Browse results
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‘As snug as a bug in a rug’: post-war housing, homes and coal fires
This article examines the image of the open coal fire in redefining the home in post-war Britain. Rather than a timeless source of reverie and comfort, the post-war fire articulated values that were central to the nation in this period of reconstruction.
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‘Something simple and striking, if not amusing’ – the Freedom 7 special exhibition at the Science Museum, 1965
The Mercury capsule Freedom 7 was displayed at the Science Museum in 1965–66. This was well documented through photographs in addition to textual documents. This paper proposes an analysis of the exhibition in the light of these records.
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'½ vol. not relevant': The scrapbook of Winifred Penn-Gaskell
Ephemera in collections of science and technology museums are often understudied and even less frequently displayed. This paper argues for a re-evaluation of the scrapbook of Winifred Penn-Gaskell as a key item in her collection of aeronautica.
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A discourse with deep time: the extinct animals of Crystal Palace Park as heritage artefacts
This essay addresses the transformation of the prehistoric animal models exhibited in Crystal Palace Park from scientific models, initially yoked to British heritage through rhetoric, to objects recognised as historically significant and worthy of conservation.
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A history of amulets in ten objects
This article presents a historical survey of ten amulets using objects from the Science Museum collections. What can we learn about the place of amulets in the larger narrative of European healing from the early modern era to the present day?
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A royal gift? Mrs Strangways Horner’s small silver clock, 1740
This article celebrates the rediscovery of a small silver-cased clock allegedly given to Mrs Strangways Horner by Lady Archibald Hamilton on behalf of Augusta, Princess of Wales in 1740.
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A statistical campaign: Florence Nightingale and Harriet Martineau’s England and her Soldiers
An essay on the making of England and her Soldiers, a book written by Harriet Martineau and based on the statistical work of Florence Nightingale.
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A symposium on histories of use and tacit skills
The histories of use of the objects in museum collections, and the unrecorded skills of their operation, have posed pressing research questions for museum people and university scholars alike. This symposium drew together different perspectives on this emerging area of study.
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A tale of two telegraphs: Cooke and Wheatstone’s differing visions of electric telegraphy
William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone were two of the most recognised figures behind the Victorian telegraph. Their conflicting visions of telegraphy provoked an acrimonious dispute between them. The paper explores this dispute’s impact on the development of telegraphic instruments.
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Acoustics on display: collecting and curating sound at the Science Museum
This article looks at the historic role of sound in displaying the Science Museum’s acoustics collection. It exposes both the practice and problem of using sound in the process of displaying sounding objects.