Like many museums, the Virginia Historical Society has a lot of stuff in storage. In fact, less than one percent of its documents and artifacts are on display, but the society offers special tours that take curious people behind the scenes.
If you have 90 free minutes on certain Saturdays and a strong curious streak, the Virginia Historical Society invites you to learn about a range of quirky topics. We caught up with Senior Education Specialist Evan Liddiard after a show about advertising in Virginia - before and after Mad Men.
As you might expect, tobacco dominates the collection, with one ad from the early 20th century touting cigarettes that won’t bite your tongue. Liddiard says the small company behind that one folded after its big marketing scheme turned into a major flop.
“The Laris brothers’ company attempted to get ahead of the curve, planning on the invasion of Europe in World War I, and so they started mass producing and preparing cigarettes for rations, however by the time that actually happened, they were stale.”
Another hometown business, Reynolds Metals, was behind an early advertising campaign printed on something other than paper.
“We have the entire Reynolds scrap book of ads that were printed for magazines, but printed on aluminum foil.”
And Reynolds is featured in a tour taking place on September 26th. It’s called “Bottoms Up: Ales, Ciders and Taverns from Virginia’s Fermented Past.” Those who sign-up will learn that Richmond was a test site for beer in a can, because Reynolds made cans.
On July 25th, Program Coordinator Chris Van Tassell will speak about Things that Can Kill You - Weapons, Disease and Other Dangerous Stuff.
“The living have always found ways to protect themselves, whether its weapons, or vaccines or institutions that regulate society, so the hope is to kind of explore the role that violence plays behind the scenes in history. It’s also a great chance just to pull out lots of gruesome stuff.”
Like a small pox scab that was sent by a relative, so his family could inoculate themselves.
“We did display that once and got a call from the CDC. They actually wanted to examine it. It was no longer alive or dangerous.”
And then there’s an early American hair dryer.
Until the 1970’s, there were no established guidelines … mid 20th century
Also on the schedule for November 21st, a talk and tour called Gridirons and Hoops: College Football and Basketball in the Old Dominion.
