Sometimes there are small treasures that show up on shelves of the museum that we can’t add to the collection, but feel like must be preserved. This is one of those treasures.
This darling package must have been donated a long time ago because no one currently working in the Mollusc range remembers who or where it came from. Apparently Things of Science were small boxes you could order in the 1950’s/1960’s with information and experiments covering a range of subjects. We’ve scanned up the little book and uploaded a photo of the shells that were included in the kit. Enjoy!
About the Author: Sara Klips is the Mussel Fairy discovering artifacts in the mollusc collection.
It is a beautiful little collection. I did find it odd that 3 more items are included that aren’t described among the 6 highlighted in the booklet. The two beautiful cowries and the sand dollar urchin. I wonder how these got added to the box, perhaps some budding conchologist who owned the box before it was donated?
That’s my best guess, though they fit so perfectly in the box and match the set so well that it makes me wonder if they were bonus shells sent along with the original package.
I had a year-long subscription to “Things of Science” as a kid (never got the shell unit). I have begun collecting them for the explicit purpose of archiving (scanning) them. In fact I have the Shell unit now (eBay purchase). I may even have another similar one?
Anyway, I haven’t scanned that particular unit yet (I have a back log to work through). Scans are going up here though: http://underlandia.com/index.php/2017/09/02/things-of-science/