dr. margaret weitekamp nasm curator of space history how have we imagined other worlds?

Dr. Margaret WeitekampNASM Curator of Space History

How Have We Imagined Other Worlds?

What kinds of questions do historians ask?And how do objects help us to answer those questions?

Twin goals: • Display part of the Museum’s collection of space-themed toys• Think about what lessons the players draw about spaceflight worlds when they playMethod:• Sort collection for best examples• Pull artifacts from storage and inspect for exhibitability• Group artifacts into display groups based on research about each piece• Think about the story the artifacts can tell when grouped together thus• Write short labels that tell that story – and entice visitors’ reexamination• Work with exhibit designer to arrange artifacts most effectively• Installation: Bring together artifacts, printed labels, plex stands, and shelf layouts

Space-Themed ToysFall Roughly into 4 Groups

Parallels with another American genre, the Western: a hero with a gun, a sidekick, a best gal, a trusty steed

(in this case, a spaceship), a home base (either a spaceship/space station or a fort) and a villain who is

often non-white/alien (sometimes, in space adventures, rather literally)

1. Ray Guns2. Spaceships3. Playsets4. Action Figures

The Staging Area and the Case

Unpacked Toys are Laid Out on Foam

Padding

Arranging Toys According to the Plans Made Weeks Earlier

NASM Museum Specialist

Samantha Snell Adjusts One of the Ray Guns

Samantha Snell and Designer Linda King adjust the cord for a hanging toy

Japanese Tin Toy Robots (and their

Labels and Stands) Await Installation in

the Case

An Elephant Tin Toy Installed on its Plex Stand with a

Mockup of the Box Behind It

Museum Specialist (and donor) Jeannie Whited with a Babylon 5 CD-ROM set

Arranging MEGO Star Trek figures

The Final Arrangement of

the Ray Guns

Astronaut Barbies

The Full Case: 139 Artifacts Represented

The Curator with the Completed Case

The First Members of the Public Come by to Appreciate the New Case

What Do Toys Reveal About Space Science Fiction?

• Toys guides how players position themselves in space-themed stories– Carrying a ray gun means imagining oneself to be the hero– Playing with a playset or action figures means acting out space-

themed scenes as the director of the action– Space-themed toys almost never suggested that the player take

the point-of-view of the female lead or the villain

• Space-themed fiction reflects our world and how we see ourselves (or would like to see ourselves) more than an real ideas about other worlds