It’s hard for me to believe, but A Fine Collection is one year old. To celebrate your curator thinking “Oh, no, it’s Wednesday!” for 52 weeks in a row, this particular Wednesday’s post contains a few fun little artifacts plus the question: What do YOU want to see on this blog? Would you like more toys, more tools, more textiles? (Or more of something that doesn’t start with T?) Do you want to know if we have [insert name of your favorite objects here] in our collections? I’ll make a note of your comments and requests, and do what I can to fulfill them over A Fine Collection’s second year of artifact goodness. And don’t worry, we’ll be back to the regular, in-depth postings next week – probably something from the Beall-Dawson House museum, in honor of the new exhibit that opens this Saturday.

Pluto the dog, in the form of a Fisher-Price Pop Up Kritter. “Pop Up Pluto,” the best selling Pop Up Kritter toy, was introduced in 1936 and discontinued in 1949. He’s made of wood and string, and is in pretty good shape although his ears are gone. He belonged to the Riggs boys of Ashton; donated by their mother, Eugenie LeMerle Riggs.

A wreath of felted wool flowers, held together with wool-wrapped wires. The ‘stamens’ are made of metal springs, with bits of wool wrapped around the ends. I think this was probably used as decoration, around a table centerpiece perhaps. The donor, Patricia Nicholson, told us that it dates to the 1880s and came from a Montgomery County owner, but sadly was unable to provide more specifics.

I’ll let Dr. Adams, our curator in the 1950s, describe this one: “Windshield wiper, a type used in early automobile days. Hand operated by reaching through tilted windshield. The windshield wiper, which helps give drivers a clear view in inclement weather, was first introduced in 1910. The wiping element was a carbon-based polymer squeegee, which would generally wear out within a year and need to be replaced.” (Ours has suffered that fate; any carbon-based polymer is now gone.) The blade/wiper part is only five and a half inches long. Donated by Mary Farquhar Green; used at Falling Green in Olney in the early 20th century.