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| Collections Manager Carl Mehling helps manage the "Big Bone Room" beneath the American Museum of Natural History, which includes these long bones and other hidden treasures.Photo: Tamara Beckwith/NY Post |
Apparently, you can have too much of a good thing — which explains why Lauren Bacall’s gowns, Beethoven’s death mask, a paddy wagon and a 68-million-year-old triceratops skull are all in storage.
It’s the typical New York bind: There’s never enough shelf space. Whether too big, too fragile or redundant — just how many triceratops skulls does one need to admire, anyway? — millions of cultural artifacts are kept under wraps. And no place seems to tuck away as many things as the American Museum of Natural History: Though it contains more than 32 million specimens and artifacts, only a measly 2 percent are on display at any one time. Read article...
