- Plans approved to create new London Museum and regenerate Smithfield
- From DJ sets to late-night cinema Museum of London announces blockbuster festival weekends to close London Wall
- fabric to become world’s first nightclub-in-residence in a Museum
- Major new Museum of London Docklands exhibition uncovers London’s 700 year history of public executions
- 15-year-old Londoner takes over city bus stops as winner announced of Museum of London, BBC 100 & TfL poetry competition
- Museum of London unveils Greatest Hits mural to celebrate 45 years at London Wall
- Museum of London marks 100 days to closure with free event and giveaways for visitors
- Museum of London raises a further £7 million towards its new home at West Smithfield
- Museum of London celebrates 45 years at London Wall as it commences countdown to closure
- Sunil Gupta’s ‘Pretended’ Family Relationships photo series acquired by the Museum of London
- Putin’s Happy – Museum of London acquires Jeremy Deller film revealing a divided country and a city full of protest
- The Museum of London celebrates city's sporting hero with new display on Harry Kane
- The Museum of London presents 'Grime Stories: from the corner to the mainstream', opening 17 June 2022
- Joe Corré, Jordan and Richard Boon to appear in an uncensored, live Punk.London debate
- 300 year old love message embroidered in human hair to go on display at the Museum of London Docklands
- Museum of London begins countdown to West Smithfield relocation
- Douglas Gilmore appointed Managing Director of Museum of London Docklands
- New research to shed fresh light on the impact of industrialisation
- The Prince of Wales becomes Museum of London Patron
- The Clash’s Paul Simonon’s famous Fender Precision bass to go on display
- Behind the Scenes of the Museum of London
- Stanton Williams and Asif Khan to design new Museum of London at West Smithfield
- Museum of London acquires ensemble inspired by the creativity of the Windrush generation
- Feeding Black: Community, Power & Place opening 16 July at Museum of London Docklands
- Museum of London acquires NHS sign from ZSL London Zoo’s Giraffe House as part of Collecting COVID
- Museum of London sites set to reopen 19 May with extensions of Dub London: Bassline of a City and Havering Hoard: A Bronze Age Mystery
- Museum of London acquires Mayor of Lambeth’s homemade ceremonial chain as part of Collecting COVID project
- Museum of London acquires ‘viral’ Tweets for Collecting COVID
- Weavers’ Company donate £100,000 to the Museum of London’s move to Smithfield
- Museum of London receives Trump Baby blimp ahead of the Presidential Inauguration
- Museum of London to collect COVID dreams
- Arsenal’s captain donates Black Lives Matter shirt to the Museum of London
- Dub London: Bassline of a City opening 2 October at the Museum of London
- Public statement October 2020
- London Sugar & Slavery gallery
- New major exhibition Havering Hoard: A Bronze Age Mystery opens 11 September at the Museum of London Docklands
- Robert Milligan statue statement
- Museum of London sites to reopen 6 August with four-week extension of The Clash: London Calling display
- Public statement
- Museum of London releases first ever recorded soundscapes of London alongside new recordings of London in lockdown as part of Collecting COVID project
- Design concepts for new museum at West Smithfield revealed
- The Museum of London collects shared experiences of Ramadan in lockdown as part of Collecting COVID project
- Unheard oral histories are released by the Museum of London to mark Windrush Day
- Collecting Covid: the Museum of London seeks to mark unprecedented pandemic for the future
- Millicent Fawcett’s ‘Steadfastness and Courage’ brooch to go on permanent display for the first time
- Museum of London submits plans to create a new world-class cultural destination in West Smithfield
- King Charles I’s execution vest to go on display in new major exhibition
- Museum of London to celebrate Dub Reggae and its influence on the capital
- East End bastion Syd’s coffee stall to be donated to the Museum of London
- Free exhibit celebrating the making of The Clash’s ground-breaking album ‘London Calling’ now open
- Museum of London acquires extremely rare plate that belonged to Samuel Pepys
- The story of the Krios of Sierra Leone to be told in the Museum of London Docklands’ latest display
- Museum of London to host The Clash: London Calling exclusive free exhibit of over 100 personal items
- The largest ever Bronze Age hoard in London has been discovered
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- Smithfield Street Party
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- Statement on 20 May 2017
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- An Idea for a Future London open call winner announced
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- New display reveals complex history of British Army’s West India Regiments
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- Major new gallery at Museum of London Docklands explores history of the world's largest docks
- Sir Edward Lister joins Museum of London Board of Governors
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- Museum of London formally appoints Sir Robert McAlpine as Construction Management Company on Smithfield project
- Rare Festival of Britain sculpture discovered in London garden will join Museum of London collection
- Jennifer Francis appointed Director of External Affairs at Museum of London
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- Coats worn by Princess Diana and Dot Cotton to go on display as part of a major new exhibition
- Bridget Banton and Samir Patel join Museum of London Board of Governors
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- First witness to the Great Fire of London uncovered
- Opening Friday 13 October – Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners shaped global style at Museum of London Docklands
- Foundation stone unveiled for the new London Museum as principal construction works begin
- New research finds Black women of African descent more likely to die of medieval plague
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- Museum of London Docklands launches new display in collaboration with Mind and Taking Shape Association
- Acclaimed Fashion City exhibition extended to 7 July 2024 with free student ticket offer for April and May
Behind the scenes of the museum
29 July 2016
Behind the scenes of the museum
Museum of London
29 July – 15 September 2016
FREE display
From today, visitors to the Museum of London will be able to catch a glimpse of some of the work that goes on behind the scenes and see objects usually housed in our extensive stores. This display is part of a wider collections review and rationalisation project that the museum has been undertaking since 2014 and aims to make the museum's vast and varied social and working history collections more streamlined and easier to manage.
The review also provided the opportunity for the museum to enhance its knowledge of the extensive collections. The display includes a few of the project team’s favourite objects that were researched during the review process. Objects on show include:
Evening Standard offices, model, 1977
This detailed model is an accurate reconstruction of the Process Engraving department of the Evening Standard in 1977. Gifted to the Museum by the maker, it captures the atmosphere of a busy newspaper office at a pivotal moment in London’s printing industry. Within a few years such offices located around the Fleet Street area had closed as massive printing machines replaced an army of workers, requiring a move to larger premises outside the City area.
Ice cream making machine, 1911 and Ice cream moulds, c.1910
The maker’s label Frozo Specialities, together with our own research, has identified this object as an unusual hand crank domestic ice cream making machine. The moulds were used by the donor whilst working in domestic service in the 1920s. Displayed together, the moulds and the machine represent the huge popularity of homemade ice cream in London households in the early 20th century.
Confectioner’s icing stand, c.1900
This stand was made in Dresden by Müller & Hennig. Records reveal the stand was donated in 1971 and used from the early 20th century by a confectioner based in South Kensington. During the review, however, the museum discovered Müller & Hennig were primarily manufacturers of pastel crayons. It is, therefore, possible the stand was adapted by the confectioner from its original use as an artist’s stand.
Beverley Cook, Social and Working History Curator at the Museum of London, said: “Like most museums we can only display a fraction of our vast collections meaning lots of objects remain in our stores. Objects in storage continue to play a vital role in the museum, however, and are used regularly for teaching, academic research, loans to other museums and temporary exhibitions.”
Beverley continued: “During this exercise we’ve been able to stretch our thinking with regards to the collection and have learned so much that will help us manage our collections and how we acquire in the future. Moreover the project has also benefited other organisations through the transfer of duplicate and surplus items to other museums, universities or charities.”
Further information: www.museumoflondon.org.uk
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About The Museum of London
The Museum of London tells the ever-changing story of this great world city and its people, from 450,000 BC to the present day. Our galleries, exhibitions, displays and activities seek to inspire a passion for London and provide a sense of the vibrancy that makes the city such a unique place.
The museum is open daily 10am – 6pm and is FREE to all, and you can explore the Museum of London with collections online – home to 90,000 objects with more being added. www.museumoflondon.org.uk.