For this discussion post, I researched a museum I’ve always wanted to visit – the Smithsonian. While digging around the website, I discovered the leather jacket worn by Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I immediately chose this jacket because Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is one of my favorite movies, and I just couldn’t resist. Acquired by the Smithsonian in 1988, it was actually donated by Harrison Ford and Lucasfilm, Ltd after filming had wrapped. There are a few numbers associated with the jacket – the ID number (1989.0323.01), the accession number (1989.0323), and the catalogue number (1989.0323.01). It is located in the National Museum of American History, and the site gives all of the physical characteristics of the jacket, including measurements, materials, and the designers. The site also includes a description of the jacket and why it’s historically significant. Unfortunately for me, the jacket isn’t currently on display. Maybe it will be when I finally visit the Smithsonian! I also saw Indy’s famous fedora in one of the photographs of the jacket, so I’ll do a little more digging and maybe that will turn up as well!
My home object was something that I discovered in a ghost town in Utah in January of 2023: a Chinese coin. The westard expansion of the US meant that construction of the railroad was hard labor, and an attempt at civility was built along the railroad tracks, but most of the small towns that dotted the landscape are long gone. Bricks, broken pottery, and rocks are all I’ve really ever seen in these towns, but one day I just happened to look down and noticed this coin with a hole in it, so I picked it up. I’ve done some preliminary research into it, and it appears that it is a Chinese cash coin from the 1700s. This makes sense with the area, as the west desert of Utah (where I live) was home to a large Chinese immigrant population, as they worked on the railroad. It was most likely dropped just outside of a house (this is a hypothesis based on the remnants of the house very near to where I found the coin.
Question: Would you consider putting one of your personal items into a museum? What is it and why that particular piece?
