Sadly, the American Textile History Museum in Lowell MA has closed its doors. They had made a concerted effort a few years ago to revive the museum and reached out to us. We did a couple of demos there, but truthfully, there wasn't much traffic. We also spent some time identifying some donated laces for them.
We live in a culture that has fundamentally changed. The old model where families once went to a museum for an afternoon isn't common now. We spend a lot of time online, be it on a computer, smart phone, or other device, and it is hard for a museum, particularly one like the American Textile History Museum, to compete with this level of stimulation.
I wish the best for the staff as it closes. This is always hard. Where the collection and old machinery goes will be determined by their bylaws. For the rest of us, whether we know it or not, a little bit of our cultural history has disappeared.
