people that I know are sort of patching it together with work coming form different sources. I know my immediate world is nothing like I imagined it would back when I was in college. How about you?

The Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis

A Special Report
By Fay Zerb

I have been asked by Joanna Slan to write a little something about our miniature museum (the Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis). This group was started in 1989 because a group of ladies were concerned about their miniature collection because their kids weren’t interested or didn’t have the space to keep them. The ladies didn’t want their stuff ending up in a yard sale. A lot of people downsize or go into a different living arrangement, and we get their stuff. Most of the things we have came from families once the miniaturist died.

When Owners Die

Several museums have folded once the owner passed away. (Joanna’s note: This, sadly, happened just this year to the entire Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum.) A lot of the museums were started by wealthy people had quite a collection of stuff, and they started their own museum.

How the Building Fund Started...and Plans to Expand

The group started sponsoring local miniature shows in 1991 to make money to buy a building for our museum. We actually bought our building in 2000, renovated the building and opened in 2001 with our first floor open to the public. Since then, our volunteers have been renovating the second floor, and we hope to open that level to the public this year.

The museum still sponsors miniature shows in the spring and fall where dealers from all over the country come to display and sell their miniature creations (dollhouses, roomboxes, dolls, furniture, food, landscaping, and everything imaginable) to the public.

Our museum is run by an all-volunteer board of 15 people. Our general members help staff the museum during our open hours. The museum costs a small fee to enter. If you are interested, you can visit the museum's website: http://miniaturemuseum.org/ and look at some pieces of our collection, information about the museum, information about the miniature show and much more.

Fay Zerb

Where Will Your Treasures Go When You Are Gone?

Note by Joanna: Fay’s post got me to thinking. What will happen to your hobby when you die? Have you thought of finding a good home for your collection? Does your family know who might enjoy or benefit from your supplies—that stash you haven’t used? Take a moment this week and write a letter of intent. I don’t know how legal it would be, but surely it might help your family make good decisions about your belongings. After all, you can't take it with you.