Costume Gallery, Helston Folk Museum
FDFAS Heritage Volunteers have been working at the Helston Folk Museum since October 2003. The Museum has a Costume Gallery where some costumes are displayed in addition to a large number of items in store. These items, from Victorian dresses to W.W.II uniforms have been packed by trained volunteers in acid free paper and boxes or hung in special bags made of Tyvek.
Volunteers received training from the Museums and Heritage Officer, in appropriate methods of handling, recording and packing delicate textile objects to conservation standards.
Volunteers recorded relevant data, photographing and measuring a wide range of textiles and accessories including parasols millinery and even a table cloth with embroidered signatures of local people. The stories that the items reveal are a fascinating insight into the lives of people in Helston in past times.
In the Gallery are two Costume Registers which were presented to the Museum by the Society in 2005 and 2009. These contain photographs (and the location in the store) of some of the most interesting items so that, on request, they can be readily accessed for the public.
New in 2010
A training day took place at Helston Museum on January 27th 2010 for new volunteers. Katie Herbert (pictured on extreme right), Curatorial Officer, from Penlee House Gallery and Museum, Penzance, took the Members through the basic procedures of handling and packing textiles. A team of seven volunteers will be working fortnightly at the Costume Collection. Included in the training are: Susan Duance, Janet Rowlands, Mary Smith, Maggie Letch, Austral Boote, Barabara Warwick
A member society of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies