Happy
Halloween, everybody!
This past
week hasn’t been much unlike the past few weeks, so I’m just going to talk more
about what happens in the FHCC (things that I don’t necessarily do myself). And
as, usual, there will be plenty of pictures of hats and things.
As I may
have said in a past post, the vast majority of items in the collection have
been donated rather than bought. Therefore, the donation process is quite
important.
I often
describe donations as being somewhat akin to Pawn Stars, but in a much less crude. Essentially, a potential
donor contacts us, a dialogue about their items begins, and eventually a
meeting is scheduled for them to come in and show us their pieces in person.
From there, the garments/accessories/etc. are examined and either chosen to be
put in the main collection, or the study collection.
There are
two main differences between the main and study collections, in my opinion. The
first is proximity to students. The study collection is more accessible to
students, whereas the main collection requires an appointment. The second
difference lies in exhibition. Study collection pieces are never put on
display, whereas main collection items are.
Anyhow,
after we have decided what items we’re taking and where they will go, there’s
paperwork. So as to avoid issues later, we make sure that there is a record of
exactly what the donor is donating, their contact information, and a signed
agreement that shows the items now belong to the FHCC. The face-to-face part of
the process is important because sometimes a donor may not be ready to let go
of their items. For example, if a person donates pieces that belonged to a
loved one who has passed away, sometimes they may not truly be ready to move
on. Seeing their level of emotion during this process helps to figure that out.
Donation
information/paperwork gets both a digital file and a paper file, just in case,
and copies of paperwork are also sent to the donor, along with a personalized
thank-you letter. J
(I can’t
think of anything more to say about the donation process, so it’s hat/accessories time!)
This sounds like such a fun and interesting job! You get to see so many different kinds of hats that are different styles and from different time periods. I feel like you definitely get to learn a lot about the different time periods these hats were worn in. Is there a certain kind of hat that is your favorite or a time period you enjoy learning about?
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