Pop-up museum of everyday objects traces history of French town
Residents of Pluvigner, Brittany donated old farm or household items for the 鈥榚motional鈥� display of how life used to be
(Clockwise from left) School memories - Baignol & Farjon pens, a catapult and a very old tub of cough drops; Minitel; rotary dial phone
Pluvigner-Patrimoines
One town is taking people on a journey through time with an exhibition of everyday objects from the past, lent to it by local residents.
Items include a Minitel computer terminal, a weaving loom and traditional curling irons.
Everyday objects from past
The town of Pluvigner in Brittany has amassed around 350 objects, most of which date back to the 1930s or 鈥�40s, while others were used as recently as the 1970s.
Most are ordinary objects which could once be found on the farm, at the office, or in the kitchen.
Read more: French farmhouse renovation unearths tools that tell everyday history
Emotional memories
鈥淲e鈥檝e been surprised at how emotional people are to rediscover things from the past,鈥� said Jean-Pierre Mompelier, of Pluvigner-Patrimoines, the association which runs the pop-up museum where the objects are displayed.
鈥淚t takes them back to their childhoods, to grandparents who are no longer here.
鈥淚 was talking to a woman, and all of a sudden tears started to appear. Memories were coming back to her.鈥�
Some objects are a mystery
For others, it is a chance to discover old technology for the first time, like the young girl who picked up a rotary dial phone and instinctively tried pushing the numbers.
Some objects remain a mystery even to the organisers.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still not sure how the tool for attaching oxen to the plough is supposed to work,鈥� Mr Mompelier said.
When France 3 visited, they discovered a strange pair of metre-long tongs.
It was only once the news report was broadcast that somebody in eastern France wrote a letter to the museum explaining they were used to move logs around in hearths, which were once much larger than they are now.
The pop-up museum opened on June 26 and will welcome visitors every Thursday and Saturday until September 18.
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