Exhibit Spotlight
Small Wonders: Toy Boats from the Natenshon Family Collection.
This year,the exhibit spotlight shines on very small pleasure boats.You've probably seen one of the bumper stickers that reads "He who dies with the most toys wins," and you may have heard collectors of antique boats fondly refer to the full-sized boats in their fleet as their "toys." Then, there are those collectors who really do have a lot of toys, such as Lou Natenshon, of Highland Park, IL.
A couple of years ago the Museum hosted an event in Chicago at which Lou introduced himself to Executive Director John MacLean and mentioned his extensive collection of toy boats. Models are a staple of many maritime museum collections, and toy boats are something special within the world of models, so we were interested to talk with Lou and to see his collection.
Late last fall, Chief Curator John Summers went out to see Lou, and he came back very impressed. According to Summers, the tour of the model collection started in the living room of Lou’s commodious house, and progressed through the dining room, the bathroom and the kitchen, all of which were full of toy boats. Then, they went up to the second floor, where the study and the bedroom and the closets were full of more toy boats and trains and other delightful objects, and then they went up to the third floor, which had more still. Needless to say, Lou's collection met the first requirement for considering an exhibition, which is "are there enough artifacts to fill the space?" (There's also a car collection and some antique boats in the garage out back, but those are subjects for another time.)
The Natenshon family's collection ranges from late 19th century pull-toy battleships on wheels to pond yachts, cabin cruisers and working model hydroplanes. The exhibit features a wide range of types, sizes and shapes of toy boats. We're grateful to Lou for the opportunity to share his wonderful collection with our visitors and letting us play with his toys.
This year,the exhibit spotlight shines on very small pleasure boats.You've probably seen one of the bumper stickers that reads "He who dies with the most toys wins," and you may have heard collectors of antique boats fondly refer to the full-sized boats in their fleet as their "toys." Then, there are those collectors who really do have a lot of toys, such as Lou Natenshon, of Highland Park, IL.
A couple of years ago the Museum hosted an event in Chicago at which Lou introduced himself to Executive Director John MacLean and mentioned his extensive collection of toy boats. Models are a staple of many maritime museum collections, and toy boats are something special within the world of models, so we were interested to talk with Lou and to see his collection.
Late last fall, Chief Curator John Summers went out to see Lou, and he came back very impressed. According to Summers, the tour of the model collection started in the living room of Lou’s commodious house, and progressed through the dining room, the bathroom and the kitchen, all of which were full of toy boats. Then, they went up to the second floor, where the study and the bedroom and the closets were full of more toy boats and trains and other delightful objects, and then they went up to the third floor, which had more still. Needless to say, Lou's collection met the first requirement for considering an exhibition, which is "are there enough artifacts to fill the space?" (There's also a car collection and some antique boats in the garage out back, but those are subjects for another time.)
The Natenshon family's collection ranges from late 19th century pull-toy battleships on wheels to pond yachts, cabin cruisers and working model hydroplanes. The exhibit features a wide range of types, sizes and shapes of toy boats. We're grateful to Lou for the opportunity to share his wonderful collection with our visitors and letting us play with his toys.
