There certainly have been some valid points made in this discussion, I do agree with Bruce MacMillan that provenance is key to an artifact although in the case of the museum Kettenrad that I included in my original post, all provenance has been covered up with a coat of 1950s RCEME/Museum German grey and fake markings to the point where there is nothing to research or study. I agree as well that FV432 Panzer IIIs are great crowd pleasers and movie props, but this is where I disagree as I am a firm believer that the viewing public needs to be well informed during living history displays that the vehicles are replicas.
Bruce Parker also made some great points that I agree with and I am envious as the American WW2 museum in New Orleans is on my list of institutions to visit. I also feel that museums (at least the ones in North America) seem to lean towards the art museum approach where an artifact has to evoke some emotion at the expense of how it was used or played a part in a serving military person’s life. Apparently the current perception is that military technology does not bring in 'Mom, Dad and the two Kids on a Sunday afternoon’ into a museum, but the ‘art gallery’ or ‘birthday party good time for all’ approach does.
What I find difficult to understand is that people are willing to accept unrestored, tattered and poorly painted military vehicles on display in a national museum, yet I am hard-pressed to think of a single aviation museum where the visiting public are subjected to viewing aircraft in the same condition. As well, no-one goes to a vintage car museum to see wrecks on display and like greek pottery or artwork, you only see the best on display in those institutions which house them. I feel there is a perception that for whatever reason in Canada, military museum vehicles are somehow deemed not as worthy of the same display criteria as other major items and this school of thought is perpetuated by leaving poor examples on display – usually outside.
The restored Kettenrad I posted shows the standard of work achieved by one man, with his own money in his garage. What started as a rusted hulk is now a masterpiece of restoration that not only preserves the patina and provenance of the vehicle he restored, but now shows an intriguing and unique vehicle in the correct way in which it was manufactured. From my point of view, when compared to the stripped down, tracks on backward, neglected museum vehicle, it is Gord and his painstaking garage restoration that has it right.
The SdKfz 2 Kettenkraftrad is not the only unique vehicle that can be discussed, have a look at the comparison between this beautifully restored, privately owned VW 166 Schwimmwagen, and its neglected counterpart sitting in a national museum.
