Ask a Curator Day
On September 19, 2012, museum curators from all over the world answered questions on #askacurator day. Postal Historian Nancy Pope, philatelic curator Dan Piazza, and postal history curator Lynn Heidelbaugh represented the National Postal Museum on Twitter.
#Medieval #Stone. #Was its purpose ? #Is it a beam holder ?. #Help Its approx 3ft long. http://pic.twitter.com/velROSd9 #askacurator @PostalMuseum
@newryabbey @postalmuseum is it an arch spring for a timber roof. Do u have pictures with more of the surrounds?
@newryabbey @irishhistory Not really our area of expertise, but it looks like you're getting some answers!
@PostalMuseum #Askacurator what is the most unusual item in your collection? Which item is the most popular?- @cc_cassidy Some really popular objects at NPM are the inverted Jenny (ow.ly/dPpbh) and Owney the Dog (ow.ly/dPpLU).
- @cc_cassidy Many unusual items in our collection came from the Dead Letter Office, where mail goes when it can't be delivered. #askacurator
- @cc_cassidy We've received an accordion, a large package of snuff, a locket containing a picture of a nun--lots of crazy stuff! #askacurator
- @PostalMuseum #askacurator Brilliant! I worked as a letter carrier and once I delivered an urn of ashes to a cemetery! Yikes!
- @hdmuseum The weirdest Dead Letter Office object, according to one curator: a toy rabbit pulling a cart carrying a baby doll. #askacurator
- @hierohero Advanced degrees are required to be a curator, so not many are younger than late 20s. Other than that, all ages! #askacurator
What's the meaning of life? RT"@postalmuseum: If you could ask a Postal Museum curator anything, what would it be? #Askacurator "- @theparkinglot A curator's take on the meaning of life? "I don't know, but sending and receiving letters makes it better!" #askacurator
@PostalMuseum #askacurator Have you ever come home from a day at the museum with a valuable stamp stuck to the bottom of your shoe?- @eduardo_dihone Not our curators! The are carefully trained in object handling to avoid just such a disaster! #askacurator
- #askacurator @PostalMuseum has any mail (or maybe postage?) ever brought any of the curators to tears? Thank you in advance for your reply
- #aksacurator @comburo One curator was moved to tears by a letter from a Norwegian immigrant to her family back in Norway.
- #askacurator @comburo The Norwegian woman wrote, "I will never see you again in this lifetime," likely true for a 19th century immigrant.
@PostalMuseum oh God. That is so heartbreaking. I collect stamps & letters and some letters I can't read because I feel like I'm intruding.
