Description Comments

Memory Lane - "Static displays take on new life"

Object type

Image

Description: Journalist Tina White's weekly "Memory Lane" article in the Manawatū Standard. History of the A-MU-C-UM (pronounded "A Musuem" or "Amuse-um"), a collection of mechanical and static museum displays. When publicly displayed, it attracted large crowds in the 1970's and was reported to be one of the best attractions of its type in New Zealand.
Dating back to 1928, Erland McKay Patterson's hobby was building miniature mechanical clowns. The collection of miniature circus objects, fairytale figures and animated scenes grew to thousands. It was displayed around the city and on special occasions, including the 1971 centenary celebrations. It was housed for many years at 280 Church Street (now Centrepoint Theatre) until 1974, when the building was sold. Finding a new home for the large collection was a problem, and it disappeared from public view.
In 2012, A-MU-C-UM was acquired by the Feilding Rotary Club. After many hours of voluntary restoration work, the historic collection was again on public display at the Feilding Christmas cave.