Showing off our collection

Children enjoy collecting things.  I use the word 'things' because adults like to consider their children are sufficiently sophisticated to theme their amassed boxfuls of oddments in their bedrooms.  Forget it mum!  Children are magpies  Where they are sophisticated though is in the perceived valued of individual items in their box under the bed.  They will happily trade one of their treasures for another, coveted from the collection of a friend.

There is something about that first item which makes it special – unpartable. Old bird's nest, toy soldier without its head, polished stone, a twelver from last year's conker championships in the playground.  In my case it included a cow horn, pig's trotter and a horseshoe, because our house was built on a former farmyard.  Because of the collection's tradability the contents are also fluid: sell three items you've lost interest in, and acquire one really special showpiece which last week belonged to a classmate.

Every so often you decide to impress your world of friends and hangers-on by holding an exhibition; maybe in the garden shed, or in the open.  Anywhere which will keep your collection safe and show it off to best advantage.  Naturally you yearn to hear your visitors express envy!  All too often you are vexed by criticism.  But there may be one object which impresses all; which makes the effort all worthwhile and you can close up your little event happily.

Of course there is a grown-up version of this ad-hoc display of collected objects, and grown-ups have interesting ways of managing the opportunities available.  The closure of the Museum of St Albans in Hatfield Road recently, became a critical step in the project to open the new Museum and Gallery at the Old Town Hall.  So the archived collection in almost permanent storage was swollen by artefacts from almost permanent display, now carefully wrapped in newspaper for the duration – though I doubt it is actually newsprint, more likely some acid-free technically-specified wrapping!

During the interregnum between one museum and the next, St Albans Museums is arranging occasional pop-up events.  You may remember one in an empty shop at St Christopher Place.  The next opportunity to discover a pop-up museum is, rather cheekily, at the Town Hall itself; probably one of the final events before work begins on the exciting new museum project.  Next weekend, 23rd and 24th January you can enjoy inspecting someone else's collection from their "box under the bed".  Seventy choice items selected by the wonderful volunteers who are at the heart of Museum activities.

Surely this is the best and most exciting way of discovering the Museum's range.  It places the responsibility on us to make a visit during
its 'two days only'.  The hall will be busy – very busy – and there will be wonderful conversations afterwards.  And if you take your young children or grandchildren I'll bet it will spawn other miniature pop-up exhibitions at home by our inventive junior magpies.