[Boatanchors] [ARC5] Boatanchor Ennui--The Museum "Solution"

[COURYHOUSE at aol.com]

Well we  do not get as much interest in our  WW2  stuff on  display as we 
used to....  the people that lived it as goings away....  and  have been for 
a while now. But... there is always some young person  that read about it in 
history class or has seen movies.... shows  interest.... asks questions  . 
.  so not all is    lost!



In a message dated 7/25/2016 6:24:58 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,  
ranchorobbo at gmail.com writes:

I may be  way out in left field on this but I think an underlying cause
of this lack  of interest is lack of military service experience with
today's  youth.  We have fewer elected leaders with military experience
also,  which I don't think is good, but I think the Gen XYZ whathaveyou
society  would benefit from some military training.  There are some
young  people volunteering to be sure, but I don't think the service is
as  attractive now as it once was because the college assistance isn't
very  good.   They should bring back the GI Bill to help the kids  pay
for college.

73

Rob
K5UJ


>    Forget it….
>
>
>
>   I assembled and  managed the Electronics exhibit at the Fort MacArthur 
Museum in San Pedro, CA,  up until last year.  Emphasis was on equipment 
that was used at the Fort  in WW2
>   along  with occasional examples of aircraft  (BC-375 for ex), Navy and 
commercial equipment of the same era.  The  majority of the exhibits were 
maintained in operational  condition.
>   Unfortunately I have to report that the general  public’s interest in 
and comprehension of such exhibits is virtually  zero.  For example, when 
asked “What was this stuff for?”  I would  explain how it allowed
>   soldiers in the field to  communicate back to their headquarters (for 
ex.) and  I would then be  asked “Why would they want to do that?”  Most 
teens would take one look  through the door and run.
>   And then there was the guy who  busily explained all the equipment to 
his kids but got it all absolutely  wrong.  I tried to break in a couple of 
times but got completely ignored  and talked over.
>   Also, nobody under 30 seemed to have any  idea when/where WW2 took 
place or even if it happened at all except in the  movies.   Along that line, I 
could raise a spark of interest when I  explained that
>   our BC-375 on exhibit was the same kind of  radio used on the Memphis 
Bell.  At first I used “Twelve O’clock High”  for my movie example but only 
a few “old-timers” like myself remembered that  one.
>
>
>   So, old radio stuff just doesn’t cut  it with the general public. The 
Fort’s heavy vehicle and searchlight  collections did garner a lot of 
interest though. Much more up-front  understandable and user friendly
>   for the general  public.  A visitor could imagine himself charging 
around in the Fort’s  half-track but never mind the working SCR-284 and BC-659 
also installed in the  vehicle.
>
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