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Post by Anna D on Jul 16, 2010 13:07:01 GMT
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Post by Anna D on Jul 16, 2010 13:10:21 GMT
Well...I said I was curious so here are some things I'm curious about. The book on the nightstand. The books beside what looks like a recliner of sorts. The items on top of the dresser. The card on the table. (Probably museum literature but I'm still curious) The items on the sink in the bathroom (They're supposed to be authentic right?). There is one cupboard that has a door open and some things inside, one of which looks like a newspaper. I'm not asking for pics of all of these, they're just the things that caught my eye for one reason or another. Sorry, missed your post there! I'll go take some more photos just as soon as I've finished my cup of tea. I think the book on the nightstand in the bedroom is a HG Wells if I remember correctly... though I might be wrong about that! And the stuff in the bathroom is definitely authentic, yeah... you can see some of the other bits from the bathroom in one of the pictures I just posted. The leaflet on the table is about air raid precautions in the second world war. It's a real pamphlett, not a replica.
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Post by Mcbriley on Jul 16, 2010 14:34:03 GMT
I'm curious about those things as well, and also the two paintings on the walls. The one above the bed reminds me of an artist I like.
EDIT: Who is in the picture on the table next to the mantle? And is there an old letter on the mantle? Is that authentic? I love reading the old letters that my great grandparents wrote to each other during the war.
Thanks, Anna! Thank Bea and Sarah for me, too!
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Post by Anna D on Jul 16, 2010 14:41:52 GMT
Don't know who the picture is of - I'll ask Sarah, see if she knows, or knows anyone who knows! I've just sent Bea off to go take some more photos, we'll see what she comes back with.
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Post by BuzyBea on Jul 16, 2010 15:04:20 GMT
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Post by Sarah Butler on Jul 16, 2010 15:18:00 GMT
I've asked about the picture for you; we're not 100% sure, but we think it's one of the relatives of the last person to live in the prefab before it was donated to us. A lot of the objects in there now came from her, apparently!
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Post by azurewolf on Jul 16, 2010 15:46:30 GMT
I'm curious about the stuff on the mantel too, especially the card behind the clock. Bea did you move anything around while you were in there? I saw a couple things that were out of place. The leaflet on the table used to be leaning against the vase but now it's standing on it's own, I'm thinking that was the wind though and someone picked it back up. There were 2 other oddities I noticed that were a little more...pronounced. The book by the recliner used to be closed but now appears to be open, I highlighted it here: img256.imageshack.us/img256/8191/openbook.jpgAlso there's a little note paper on the smaller dresser with the mirror that's been moved, highlighted here: img193.imageshack.us/img193/9338/notepaper.jpg
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Post by Mcbriley on Jul 16, 2010 15:51:53 GMT
Thanks Sarah and Bea! Is that a post-it or a card or something on the corner of the dresser next to the glass candlesticks in the bedroom? I didn't notice it in the first set of pictures, and then it appears in the last set. I'm just curious to know if it's part of the exhibit. Do you guys frequently move things around the exhibit to get better compositions when you take pictures?
EDIT: Oops, ignore this, Azurewolf beat me to it!
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Post by BuzyBea on Jul 16, 2010 16:25:37 GMT
Urgh, I just go soaked walking home, stupid weather! No, I don't move anything around, but I'm sure that the visitors probably do when there's no staff or volunteers in there
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Post by Anna D on Jul 16, 2010 16:34:44 GMT
We've spent a fair bit of time in that building over the last few days, and... I dunno. Something just felt off, somehow. I could swear something was different in there, but I can't tell what it was. Bea, sweetie I think your letting your imagination run wild. Stop being silly, you could most likely just feel the storm coming. And yes, those are very good observations both of you, I never noticed those!
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Post by Mcbriley on Jul 16, 2010 17:01:04 GMT
It looks like there's a note or something taped to the inside wall of the nightstand cabinet to the right (as you're facing it) of the bed, or I might be seeing things. Anyway, I'm curious to know what that is.
ETA: It's easier to see in the first set of pictures.
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Post by mravoncroft on Jul 16, 2010 17:54:20 GMT
Just a few general answers to various questions - I've been out all day at the Black Country Living Museum - another Museum of re-located historic buildings - they were having an opening of their new exhibit - a row of three 1930s shops housed in a late-Victorian building from Oldbury (near Dudley). It was fascinating as I hadn't been there for years. I think that was one of the museums that made me realise history could be interesting and I might want to do it as a career. Anyway, glad the Prefab is generating such international interest. I can answer some questions - sorry if I start to sound like a historical pedant! Just before I answer some of the questions I just want to correct a couple of minor errors from our new volunteers - Hi Cath, Bea and Anna - sorry, don't want to be critical especially as you've had a wet day tramping up and down to the prefab - one of the perils of working in an open-air museum, but the Toll House is technically Georgian (built 1820) though it is furnished as it may have looked later in the 19th century and the Merchant's House may or may not be Tudor - the best guess is that it was built originally somewhere between 1450-1500 and the Tudor era began after the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485 - happen to know that as I come from Leicestershire where Bosworth Field is and can rember the 400th anniversary - in 1985). The Prefab originally was sited at 85 Moat Lane, Yardley - I've tried Google Earth but can't locate the exact position - it was moved here in the 1980s and no doubt the site has new houses on it now. The photograph I believe was one of the possessions given us by a Mrs Betty Stokes who was the third occupant of that Prefab in the late 1940s (there were two predecessors who weren't traceable who were there in 1946 and just after). She opened the Prefab when it was re-erected at the Museum and gave us some of her personal belongings from the time she lived there. I don't know if it was her daughter in the photo. Would need to check the archive file. I think the thing in the bedside cabinet someone thought was taped on is actually a reflection. The top part has sliding glass doors. The pictures you can see on the walls - above the main bed in the 'adult' bedroom is an embroidered picture of what I call crinoline ladies - they appeared on everything from the 1920s-1960s - a sort of generic Georgian/Victorian lady and was part of the inter-war fascination for country cottages and copper kettles and tudor beams - a sort of fake nostalgia which was the alternative to embracing modernism and Art Deco. The one above the Utility sofa bed in the child's room is a religious print by an artist called Margaret Tarrant - she's most famous for the Flower Fairy illustrations she did but also did lots of religious prints for children of Jesus surrounded by angelic children (a bit sentimental to modern eyes maybe) but they were popular for sunday school rooms etc. Anyway, I'm glad the project's going well, as you see, I can't write in short txt style abbreviations - wrong generation - I'll stick to the history. Sarah, can you remind me on Monday to get maintenance to fix the barrier in the prefab. It does look like visitors have moved a couple of things and they will get damaged if everyone picks them up, and things like Ration Books are getting more and more difficult to find and replace.
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Post by mravoncroft on Jul 16, 2010 18:05:27 GMT
I'm curious about the stuff on the mantel too, especially the card behind the clock. Forgot to say, the card behind the clock is a note to our volunteers to say 'Don't overwind the clock mechanism' it shouldn't be on display but tucked behind so only showing if someone goes to wind it up. We have it working sometimes, but it's very difficult to get the chimes working in time with the hands so it will show 4 o'clock and strike 11!
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Post by Mcbriley on Jul 16, 2010 19:16:06 GMT
There's an 85 Moat Ln., Birmingham, close to Yardley...could that be the original site, or is it just a coincidence?
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Post by ironwalker396 on Jul 16, 2010 19:41:03 GMT
In regards to the books on the nightstand by the utility sofa bed, what are those books and which book was opened and set back down?
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