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Show SALT FLAT NEWS, DECEMBER, 1972 5 "TCiings"gefting out of hand? Try starting your own museum. by Riduucd Menzies When most people pass on, they dont leave anything behind to show for themselves, says Mrs. Mary Hessel-gesse86, of Baker, Nevada, who intends to be an ex- r, ception to the rule. For one thing, there will be the collection of more than a thousand salt and pepper shakers that now adorn her living room, or the five hundred dolls she keeps in a special outbuilding called The Dollhouse. But the dolls and the salt and pepper shakers are only recent additions to the Hesselgesser hoard that has been growing steadily ever since Mary and her husband first came to Baker in arriving from Wyoming by horse team and wagon. . There were eleven of us, explains daughter and next door : of civil war vintage and mailbags and trappings from pony express days. When he started this, I had no idea, Mrs. Hesselgesser ram-190bles, but, my, hes been years no gatherin up this stuff to and put it, place everytime he he'd stuff moved, up and pack store load it or it somewhere. We happened to get this old building and fixed it up best we could. Mrs. Hesselgesser has donated several items of value from her childhood, induding riding lottes and other dothes that still fit her as well as when they were new. But the highlight of the tour is Mrs. Hesselgessers dollhouse, where the visitor meets the fixed gaze of a thousand button eyes, 9, ... neighbor Vanda Baker. We werent exactly rich, and so we got into the habit of never throwing anything away. No one in the large dan is a more ardent collector than son Hesselgesser, 62, whose e-normous pile of Old West mem- oriabilia has become Bakers first and only museum. A few years ago, Phil got tired of carting the stuff around and bought a build- ing to store it in. So far though, the new museum hasnt been overwhelmed with visitors, owing in part to the remoteness of the location and the unassum- appearance of the building, few signs left over from previous tenants advertise oil products, coffee, and trucking service, and the parking lot is periodically washed away by flash floods. Nonetheless, the museum is unofficially open; Vanda and Mary are glad to the wayfarer through the family cu-Ph- il Assorted stuffed monkeys dangle from the rafters; Wee Winnie Winkle and real china Kewpie dolls wink from the cup-in- g boards. The senior doll in resi-dence is a hundred and eight years old; the youngest was brought in just a few days ago by a neighborhood kid. Quite by happenstance, Mrs. Hesselgesser has become a nurse to everyone broken dolls, prac-an- d ticing miniature medicine cording to the family code: never throw away what can be fixed. Its an idea that will never become obsolete, not if the Has-an- d selgessers of Baker can help it. A . ac-cond- archives. Phils collection is impressive, includes cannon ball ladles NEWS photo by R. Moniwi A lifelong penchant for collecting things led naturally to Mrs. Hesselgesser's current occupation: curator of her own museum. A thousand button eyes greet the visitor to Mary Hesselgesser's Dollhouse in Baker. Nevada. No two, she says, are alike. WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE NOW! FOR THE FIRST TIME FAMILY DINNER CRUISES FUN FOR EVERYONE! 0tVcbmt M favors -- THE SALE OF SELECTED ACERAGE BANNING, CALIFORNIA STAGECOACH TOWN, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOUR AND A HALF TO FIVE AND A HALF ACRE PLOTS COST SIX THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS TO EIGHT THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS FINANCING AVAILABLE WITH MIMINAL DOWN PAYMENT. FOR FURTHER INQUIRIES AND PICTORIAL BROCHURE WRITE IN CARE OF THIS PAPER BOX 11717 RESERVATIONS: 1 I x 297-529- 1 or 297-993- 3 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84111 |