The Microphone Museum is in Milwaukee – one man’s collection, open only by appointment. I visited it in 2017, after @plural’s suggestion.pic.twitter.com/HxVJbpH9e8
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The Microphone Museum is in Milwaukee – one man’s collection, open only by appointment. I visited it in 2017, after @plural’s suggestion.pic.twitter.com/HxVJbpH9e8
Those kind of places can be a bit of a crapshoot – one person’s museum is another person’s junkyard – but this one turned out bigger and cleaner than expected. I was glad I went.pic.twitter.com/nJiNYKFJ1T
And yet, I never wrote about or otherwise shared this visit. It was fun to be there, ask questions, look at different artifacts. But I never connected with much of what was inside. I‘m not sure I learned that much, either.pic.twitter.com/dejPK1a2Sj
The stories I heard were mostly nostalgia – except not mine. I never listened to radio, tinkered with audio equipment, or had a personal relationship with a mic of any kind.pic.twitter.com/Bp6bmwKGWH
I don’t have a connection to Nipper. I don’t know whether President Coolidge was a good guy, or a bad guy. I didn’t really know if the thousand microphones around me was a worthwhile collection, or junk off of eBay.pic.twitter.com/Fuw7b2MxjQ
(Likewise, I didn’t know whether me witnessing a recreation of a part of a WWII plane was supposed to be inspiring, or a sign of Mr. Paquette desperately holding onto an idealized past.)pic.twitter.com/KryOQkLaPu
Sigh. I’m sorry. I feel bad about this. I’ve been down on many of these things recently. What’s the point of preserving history if there might be no future?
(Many of those darker thoughts are self-directed. What separates my book from any of this?)
Except, there was one thing. Mr. Paquette was 87 then. Midway through the visit, his daughter told me that they needed to be careful as they were scheduling and timing my appointment, because he could get “too excited” – and that’s not too good for his health.
I’m not used to throttling my enthusiasm – as a matter of fact, left unthrottled it’s kind of the only thing I have. The visit was shortened, too. In hindsight, perhaps this coloured my impressions.
This week, I learned Mr. Paquette passed away a year or so after my trip. I read this obituary, and it painted a photo of a fascinating person. I really, really wish I knew all of this before visiting. That’s on me. I will do better next time.https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/obituaries/2018/12/04/select-sound-founder-microphone-man-paquette-neighborhood-hero/2174236002/ …
And I keep thinking about this “too excited” bit. I’ve always thought of museums as places that benefit the visitors. You pay the ticket, and get something in return. But maybe, in this one case, both him and I got something out of my visit.pic.twitter.com/cdhjCiMrye
The whole world situation made me think of getting older. I don’t know how many got a tour from Mr. Paquette in the last year of his life, but either way: if I ever get to be 87, I gather it’d be nice for a stranger to make me excited again about something that defined my life.pic.twitter.com/zjVTPuPc8B
One person’s museum is another person’s junkyard. I see now what this one was to both of us: a few hours of reminiscing for Mr. Paquette then, and for me – a belated appreciation, a nice memory, and a set of photos developed only many years down the road, at a time I needed them.
Rest in peace, Mr. Paquette. I’m glad I got to know you and your collection during those few hours of one Wisconsin winter.pic.twitter.com/TZbL2PE3Ui
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