Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-11-03
AS ONE WOMAN SEES IT
Because Families Change Their Tastes
and Habitatlons the Preservation OF
Relics 10 Assured Only By Be.
Queathins Them to Museum
ny SARAH d. LOWRlE

ny SARAH d. LOWRlE
OPENED letter today sent me through
the = the ONCE of the EVENING PUBLIC LEDoER
wnich Interested me very much. It was
IRON woman who has some old and valu.
sia aDie pieces Of jewelry which she wished 70
% 80 ask my advice as TO how she could set
a0 a0ous making such a gift. or at least what
opportunities there were should she feel dis.
posed eventually to make such gift,
49, L 30 happened thnt earlier In the day an
me with little frightened gesture and tried
% explain something about her will and the
disposal Of certain possessions that she had
ana which I Judged from the few. words she
Iet Iasl were not to 70 to her heirs. at. law.
have made me think about the whole matter
oI neislooins and treasured possessions, and
REMINDED me of how many odd endinss !
nave seen to carefully cherished bits Of
1eweiry and silver and family pieces.
VERY often by the scattering Of families
"a law relation falls heir to the most
ihntimate family relics. and they. 20 down to
70 them, and often no history. Portraits and
SILVER and lace and furniture lose In such q
scatterati0n' any value except their period
SsiIe. and even that varies with the fashion
"ucgc tuC pIlOT IIBulo VI ku0
eldest son are tacitly regarded. even II they
nave no legal acceptance. the family house
becomes the natural repository for all family
possessions @ Of value. So that in q sense the
mouse is q historical museum Of the family's
lies occupy the some house for two sener.
ations: many. do not even live In the same
town for whole generation, and the family
quarters guar 20 from little to, bigger and then
G,t;s. Gack to little again. 90 that the furniture
ntting Tor one house Is too big or too in.
formal or not informal enough for the next
halting place.
;, Then, too, every ten years or 80 the fam.
~ taste changes. Rodger groups and heavy
oronzes and Egyptian ornaments in black
elazes, and these to repousse silver, and these
10 nsures after the Greek and Roman pottery
remains, and these to Tiffany glass, and that
TO more balanced adjustment Of Colonial
ornaments. and now again there II a veering
done elegantly in that period Is now almost
caricatured, because now It IL q pose.
SO I can sympathize with the people who
feel that some cherished bit Of family jew.
elry and some old piece Of furniture with n
FAMILY history will on the whole rest more
securely IN museum under q glass than il
II were left to the tender merces Of the
oncomlng generation: 1t becomes the Hotsam
ana Jetsam OF an over crowded old trunk in
a storeroom for one decade, then curiosity
IN cabinet, and then the chance object Of
rummage sale.
THERE are q number Of such museums IN
l. this town. There ia the Colonial and
revolutionary one down in the building ad.
joining Independence Hall. Things that are
historically reminiscent and can be con.
nected with the period in history that that
no doubt. as gifts.
The PENNSYLVANIA Historical Society at
Thirteenth and Locust streets has a much
wider range in its objects Of interest. and I
fancy It welcomes anything. that is bio
that belongs to the history Of this country
and particularly to this State. It does not
accept loans, I understand, or II Il does
they are very exceptional ones. But 1t not
only preserves the manuscripts and letters
to the past, but it very cleverly restores the
fragments of things. 70 that their value is
immensely increased. Besides all the printed
and written matter in its carefully kept
library the portraits and furniture and cases
OF valuables are under most expert super
vision.
LOR matters Of world. wide interest and
l. things that have to do with art rather
than with biography or local history. the
museum out ut Memorial Hall Is the center.
1t has many collections Of a great variety,
uNu ~ IL UelUk UVupO 10 Oy tNS(
such gifts as those my correspondent sug.
gested.
There is another museum. the archeolosi.
cal. out near the University. That deals
with the history Of rnces and Ia SOCIOLOGICAL
rn T%,her eaaaa than g or purely artistic
and excavators are sent there. It's rooms
hold the images OF dead religions, extinct
civi!izations and disappearing aborisines.
And lastly there is the great Museum Of
Natural History. the Academy OF Natural
square. which harbors the collections made
BY men learned In the laws governing ami
mails.
Its treasures give the history Of periods
of thousands Of years. a rare butterfly
Jade would and glass case ready for It out NJ
In the Archaeological Museum, or a medieval
chest be welcomed out ut Memorial Hall. or
signed and sealed document of Frankiin's
would be cherished at the Historical Society.
or a signer's pen at the State House.
TT IS well there Is such variety Of store.
/ room for old things since the old family
storeroom-the attic--is a thing of the mast
And 1t would be we'll II every town in this
State could follow the example of Doyies.
town and have !ts own local museum.
packing Of modern life really prevent our
making museums of our homes. but We
should not lose the history that our old
things symbolize and in sense illustrate by
booming one and all Of them for the rum.
Your great grandchild, may look with
n,.asure and pride on his ancestors cold
repeater with the family crest on 1t, labeled
and safe in the glass case Of some town
museum, Whereas II YOU had left It to your
son' his wife might have sold it for old sold
onS Il would have been lost forever.
What the oncoming generatio.. likes hest
,s money with which TO purchase the things
tSot it most desires. Its taste for heirloons
Is variable.
NOVEMBER NOGS
OF course We have our morning mists,