Collections and Discovery: The History of Museums

Only The History Guy would give us the history of history ... and make it interesting.

For an example of an 18th/19th century private collection/house-sized cabinet, I highly recommend seeing Sir John Soane’s Museum in London. It has preserved his house as it was when he died in the 1830s, and it is stuffed full of a huge variety of items, from plaster casts of Greek and Roman statuary to an actual Egyptian pharaoh’s sarcophagus. He was an architect and was able to design his house to fit his ever-growing collection, and he left it to the public as long as it remained as it was when he died.

I truly hope that the day never arrives when museum curators decide that exhibits are no longer required, and move to virtual connections of information. My earliest memory of visiting a museum includes a vivid reflection of the unique smells associated with that museum. A combination of the smells of all the exhibits and documentation on site.... The smell of old wood, hints of formaldehyde from the preservation of organic materials, musty back hallways... These smells are etched into my mind and are a part of the museum experience.

While getting a Design degree I took Museology as an elective and volunteered at the University's museum as a student worker. I'll tell you museums are hard work from cataloging to parsing provenance documents to removing decades of grunge from an item headed for display. Hours of work for everying that just sets there being looked at.

I often felt that the Very Rural home of my Grandparents in southern Louisiana was like a living museum. Old farm equipment, mule-team harnesses, livestock handling and holding pens, even an old steam engine. I miss those days, everything was junked and discarded like no one really cared anymore.

Museums are all about Je ne sais quoi. I remember being at the National Air and Space Museum when it opened when I was 8, and it made a lifelong impression. We went back year after year and I never tired of the exhibits that were familiar and I always appreciated those that were new. The Smithsonian institution has an amazing array of museums and if you have the opportunity to spend a week in DC visiting them I strongly recommend it. I am so fond of them I even took my fiance there for our first road trip together- ahead even of Niagara Falls lol!

People think Museums are just about the past. I’ve found Museums teach you more about human nature and the future than most current academic institutions. You begin to see that although our tool and powers have made leaps and bounds our brains are still very much the same as those from thousands of years ago, the same weaknesses are still there.

clears throat "It belongs in a museum!" thank you, thank you

I did not know we humans have been collecting things for so long! It's a joy of mine to wake up in the morning and see there is a new video by THG. Thanks again for giving me something to think about and share!

I absolutely LOVE museums. The very strange Mutter Museum in Philadelphia is one of my favorites.

Imagine what a person in a few thousand years will think when they 'discover' the remnants of a museum??? It's gonna blow their minds.

The history of museums is often overlooked. There has been a stark decline in traditional collecitons museums where you find large displays of objects behind glass, and some interpretation, in trade for far more interactive and childfriendly museums. For good or ill, this has caused many museums to destroy old diorama's and interpretive displays. I had such joy when I found the Fairbanks museum in St. Johnsburry VT and its collection still being displayed in the same way it was when it was assembled in the 1800s. The museum even added extra interpretation about the style of exhibit and dioramas. I basically got to go to a museum museum and it was the best.

I love the general history of “thing” videos you do. You get to cover such a wide array of topics that trace to the present, and that’s really enjoyable to follow as a viewer. Thanks for your work!

Its funny how nothing at all in human nature has changed. Ever since I've been an adult, I've had an "office" and "Cabinets of curiosities". I sit there now, with my collection of interesting artifacts from nature and travels along with my art, books and military items (much like you looks like) watching this video. I guess its just built into us, and seems to be especially men. Its fun that I've been to the modern museums in the video too. Over the years also had the opportunity to see some of the same artifacts at different museums in different countries.. That's always a fun surprise.

As I watch this I'm reminded that History needs to be watched and I've got a lot of old episodes to watch.

This weekend I visited a couple of local Boston area museums - the Harvard Natural history Museum (combining the former Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Gems and Minerals and the Glass Flowers) and also the new American History Museum at the Collins Foundation which showcases a collection of tanks and military vehicles from mostly WWII and more recently. The Harvard Museums were a mixture of old style presentations and new, and the AHM was very modern in presentation. Both were very worthwhile, but a study in contrasts. I love museums - and the Smithsonian Museums in DC are the best!

Thank you for the shout-out to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, a favorite destination for school field trips. Last time I was there, the Hadrosaurus was still on display, albeit re-mounted to reflect current theories on dinosaurs.

I can't pass on this opportunity to recommend the video "We Love Museums... Do Museums Love Us Back?" by the Pinky Show. The Pinky Show also covered a lot of marginalized history about Hawaii, too. Gosh I wish I could make sure the History Guy heard about that old show. Their vid about the 1893 Chicago Exposition is MIND BENDING, too. Forgotten History for sure! Please please pleeeease let History Guy see this comment! 🙏

A few personal favorite museums: the Institute L'Arabe du Monde (Middle Eastern antiquities) and the Musee d'Orsay (impressionist paintings in particular), Paris; the MUHBA, and the Picasso Museum, Barcelona; the DaVinci museum, Florence.

What an erudite gentleman. Thank you for sharing your rich culture and knowledge.