Behind the Scenes at the Museum:
Hey there! I’m Rebecca, and I’m on a ‘Kickstart’ placement with Portland Basin Museum, working behind the scenes as a Museum Collections Assistant. ‘Kickstart’ is a scheme set up by the government to help young people on Universal Credit aged 18-24 into work.
My role involves cataloguing and organising the many different items that the museum has in its stores. While on this placement, I have encountered many interesting items, from old grenades (deactivated I may add!) from the Second World War, to many, many sashes and medallions from secret societies. It’s been a very interesting job, where every day I’ve been able to find something new.
One find, however, managed to stand out and to be honest I can’t stop thinking about it.
Say hi to this little guy!
When we first found this item, we weren’t sure what it was exactly. It wasn’t until we noticed that there was a little face on this guy that we realised that it could have been a toy of some kind. Due to the wooden figure being attached to the wire frame, we think it was meant to swing around it in some way.
While we’re still not entirely sure what type of toy this was, or if it was even a toy in the first place, this has been one of my favourite items so far. There’s just something about the simple little face that makes me wonder: who made this? What was it used for?
I’d like to find out properly one day.
Rebecca Weston
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