Gathering Objects for "Shop Life": Part 1

On a cool Wednesday morning recently, five Tenement Museum staffers from various departments drove up to the world famous Brimfield, Massachusetts Antique Show to gather period furniture for our forthcoming exhibit, Shop Life, which will explore the histories of the various businesses that have been located at 97 Orchard Street over the years.

After chili cheese dogs and coffee, we met up with Pamela Keech, veteran curator and furnisher of the Tenement Museum apartments, who had already found the first of many tables that we would need to “schlep.” Tables like these would have been used in the saloon by the Schneider family, proprietors of Schneider's saloon. The saloon was in operation from 1864 to 1886.

Table number two doubles as a storage box like the one the Schneiders would have used for letting dough rise.

Also on our shopping list: the numerous artifacts needed to furnish the saloon and use as talking points. This interactive new exhibit will discuss all uses of the original commercial space, from the Schneiders' era through the 1970s.

Brimfield wasn’t all work, though. There were so many displays to be enjoyed for their sense of playfulness and nostalgia.

The next morning we (actually mostly just Pamela) found two more tables and most of the artifacts we needed. Well what did we end up finding, you ask? To be continued in Part 2!

--Posted by IT Coordinator Jonathan Lagdameo