A great time was had at the mall yesterday.
At 8.30 am we headed over with enormous amounts of gear, to set up a display promoting both The Dowse Art Museum and the Petone Settlers Museum.
I filled a display case with ten mysterious objects for people to guess,
and the people immediately started arriving!
Kirsty and I were rushed off our feet all day, sharing stories with so many people.
Over the course of the day we received dozens of entries for our competition, played with several babies, wished someone happy birthday, saw photos of ancestors and even had two songs sung to us! We heard many stories of family history in the Hutt, and introduced the museum to lots of people who’d never been.
And the winner of our 10 mysterious objects competition? A Mr Barry Sievers from Lower Hutt, who guessed the following:
1. A Slate (School Slate from Central Petone School, c. 1911)
2. Biscuit Mold (Griffins Factory biscuit mold for making Cameo Cremes)
3. Buttonhook (Buttonhook, c. 1912, donated 1984 by Mrs G M Cruickshank)
4. Gas Mask (WWII gas mask, c. 1942)
5. Hydrometer (c. 1950. I really regretted including this, as people kept asking me all day how a hydrometer actually works, and I have only the most hazy idea)
6. Measure (Circumference Measuring Wheel, c. 1880. Used to measure the circumference of a cart wheels by a wheelwright. This was just mean – no one got this one, but “some sort of measure” was the closest anyone came to figuring it out).
7. Freezing Works Sandals (Gear Meat Workers Sandals)
8. Iron (Lace iron, c. 1880)
9. Hot Water Bottle (Hot Water Bottle, c. 1880)
10. Spray Bottle (Perfume Bottle, 1948)
Didn’t he do well? Barry is coming in tomorrow morning to pick up his goody bag prize. A big thank you to everyone who took part and made our day such fun.
Emma Bugden,
Senior Curator
