Museum Thursday: The Wesleyan

Okay, I am really pondering the question of "what is a museum" with this one.

Here's the definition of a museum I am working with: A building in which objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited.

So today I decided to do a "living museum" and visit the folks at the Wesleyan Nursing Home. Folks in their eighties and nineties are certainly of historical and cultural interest and while they are neither "stored" not "exhibited," they do live there and that's where we went.

To help really focus the visit, I gave Sydney a poll. I wanted her to find out if most of the people in this generation (most of whom, at a guess, were born just before or during WWII) had toys that were store-bought or homemade. So she first asked each person if they wanted to talk to her. Then she asked what their favorite toy was when they were her age. Then she asked them if their mom made it or bought it at the store. Then she tallied the results on her clipboard. It was all very scientific.

Some of the folks did not want to be disturbed, but most were thrilled to have a little girl who wanted to talk to them. She walked around and asked about twenty people. We learned many things. First of all, Sydney learned that most of the eighty and older crowd has gone somewhat deaf and that she would have speak up to be heard. Then we learned that we might have to add a third category since some of the resident's favorites were neither store bought or homemade; they came from Santa.

Finally, we learned that by the 30's and 40's, most toys were indeed store bought, at least if you believe this very limited sampling.

At the end, Sydney said she didn't really enjoy the polling that much, and I pointed out to her that it was really more about what we could learn and how much those she polled enjoyed her. She brightened up when she understood that she had made them happy.

I don't know if we will do another poll, but I am certainly planning on going back to the Wesleyan.