The Weslaco Museum and Valentines

         In July of 2013, I started volunteering at the Weslaco Museum. At 65, I am the youngest or one of the younger volunteers. Septagenarians and octogenarians are the rule. Volunteers take on different roles, depending on their interests. Some volunteer to staff the front desk, greeting visitors, selling from the gift shop, and offering tours. Some focus on the archives room. Some are more visible at social functions, tending to preparing and serving food. My interest was in inventorying the artifacts in the attic.

        The four or five of us would meet once or twice a week and tackle as many boxes as we could. Although the job is not complete, we have gone through more than 500 boxes. The contents should reflect some of Weslaco's history, but many items are of questionable value and should be thinned out. The Museum may have served as a dumping ground for "Aunt Tilly's" dressing table contents after she passed on to her reward. Over the years items were accepted as donations without regard to their true value. While it is good to save  an old fashion meat grinder, the need for 7 of them baffles my mind. The same can be said of the innumerable ladies' hats. Needless to say, it was always fun going through and documenting the Museum's holdings.

     In December, the Museum director resigned, as did her assistant. One of the volunteers was asked to step in as Interim Director while a new director was hired. She agreed if I would help her in the task. Thinking that we would be doing this for two or three weeks, we agreed. Two months later, we were still at our posts. On March 3rd, the new director took over.

VALENTINES, FLOWERS AND YOU

      As Program coordinator, my charge was to develop/ create exhibits. The one for February was an easy concept, "Valentines' Day."  The title of the exhibit was "Valentines, Flowers, and You."  . It was to be an exhibit with a feminine/ girlie look. Valentines, ladies hats, fans, and beaded purses. All of the items for the exhibit came from what was in the attic. We had antique valentines, lose and framed. Fans came with feathers, and sparkles. The beaded purses from the 20s and 30s added sparkle to the display cases. There was no problems finding hats for the exhibit. The problem was selecting from the vast numbers.
Having never done this kind of work before, I discovered that this was a three piece puzzle: deciding  the theme, deciding which items to show, deciding how to exhibit. The theme was the easiest. Here are some pictures.

This was the display that greeted the visitors. I could have done a better job with the lettering if I had been given a budget.

The black and white beaded purse is from the 20s and the red martini glass is mine. 

I had the idea to hang hats, but I did not know how.  I also had to take care and not damage the hat.  A very fine wire, a cardboard round, and lots of time on the ladder did it.

The top shelf holds very old lacy paper valentines. The lower shelf holds items that could walk off when no one was looking.

Certainly not very romantic or related to Valentines, but I wanted to show some men's hats.

One of my fears was that I would have blank empty wall spaces. Where there is a will, there is a way.

These display cubes are deceiving. They are of glass and very heavy. So after the display is set, the case must be lowered. so as not to disturb the items.