> The thing that disgusts me is not the poor musical condition of the
> instruments but the fact that the signage on them, apparently posted
> -- or at least sanctioned -- by the Montana Heritage Commission,
> pokes fun at the instruments and ridicules their performance.
>
> I suppose this is all done to entertain and amuse the tourists and
> milk them of their pocket change, whereas the government sponsors
> of the museum should be educating their visitors and fostering an
> appreciation for good mechanical music.

Yes, indeed.  A good many museum people these days are specialists in
running museums, and seldom have either expertise or any particular
appreciation for the collections in their institutions.  I've worked
at a science museum in Columbus, Ohio, that's like this.

Years ago, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago had an
exhibit of old inventions, nicely-restored, with signage that heaped
ridicule on the devices.  "Ha, ha," said one, "Imagine a movie
projector that used a lamp powered by acetylene!"

Well, I wrote to these people.  "Ha, ha," I said, "Imagine needing
an intense light source before electric power was common, you fools."

I received back an embarrassed letter from the director of the museum,
who gave lots of excuses as to why someone might have put a
history-impaired adolescent in charge of their exhibit signage.

But the [museum] people are like this.  Chances are that whoever is
in charge of that Montana museum is thoroughly clueless (they're often
art-administration majors) about history and the difference between
having music on the frontier versus the utter silence out there.

Feel free to send them a copy of this note, too.

Mark Kinsler
Lancaster, Ohio, USA
http://www.mkinsler.com/