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By Katrina Margolis
Hometown Weekly Reporter
On any given day, the Needham Historical Society is a fascinating place to be. However, this past Sunday, it got just a little bit more fascinating with the addition of a Pop-Up Exhibit.
From 2:30 to 4:00, local Needhamites and those in the surrounding area could drop by to see a collection of some of the lesser known pieces within the Society’s collection. The Society recently put on an exhibit entitled “The History of Needham in 100 Objects.” As Gloria Greis, executive director, said, “These are objects 101 through 116.”
Gloria Gries’ favorite is the albatross beak. Photos by Katrina Margolis
Pop-up exhibits are a great way for museums to display pieces that may not otherwise make the cut. “You don’t worry about all the cleaning of the props and all of the formal stuff - the mats and the angles. Just a quick opportunity for people to see stuff they might not otherwise see,” Gloria said. “There are a few different ways to have them. This is our pop-up, but you can also have people bring their own stuff.” There are a number of reasons objects may not have made the first 100, however not being interesting enough is definitely not among them. “We’ve got a million things and you’re trying to sort them out and finally you get to all of these things you really like but you’re like eh, they’re too creepy – like a syringe for injecting yourself if you had a ‘chance encounter’ when you were a GI, for example…” Gloria explained.
Gloria continued to explain some of the reasons these objects are displayed at this time and not before. “Sometimes, you have stuff that’s great but you just have other stories to tell, or you have a better way to tell their own story. For example, instead of using the albatross beak, we used the Antarctic flag, which is basically the same story but we’re more certain of its origin,” she said. “So it’s an opportunity to show off a few things without the formality of having the know all of the exact information without knowing all of the things a museum, should, perhaps, know!” Gloria’s interest and fascination with these objects shone through, and her joy in being able to display them came across through the way she found such interest in objects others may simply pass by.
Included in these objects were a portrait made of hair, which as Gloria put, was just one of the “quirks of 19th century life,” an oxen shoe, an admiral’s hat, a nutcracker in the shape of Otto Von Bismarck, as well as a mummy’s arm. “It probably seemed like a good idea at the time,” concluded Gloria.
