In our early days, we often simply placed objects all over tables to show off as much of the collection as possible. Of course this left them easily exposed to damage and theft, so we no longer display them like this, but it still looks neat. This image is from 1934 and features a small portion of our scrimshaw collection. The finest piece is that large panbone next to the paddle from 1857/1858 depicting the Civic Heroes of the American Revolution and the Washington Monument at Richmond. It was made by Nathaniel Sylvester Finney, a veteran whaleman.
I believe I have posted other photographs before of our International Antarctic Exhibition before, but this one (from Jan. 23, 1963) shows Admiral Dufek being interviewed by Channel 13.
The Gibbs Gallery, dedicated to William Francis Gibbs, is another exhibition that we have a lot of photographs from (like the International Antarctic Exhibition). This shot (from 1978) shows the entrance to the gallery with a model of SS America front and center. No doubt there was a lot of information included about another famous ship Gibbs designed, SS United States.
This image shows the front entrance to our museum on December 30, 1937. Quite a bit has change since then. This is now the business entrance, but the beautiful bronze doors are still there. The cannons were removed from this spot and just a few years ago put out in the front of the museum on special stands. The anchors aren’t there either anymore, but the vegetation around this entrance has grown up quite a bit.