Museum diorama getting too old?

[major bill]

BY SHOW OF HANDS
How many of you boys' and girls' imaginations were fired by dioramas and bird's eye panoramic art
while you were still in your single digit years?

and
here
we
are.​

I would say yes. But deciding what influence dioramas had would be open to debate.

 

[JeffBrooks]

Does the museum work to indulge kid fantasies, or some better purpose?

Why not both?

But replace "indulge" with "stimulate" and "fantasies" with "imagination".

 

[major bill]

I thought they should get a couple quality paintings showing Michigan soldiers in battle. When I work in that area I could put the paintingsls on easels outside of the Civil War gallery. I would return them to the docent prop room when I leave. They would be available to other docents to use if they thought it appropriate. It might interest both children and adults.

 

[Private Joseph]

We all started from somewhere. And for some of us it started at the Western Auto.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

By all means, update this museum with the most recent available tech.

But keep the old school diorama.

Dioramas are becoming an ancient artifact on their own.
If these things keep many people interested in history ... why the rush to get rid of em' ?

Such displays seem to bring back memories for the old folks and capture the imagination of
some children.

No doubt this is an old and worn out diorama, but I think refurbishment would be easy.
While it might take a while, it is possible.

I think our resident expert @rebel brit would be a great help with offering
suggestions.

 

[major bill]

By all means, update this museum with the most recent available tech.

But keep the old school diorama.

Dioramas are becoming an ancient artifact on their own.
If these things keep many people interested in history ... why the rush to get rid of em' ?

Such displays seem to bring back memories for the old folks and capture the imagination of
some children.

No doubt this is an old and worn out diorama, but I think refurbishment would be easy.
While it might take a while, it is possible.

I think our resident expert @rebel brit would be a great help with offering
suggestions.

Like paint the tips of the toothpick flag poles brass color? The 'casualties' are running or standing soldiers with their bases cut off and a spot of 'blood painted on. The are still holding their rifles and their arms and legs are at very odd angles, some legs sticking almost strait up. These could be replaced with modern casualties figures.

 

[bmckevlin]

Toy Civil War soldiers is partly responsible for my 64 year hobby of learning more and more about my Civil War Ancestors.
Kids don't want to read at museums or stare at old photos. Dioramas peek more interest and give kids (and adults) more of a perspective of what history is about.
I am a model railroad buff and build dioramas. Maybe they could get some local model railroad hobbyist to freshen up this diorama?
This diorama has good bones but new materials in scenery have developed over just the past 10 years that would make this a real MUSEUM PIECE.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

I recognize a number of the 58 mm size Marx figures from their early 1960s playsets

I also had many of those playsets.

The Marx molds were fantastic !

I often set up "battles" between my early 1960's Yankee and Reb lil' plastic troops against my Cousin's
1950's Mexican Alamo lil' plastic troops.

 

[major bill]

Toy Civil War soldiers is partly responsible for my 64 year hobby of learning more and more about my Civil War Ancestors.
Kids don't want to read at museums or stare at old photos. Dioramas peek more interest and give kids (and adults) more of a perspective of what history is about.
I am a model railroad buff and build dioramas. Maybe they could get some local model railroad hobbyist to freshen up this diorama?
This diorama has good bones but new materials in scenery have developed over just the past 10 years that would make this a real MUSEUM PIECE.

Is the diorama a relic in its own right? It does show how model buffs in the late 1960s saw the Civil War and how they honored it. Next issue is a moral and legal issue. The daughters of the diorama builder visit the museum once in a great while. They might not be happy to see the diorama disappear or be altered. How did the diorama donor give the diorama to the museum and what paper work was involved?

 

[Library Lady]

If the museum decides to take the diorama out and it is as popular as you say, then they may get some seriously negative feedback from the public. The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago had a model train exhibit in conjunction with the ATSF that showcased their operations out of Chicago and included the Grand Canyon. This was built around 1940 and undated with the addition of diesels in the 1950s. There was some other refurbishing as well, but by around 2000 the museum decided to take it down and, from what I remember, was looking to put something else there. To say that people were ticked off and irritated would be to put it mildly. This was a very popular exhibit. So in 2002 a new train layout opened, this time showcasing the BN part of BNSF and the Empire Builder route out to Seattle from Chicago.

https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/great-train-story/

MSI's Train Guy

Jay Shefsky introduces us to the lifelong model railroader who now keeps the trains running at the Museum of Science and Industry.

news.wttw.com

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Like paint the tips of the toothpick flag poles brass color? The 'casualties' are running or standing soldiers with their bases cut off and a spot of 'blood painted on. The are still holding their rifles and their arms and legs are at very odd angles, some legs sticking almost strait up.

Yes.
Absolutely.

That's what 6 to 10 year old red blooded American boys did back then.

By the time we were 11 to 13 years old ... we forgot about plastic army men and were interested in girls.

We were kids, not War Veterans.

 

[Kurtlg]

Is the diorama a relic in its own right? It does show how model buffs in the late 1960s saw the Civil War and how they honored it. Next issue is a moral and legal issue. The daughters of the diorama builder visit the museum once in a great while. They might not be happy to see the diorama disappear or be altered. How did the diorama donor give the diorama to the museum and what paper work was involved?

If the family could be contacted and it was explained that the diorama needed a little TLC they might agree. The question would also be who is available to do it.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

And for some of us it started at the Western Auto.

My first .22 rifle and .410 shotgun came from a Western Auto store.
The brand name was Revelation.

I think the parent company was Marlin.

Great little guns ... and I still have both.

Sentimental feelings aside, both weapons still work great.
The single shot .410 has been perfect in my battle with local armadillos.

 

[Story]

If the family could be contacted and it was explained that the diorama needed a little TLC they might agree. The question would also be who is available to do it.

The family might not have the skills (or interest) to do an update.

As for tiny figures and birds eyes views in general, see this post/thread

"Top down" or birdseye paintings of civil war battles? | Artwork

I'm interested in seeing any large-scale civil war painting from a birdseye view, similair to this Steve Ford Lithograph of The Battle of Franklin

civilwartalk.com

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

The daughters of the diorama builder visit the museum once in a great while. They might not be happy to see the diorama disappear or be altered. How did the diorama donor give the diorama to the museum and what paper work was involved?

I have no idea about paper work or legal contracts.

But I would think the diorama builder never gave that a thought.
If anything, I would say he would be shocked, amazed, and happy his diorama (worn out or not) is still displayed in 2024.

As far as his daughters, sounds as if they need to accept reality.

 

[Story]

We're in the 21st century and scale modeling has exponentially improved since the days of MARX and AIRFIX, so follow me on this -

Rather than decommission an aging static diorama, swap it out for a modern spin - how about a dynamic wargame table with plexiglass protection that can be taken down on Demonstration Weekends?

That way, instead of one frozen moment in time the display can be a kaleidoscope of many events - which would help the museum sell Family Packages when the little bloodthirsty junior wargamers want to return to see another tiny slaughterfest.

That would give a wargaming group a home and place to store/display their Civil War collections, while invigorating tiny imaginations.

Current scales range from 28mm to 15 and 10mm, so a wider view can be offered with the smaller the figures.

The old 54mm MARX static diorama can be kept in a work room while artisans (try the local art colleges) restore it.

 

[Story]

This is how the New Zealanders marked their history

Jackson's incredible Gallipoli diorama

Oscar-winning director's model is so detailed it shows colonel who defied his commanders and a fearless corporal who braved enemy gunfire to lay telephone wire.

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[R. Porter]

I like the idea of a dynamic small scale diorama to show how a conflict actually played out. I still remember one about the Battle of the Crater. Figures were not moved around but different parts were lit up at different times to show the lines, the miners digging the tunnel, and the explosion. I like larger scale dioramas that show a moment frozen in time that can be explored at length from different directions. They can suggest the scope of an event and show what different types of participants were doing as well as how artifacts were used. Finally, full size dioramas like the one with the cannoneers at the Civil War Centennial Visitors center in Richmond let you know just how big things really were.

 

[7thWisconsin]

I think that the OPs diorama looks a lot like Fort Gregg at Petersburg. Not exactly, mind you, but that´s the desperate action that it suggests to me. I see a lot of familiar sculpts in that piece too: some BMC, Accurate, Marx (probably recasts given that they´re in with the others which are later sculpts). By and large, I think it still looks like it´s in pretty good shape. If you can open it up to restore the fallen figs, I´d do it, but not if it´s going to mean building a new display case. I would rather look at a series of dioramas and scale depictions of uniforms than stuff written on the wall. Those say ¨temporary exhibit¨ to me, and suggest that the museum really has nothing to offer. Maybe some curation around that diorama to update it. There are several types of siege equipment depicted: could someone make new cards pointing each one out? Gabions... chevaux de frises... etc. Kids all have cell phones: maybe a recorded description with sound effects to give them a 2 minute version of what they´re looking at that they can dial into? Are there other depictions of combat in the museum? If so, you could develop interpretation around the theme of different ways to depict combat in media, from the woodcut to the painting to the diorama to the digital age...

 

[JerryD]

major bill. I don't regularly use the term but it applies here. Who gives a Rats *** what the staff thinks since the students seem to particularly enjoy it?

Edited to say; Do you believe the moron monitors deleted the word A - -. Who runs this site....?....and I wonder if you can complain to someone. Pathetic! Ok, I'm going to the corner of the room now.

I suspect the staff wants to remove it since its not historically accurate. Museums should be in the business of informing, not misinforming. I dont mind a well done diorama to bring a moment to life, but its got to be accurate or it has no place in a museum. Then its just a neat toy.