Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh

Abstract

A NOTABLE feature of the activities of the Royal Scottish Museum during 1946 (Ann. Rep. 1946) was the record number of temporary exhibitions that were organised. These, all of topical interest and of strong public appeal, included the "Meet Scotland", Exhibition (which ran from August 1945 until March 1946), organised by the Museum itself ; "Other Peoples Jobs", organised by the Ministry of Fuel and Power, and a special health exhibition in connexion with the City of Edinburgh‘s Health Week. This was divided into sections dealing with maternity and child welfare, tuberculosis, school medical services, water supply, etc. A unique aspect of this particular exhibition, and one which must certainly be unique in the history of the Museum, was the presence of nursery school infants, "who,"in the words of the report, "performed their exercises and ablutions, played their games and demolished their meals, completely unaffected by the mass of admiring onlookers". In reference to these and the several other special exhibitions which were provided for by various outside organisations, Dr. D. A. Allan, director of the Museum, writes : "The scope and variety of the Museum‘s offerings are largely determined by the possibilities of outside assistance, and the record for 1946 provides food for thought regarding museum developments in the years ahead". The attendance figures for the various exhibitions shown on p. 3 of the report certainly justify this observation. Important donations to the Museum during the year included the Fyfe collection of Japanese netsuké (presented by Mrs. E. J. Fyfe). A full list of acquisitions appears at the end of the report.