February 19, 2004
The Wheel Museum
At the Wheel Museum there was on display what was perhaps the world’s largest collection of wheels — invented and reinvented — ever brought together in one place.
The hundreds of authentic examples were carefully documented, even carbon-dated. The Curator and the team of docents were well-trained, each of them articulate in explaining handily the function, use, history, ethnic, and cultural place of each wheel on display.
There was, however, deep concern among the Museum staff about the diminishing attention from the public to this collection of wheels. They realized that something must be done once again to get the public’s attention to this valuable and priceless resource of the world’s greatest collection of wheels. Someone finally suggested that if the public is not going to come to us, then we must take the Museum to them.
But how? said someone else. This is a massive and ponderous place. There is no way it could be moved. And so they set out to form a committee, indeed, not merely a committee, but a council that would put its most skilled people (some trained and commissioned, others not trained and who couldn’t be expected to know any better than to accept an invitation to membership on the council) to work on finding a way the Wheel Museum could become mobile and thus reach the people.
(To be continued if not clear enough already.)