by Charlie Wagers, Fairfield, Ohio
January 2017 Central States Archaeological Journal
The last few months I have been thinking a good bit about what will happen to my and my boys’ relic collection when my ashes are spread on a Kentucky hilltop. Age, two heart attacks, six bypasses, and especially the loss of too many old buddies causes such ponderings. It has become real clear to me that we never really own these artifacts. We are just caretakers for a few years and then they pass on to the next generation.
The ideal answer is that my two boys will continue the collection and there are some indications they will follow that path. They each already own some great relics that still reside in the collection. I have told them if they want to collect, that is wonderful, but if they are just keeping this stuff because it was “Dad’s” that is the wrong answer. Relics need to be studied and enjoyed and are way too valuable to be stuck back in a box. So, if you’re not going to be a “collector,” sell them to those that are, and enjoy the proceeds. Then everybody wins. I have given them some direction on how to go about that dispersal.
I have had a number of folks visit my man cave and make comments like “This should be in a museum. It would really be a great memorial to you.” That is an interesting thought but experience and reality sets in. My old friend and mentor, Clem Caldwell, used to say “Museums are shuffling feet and unseeing eyes.” We used to call such bits of wisdom “Clemisms” and he was full of them. He had a point. Museum visitors often have no clue of what the display is really about. Even the best museums have most of their collections in storage and are seldom seen by visitors.
There is an urban legend around central Kentucky that is bothersome. Not all but a sizable portion of two old time collections, the Colbert Collection from Marion County and the Fox Collection from Clark County, were supposedly donated to the University of Kentucky. In both cases, family members later visited the U.K. museum and asked to see their relative’s collection. On both occasions the collections could not be found. The legend is, when the new office tower was constructed in the late 1960s, the old Museum of Anthropology was torn down to make room for the new construction. The archaeological collections excavated by Dr. Webb, Dr. Funkhauser, Dr. Snow, etc. were put into storage, including several thousand skeletons.
The donated collections, since they had no archaeological context, were viewed as worthless by the archaeologist. The archaeologists did not want to encourage collectors so the collections went into the foundation of the new office tower. Hopefully this is just a story, but it is nonetheless a story told around Lexington.
I do know about the fate of one great Kentucky collection that went to Eastern Kentucky University. Marion D. Kunkel operated a Standard Oil service station on the north side of my hometown, Richmond, Kentucky. Kunkel had a large display of relics in his service station and it was very much of a local landmark. When he passed in 1968, the collection went to E.K.U. to be part of the J.T. Doris Museum.
Tim Thompson and his father, Russ, did the appraisal for the donation. Dr. Doris was a noted local historian and professor. He accumulated a very nice collection of all sorts of historic artifacts which were displayed in the Old University Building on the E.K.U campus. One of my “bucket list” items is to write articles for this journal about the old time collectors. “Kunkel” was the person that started me collecting and I want to do an article about him.
The problem is I cannot obtain access to any of the Kunkel relics, in spite of repeated efforts, even involving a past president of E.K.U. In 1978, a new president saw no value in budgeting for the J.T. Doris Museum and the entire museum collection went into storage. I have not been able to even see what is in storage, hence the collection is virtually lost, as is Kunkel’s name.
Contrast such fate to relics that are in private collections. Collectors are becoming more and more meticulous about the history of artifacts which they acquire. Pedigrees are VERY important and add significantly to the value of the artifact. Ohio collectors go crazy if an artifact has a Dr. Gordon Meuser association; similarly a Copeland, Kramer, or Wehrle. How often do we hear about a piece being from Townsend, Caldwell, Dr. Young, and on and on.
So, the legacy for a collector is NOT in a museum but amongst the collector community. It has been said “A man dies twice. Once when his soul leaves his body and second when he is forgotten.” If one wants to keep his memory alive, pass your collection onto other collectors.
