World Museum’s pangolin specimens Pangolins are the world’s most trafficked animals. From 17 January, four mounted specimens will go on display in the atrium at World Museum to highlight the African pangolins’ tragic step closer to extinction. Pangolin scales are used in traditional East Asian medicines as purported cures for a variety of health problems including skin conditions and cancer. The scales are actually similar to human fingernails, being formed of keratin, and their use as medicine has no scientific basis. Pangolin meat is eaten as a luxury dish in high end restaurants in Chin ..read more

Today we have a guest blog from Jeff Speakman, Assistant Curator at the Museum of Liverpool. ‘Excavations at Rainford Tennis Courts in St Helens in 2015 revealed an amazing range of locally-made pottery. One piece which really stood out was a plate or shallow dish, with a scratched-in ‘sgraffito’ decoration. This mid- to late-17th century plate is decorated with a central face with radiating lines and fruit or flowers and leaves. Decorated plate found in Rainford, St Helens (Accession Number MOL.2014.48.8) It is really unusual, very few of the other finds from Rainford Tennis Courts are deco ..read more

British garden birds from World Museum’s collection © World Museum Liverpool The Royal society for the Protection of Bird’s (RSPB) Big Garden Bird Watch takes place each winter in the UK – this year from 25-27 January. It’s simple to take part and it is open to everyone. All you have to do is spend one hour, anytime between 25 and 27 January, counting the birds in your garden or local park. To get ready for the Big Garden Bird Watch we’re putting some of the birds found in UK gardens on display in the Clore Natural History Centre. These bird specimens come from World Museum’s historic verte ..read more

Here at the Museum of Liverpool we have recently put on display this rather unusual piece of furniture: a chair that was designed to act as a hearing aid. As part of the display process we asked members of Liverpool’s D/deaf community for their memories and thoughts about the chair. In this blog you can read what they told us as well as find out more information about this special chair. “I laughed when I first saw it. Fancy having to get people to kneel down and shout into the armrest. But not while the football is on the telly!” – Barry Avison, DaDaFest, disability arts organisation This spe ..read more

Kerrie McGiveron and May Kerrie McGiveron is lead researcher for the community-led oral history project ‘Hanging Out: The Histories of Liverpool’s Laundry Life.’ This is her final blog post revealing the background secrets of installing our display. “If you have been following the story of Kitty’s Launderette’s ‘Hanging Out’ project, you will know that I have been working for a while with Kay Jones, the curator of urban community history at the Museum of Liverpool to produce a display. The previous blog posts introduced the heritage project and also took a peek behind the scenes as we chose ..read more

Newspaper cutting regarding fumigation at Liverpool Museum, Hivey Fumigation Company, c1934 (MAL reference B/HI/4) The Maritime Archives and Library seeks to collect and preserve the maritime history of the Port of Liverpool. Because of the wide range of businesses that were involved in the maritime economy, we hold some slightly unusual collections. These include a box of documents from Hivey Fumigation Company, providers of fumigation and pest control services to warehouses and ships. So, not a giant of maritime commerce, but another vital part of the industry, without which cargoes would ..read more

The festive season is nearly upon us. Food galore, drinks flowing, exchanging gifts and spending time with your nearest and dearest… Who doesn’t love this time of year? For many though, the thought of having to cook Christmas dinner can be stress-inducing to say the least. To help you out, we’ve asked our Head Chef –  James Behan – to share his top ten tips for that perfect Christmas roast… 1.Start the preparation early For a stress-free Christmas day, preparation is key. ‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail’ as the kitchen saying goes. This can start weeks before by making the Christmas puddin ..read more

Image courtesy of Norah Button The Museum of Liverpool’s oral history project, Liverpool Voices, collects and preserves the stories of Liverpool and its people. As part of this project we recently recorded Liverpool resident Norah Button talking about her pioneering work at the Liverpool Theatre School on Aigburth Road. Norah took over the running of the Liverpool Theatre School, founded during the Second World War by her grandmother, Anastasia Morrisey, when she was just 15 years old. She told us how she combined her own dance training with running the school and taking on paid work to supp ..read more

World Museum’s Canary Island Oystercatcher, specimen T16000 Among World Museum’s zoological treasures is our collection of extinct birds. Many of these extinct birds are island species such as the Dodo, the Green Spotted Pigeon, and the Lord Howe Island group of endemic birds, found only on small islands and nowhere else in the world. The number of extinct birds from islands reflects the uniqueness and vulnerability of island populations inhabiting isolated and relatively small habitats. A combination of overharvesting local food resources, the introduction of cats and rats, and direct hunti ..read more

16 year old Lucy Morton won this gold brooch in the Ladies 1 Mile Mersey Championship in August 1914. She was one of eleven competitors and finished in 24 minutes, 25 seconds with a lead of 40 yards (36 metres). The race took place along the western side of the Mersey from Eastham to the Conway training ship moored near Rock Ferry.  It was billed as featuring the “pick of England’s Amazonic wonders”! Although men had been competing in an annual Mersey Mile race since the 1870s it seems the 1914 race, organised by the Liverpool Ladies Swimming Club, was the first one for women. The swimmers’ ac ..read more