Weighted Down

Most of us have probably had papers fall off a desk or table when a person walked by, or grabbed something else. You are then left to pick them up and put them back to the correct order. Before the advent of air conditioning in a time when windows were left open papers blowing off a desk may not have been a not so infrequent occurrence. That led to use of paperweights, which led of course to stylish and varied designs (high end designs began with the French in the mid-1800's), most made of glass. Glass is a top choice since it can be clear, or colored, is malleable at high temperatures, provides a great deal of weight for little mass, and intricate designs can be placed inside, but yet be visible. Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Bergstrom-Mahler Glass museum in Neenah, WI. This museum specializes in paper weights and central European drinking glasses.

German Glass

Germans, Bohemians, and others in Central Europe like beer, and the Mahler glass stein, and drinking glass collection comprises most of the side of the drinking glass portion of the collection. While working for a paper company, the chemical engineer Mahler invented the nose tissue. But, most of the museum is dedicated to paper weights, with those of Mrs. Bergstrom (lumber) scattered throughout the rooms. Mrs. Mahler started collecting paperweights in her early 60’s when she came across a paperweight in a Florida store that was like the one her grandmother once possessed. After her piano lessons, her grandmother would let her admire the paperweight. Mrs. Bergstrom and her husband had no children so their home and paperweight collection was the start of the museum. A rarity in the world of art, it has no admission price, although a donation is requested.

Paperweight

When I think of a paperweight, the scene in a movie I saw within the last year comes to mind. A women goes to complete work on her master thesis at her Aunt or mother’s house, and leaves the window open. As she leaves the room a strong cross breeze scatters the paper out the window, which of course being television had no screen, and the papers scatter in and throughout the garden and neighbor yards. She really needed a paper weight. Or, it makes me think of work. I have to view many plans, and over 33 years of experience has shown that engineers tend to roll their plans with the printed side in, but that makes them, when spread out, hard to hold down as the ends want to curl up. Thus, I end up using books to hold the edges down. Architects on the other hand roll their plans with printed side out, which makes a bulge in the middle, but much easier to handle and you can simply hold down the bulge as you work through the plan.

Another paperweight

While we all know why paperweights were needed, but they are going the way of the floppy disc, Beta, VHS, DVD, and human workers as computers (and robots) continue to cause changes in the workplace. After all, you don’t need to weigh down a computer screen. Computer screens may need height adjustment, and a co-worker found that old Institute of Transportation Engineer Trip Generation Manuals come in handy to help raise a screen. Most everything becomes obsolete and is destined to a museum. Think of the Ringling Brothers Circus which is now but recalled through the Circus World Museum in Baraboo. I never really thought there would be a museum dedicated to pretty much paperweights, so it was a surprise and turned out to be a rather pleasant experience.

Can you guess what this is?

An article on Wikipedia, if one can trust the source, says that the two biggest paperweight holdings in the nation are at the Chicago Art Institute (which I verified through a news article when the Institute took hold of a few hundred more paperweights) and the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, which self-claims to be the largest. I can understand Chicago having a large paperweight collection, after all it is the “Windy City”. That moniker does not come from nature produced wind, but from that wind produced by its residents, particularly politicians. One only needs to look at the coming junk bond status of the state of Illinois to know that windy does not always mean competent (or with the exception of last year, look at the Cubs). Neenah, on the other hand, has a collection started simply because of Mrs. Bergstrom’s nostalgia following piano lessons from her grandmother. In elementary school when asked what causes stress in his life, my youngest child responded: piano lessons. Ironically, it was those lessons that have now led to his liking to play this instrument.

Notice the recreated bug

It is odd how somethings in life turn out. My youngest child not liking piano lessons, but those lessons have provided a love of the instrument. One may never know what the future holds, and sometimes hard work and effort will pay off. My wife yearns for the times when she can hear her son play the piano, as it means he is home. Mrs. Bergstrom's nostalgia started a paperweight collection. One small item led to one of the largest collections of paperweights in the nation, if not the world. While the purpose of a paperweight is to hold down papers, the main point of the post is to not get weighted down. The difficulties in one part of life may provide benefit later.

Photos by the author taken at the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum in Neenah, WI on 30 June 2017.