Museum manikins

[major bill]

Many museums put manikins in reproduction Civil War uniforms. This makes we wonder how correct are the uniforms. I take it some museums are excellent and some not so much so.

I take it most museums do try to get the uniforms right. The problem might be if the museum has someone who understand Civil War uniforms and when and wear the uniforms were worn. Some of the references on Civil War uniforms are out dated and some references have mistakes.

Museums are also limited by what reproduction uniforms are available or the museum might have to have a custom uniform made. Do most museums go with a generic look?

I know the museum visitors love seeing the manikins in uniforms but are they being presented with correct uniforms? I would hate to see the manikins go, but are people getting wrong uniform information? Here is a manikin I saw three days ago at Fort McAllister. What is the museum trying to represent and did they do a good job?

The manikin does add to the display and I am sure visitors like seeing him. Any thoughts on his uniform?

 

[johan_steele]

Those mannequins vary wildly in cost from just a couple hundred dollars up to almost $25k. Well funded museums have the resources to do it right, many of the poorly funded ones have volunteers who try to make sure it's done right. Others have the funding but lack those who care. The Veterans Museum in Wisconsin did a superb job, a couple of the NPS ones... not so much.

 

[major bill]

Another manikin at Fort McAllister. Not a great photo on my part.

Are the trouser's legs a bit too tight?

 

[gary]

Some thoughts on museums and exhibits.

Material is vulnerable to damage. Light (fades the material), insects (that enjoy eating the fabric), mold (too much moisture). How a museum displays its objects depends on what the curator wants, the skill of the exhibit staff (especially the exhibit designer), how much say the conservation staff has, and the financial resources of a museum. Sometimes (but rarely) the security director even has some say about the object (access of the public versus security of the object being displayed). Compromises are made whenever an exhibit is put up. The most secure are the least accessible (and enjoyable).

You don't want material to take a permanent set and putting it on a manikin puts stress on the threads. That's why it's good to rotate exhibits (give the display a break in the storage cabinet). Now a proper storage cabinet allows you to lay it flat on an acid free surface and the container itself (as well as the storage room) is protected against insects. Flags are generally stored this way. Uniforms may have some soft foam like inserts placed into them to puff them up and keep them from being too flat and taking set). Sometimes museums don't have that space and used padded hangers to suspend their clothing from (you can only do what your budget permits) and covered with something to keep the bugs out before placing it in a cabinet.

Now, turning to those images, they look too clean (unless they represent bandbox soldiers). Clean is expected in rear areas but not where a soldier is in the breastworks and the enemy nearby.

 

[Package4]

Actually I think they did a decent job, the first subject is wearing what appears to be a Tait Jacket, made of British Army cloth, with matching pants. He has an Enfield musket with what appear to be British accouterments. Since I assume he was a garrison soldier, the uniform is clean, but too much so, unless he mustered in yesterday. The second also looks OK, but again too clean for a fort such as McAllister, which was largely a dirt fortification and subject to mudbaths. The pants/trowsers are fine, could have come from home or issued. Remember there were four sizes in the Federal Army and you were issued whatever and then traded until you got what fit, or not; the Southern Army was not much different.

 

[major bill]

It is always difficult for these state run museums as they often do not have the funds to do everything they want to do. I think most do the best they can. That said available reference material is not always correct.

 

[zburkett]

The last time I was at the Marine Corps Museum they had uniforms you could try on. In that case I think the feel was more important than thread count accuracy.