If you could have ONE thing from the Smithsonian, what would you pick?

[Richard Steele]

Personally, I'd pick the big display case that the
Nicholson File Co. built for the 1893 World's Fair.
One of every shape and size file they made, all in
a big custom antique display case- that just pushes
all the right buttons for me!

So howbout you? What would you want, and why?

[Midlodemocrat]

1. Duh. No brainer. Hope Diamond. I don't believe in curses.

[ZombieNixon]

2. I'd pick the security camera overlooking the most valuable item there.

And then steal the item. :evilgrin:

[MrCoffee]

3. Fonzie's Jacket

In the fervent hope that it would give me the power to jump start jukeboxes everywhere.

[Richard Steele]

12. But what if it only works on vinyl?

Modern CD jukeboxes might be immune to its powers, you know.

[Debi]

4. Fred Roger's sweater

Childhood memories :P

[WannaBeGrumpy]

5. The first Hot Air Balloon...

It's so pretty! picture is a replica but still! I love the Air and Space Museum!

[Oeditpus Rex]

6. Probably this

[anarch]

8. I've always kind of wanted one of these

[Richard Steele]

13. Certainly a SHARP looking machine.

I bet it gets lousy gas mileage, though. :)

[Oeditpus Rex]

16. Too fast, too high

Can't see nothin'.



Well... except the Earth's curvature, which is kinda cool.

[Sugar Smack]

7. You want too much.

I'd just grab Dorothy's shoes and get out of there. B-)

[swimboy]

14. Sweet!

:thumbsup:

[Sugar Smack]

15. You liked those too? Should we share them,

and could we get together when we wanted to go elsewhere? :D

[swimboy]

21. Just click your heels together three times, baby!

B-)

[matcom]

9. this sucker for my front yard

[kwassa]

10. I want two things

These buildings.

I hear the contents convey.

[LostinVA]

11. The Hope Diamond, hands down

[Richard Steele]

18. I think you have to fight Midlodemocrat for it.

See? It's causing problems already!
It's CURSED, I tells ya!

[LostinVA]

28. I can take her on -- she's a soccer mom

[swag]

17. Marilyn Monroe's Lips

by Andy Warhol. From the permanent collection of the Hirschorn.

For sentimental reasons.

[Richard Steele]

19. Those things dance when I scroll my screen up and down.

It's kinda creepy.

I'm a fan of the soup cans, myself.

[swag]

22. Funny, so am I. My CEO had a shitfit when I hung the prints in my office

[Sugar Smack]

24. *blinks* heheh.

I really like that photo, intensely.

[swag]

26. Thanks, woman.

Have been told that I look like hell in that shot, but I still like it.

[Sugar Smack]

30. If THAT'S Hell why am I not happier?

:wow:

[Sugar Smack]

32. That is to say, I've been told to "make myself comfortable".

:D

[Benfea]

20. My granduncle's moonscape paintings.

They're in rotation at the Smithonian Air and Space museum.

[Lisa]

23. do the moon rocks count?

Not for myself (nowhere nice to display it, in my crummy apartment) -- but I think former President Clinton ought to have one, because he really seems to appreciate their significance.

"In the Oval Office, President Clinton sat behind a massive oak desk, called the Resolute desk, which had been used by President Kennedy.... The shelves were filled with volumes of his personal library of biographies of the presidents. On a coffee table, Clinton had placed a rock from the moon, to remind him, he sometimes told visitors, of how short was his time in this place."

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2003/05/05/blumenthal1/index.html

[bertha katzenengel]

25. Either Carol Burnett's charwoman costume or the X-1. n/t

[seemunkee]

27. The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly

I love this thing

Hampton ingeniously appropriated discarded materials. The Throne's structural elements are made of old wood furniture, cardboard, and glass, transformed and unified by the gleam of aluminum and gold foils. Hampton's intricate, large-scale design derives coherence from parallel rows of constructions, densely packed on several levels. The throne at the rear center is the focal point. Pairs of objects on either side of it impart a powerful, compulsive sense of symmetry. To the throne's right, objects refer to the New Testament and Jesus; to the left, the Old Testament and Moses, a division that corresponds to the disposition of the saved in the Bible. Many of the constructions resemble church thrones or mercy seats, altars, and pulpits. The Book of Revelation is also the source for other elements, including the shining throne intended for God and surrounded by angels, whose wings are suggested by the recurring sawtoothed decorative motif. Hampton's symbolism extended even to his choice of materials such as light bulbs, which represent God as the light of the world. Praised as America's greatest work of visionary art, Hampton's Throne embodies the creative power of faith.

[Richard Steele]

31. That's just pretty damned IMPRESSIVE right there.

I'd pick that over a shiny blue rock any day.

[seemunkee]

38. It is indeed

Its was traveling for a while so I haven't seen it in a few years. Going downtown next week so I may stop in and admire it.

[taterguy]

29. this plane

I'm sure I'd get the hang of flying it eventually. Sure would be nice whenever I felt the need for speed and / or felt like hopping over to Paris for a couple hours

[sarge43]

33. Jacqueline Kennedy's inaugural gown

because it is just beautiful.

[RevCheesehead]

34. Indiana Jones' hat.

:loveya:

[Richard Steele]

36. It is a really nice hat, innit?

[RevCheesehead]

37. Actually, I'd trade it in for Harrison Ford.

:9

[idgiehkt]

35. the deed.

that about covers it.

[sakabatou]

52. Me too

[calico1]

39. These:

[Richard Steele]

42. Those are a popular choice amongst the Loungers today.

[Fox Mulder]

40. The Oppenheimer Diamond

Edit: And the entire meteorite collection.

[Richard Steele]

41. To me, that's prettier than the Hope. I have one that looks like that...

...only smaller.

Much, much smaller.

[Book Lover]

43. There is only one thing *to* have!

[Richard Steele]

44. Weird! What is that- some sort of submarine?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Kidding, just kidding!
Is that the model they filmed for the actual show?

[Book Lover]

45. Yep, it is

I shall take the high road and overlook your outragous statement! (<grin>)

[Richard Steele]

46. Late night KICK. Most popular items so far: Judy Garlands Ruby Slippers,

the SR-71 high-altitude Spy Plane,
and the Hope Diamond.

I admit being a bit surprised at how popular CLOTHING
has been. I did not expect that!

[qnr]

47. Don't know if it is still there, but as a child, I was always fascinated

by the solar system display they had, with little bitty lights that lit up as the planets and whatnot moved through their orbits. That's what I'd like.

[mark414]

48. their entire music archive

[Richard Steele]

50. Is their music archive even fully "archived" yet?

I had heard that they have storerooms of recordings
that haven't ever even been catalogued; unknown treasures
just gathering dust.

[mark414]

51. exactly the reason i want them

hell i'd be happy just with anything related to woody guthrie or anything that john and alan lomax put in there...but god would i love to just spend a year with full access to it, i could die a happy man

[Richard Steele]

53. Y'know, I might have to change my original choice...

Petronius chose "the keys, so I could go whenever I want"...
and combining that idea with this one, I think I might
rather have "The keys to the BASEMENT".

Maybe it's not actually in the basement;
I refer to all the storage/warehouse
space where they have the hundred million items
that AREN'T on public display. All the boxes that were
ever donated and stuck on a shelf unopened.

That's gotta be the closest thing on earth to that final scene
from "Raiders of the Lost Ark"; No doubt there are items sitting
forgotten that would boggle the mind.

I bet could happily spend the rest
of my days rummaging through boxes
in the Smithsonian "basement".

[petronius]

49. The keys, so I could go whenever I wanted

(I might also need all the alarm codes)

[RetroLounge]

54. Easy choice...

RL

[ContraBass Black]

55. The Dulles Air & Space Hangar.

(contents included)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

56. Nicolo Amati

King Louis XIV, built in 1656

[Richard Steele]

57. You really can't get wood like that anymore.

All the money in the world doesn't add up
to 3 board/feet of something that DOESN'T EXIST.

[Kickin_Donkey]

58. Pele's jersey ...

I saw it when I went there as a 12-year-old in 1976.

[HughBeaumont]

59. Julia Child's Kitchen

. . . since mine sucks . . .

[GoneOffShore]

62. I'm with you on that, though

my kitchen doesn't suck. (Galley kitchen with 6 burner dual fuel Dacor, hood, double sink, marble counter tops and just enough cabinet space.)

Julia's kitchen because she had such a lust for life and good food.

[Joe Fields]

60. The Wright Bros. plane that flew the inaugural flight at Killdevil Hill.

[meegbear]

61. Archie Bunker's chair ...

and I'd try to argue for Edith's chair too, hey it's a set.

[Writer]

63. One of the first televisions or one of the first radios...

or is that at the American History Museum?

[Burma Jones]

64. The Director's job..............

[progmom]

65. this

Ella's dress.

[Richard Steele]

71. "Clothing" (as a category) has been the most popular choice.

Seems a lot of us want something that someone else wore.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

66. The Planetarium!

[Rabrrrrrr]

67. It's endownment, investments, and other liquid assets

[hyphenate]

68. The Hope Diamond has too many curses

attached to it, so I would want the next largest gem in the collection, hopefully an emerald. :D

[SteppingRazor]

69. I'd take the Hope Diamond...

then hawk it on eBay :evilgrin:

[Shakespeare]

70. The big Calder mobile in the atrium of the National Gallery/East bldg

'Cause I'm kinda nutty about Calder. I used to volunteer at national history next door to the national gallery, and when I finished my shift on Sunday afternoon, I'd go over to the east building and just watch that big mobile slowly move around.

[Richard Steele]

72. Dayum! Just how big is your living room?

[BrotherBuzz]

73. Their 1906 Indian motorcycle

My Grandpa had one and cried when he saw the same model in the Smithsonian back in 1958. I have a photograph of him standing next to his motorcycle plus a bunch of blurred photos of him running up and down the road. I have the original bill of sale, his pair of goggle, maintenance/mileage record book, and his AMA membership book (no. 512). He always regretted selling his bike and I would love to take a ride on one to experience the joy Grandpa had.