I have watched enough episodes of Mysteries of the Museum to know that what a museum has in their possession may not have anything to do with the area that surrounds it. Sometimes a collection can be more like a random selection of objects than one that has been properly curated.  This along with the story of Sue the T-Rex ( https://bit.ly/2Ojc0dT ), which still brings me pangs of pain, made me have to know for sure. How and why do museums have what they have? I also had the following questions: Do museums buy artifacts? Yes Can you sell your objects to a museum? Yes, and will receive a tax benefit. What about those donated? Often donations are accepted if the museum feels it can be displayed in accordance with what is already on display. What about the Smithsonian's? They use all of the above, primary donations though. When talking about history, how many museums (knowingly and unknowingly) have stolen objects? Far more than we are comfortable w...

Though I loved every moment I spent at Zero Otto Nove (see previous post) I was not done with Arthur Avenue by a long shot. Since my Find Out Friday from two weeks ago was all about Arthur Avenue ( https://bit.ly/2Mqtl2T ), after lunch I was very eager and excited to walk down the block to see St. Barnabas Hospital. This site was the former home of Lorillard family. That family you will recall owned all of this land, at one time, all the way down towards the Bronx Zoo and NYC Botanical Gardens. It looked just as I imagined though I wish I could have stepped back in time and visited the old mansion from the 1800s. As I walked back towards the direction I came from, I noticed something that stood out. It was a Parisian themed cafe and had an Eiffel Tower on the awning. That is when I knew I was where I was meant to be. I seriously Eiffel Towers in the most unlikeliest of places: Hollywood Museum, a bar in St. Martin. Wherever I go there she...