A writing museum won’t make you rich but done right, in the right place, with the right attitude it could make someone a decent living. In the midwest a family is making a living with the worlds largest ball of string.
Location is critical. There have to be tourists with time on their hands. Rent has to be cheap but it has to be accessible. Some ideas of where it would work: Western Florida, Las Vegas NV, London UK, Phoenix AZ, New York, Amsterdam, Suburban Los Angeles are some that come to mind.
Done Right: Includes having a main attraction that is a superlative: World’s largest pen or the worlds oldest pen or the pen President Roosevelt used to sign the declaration of war against Hitler or just the worlds largest collection of pens in one place. Done right means having historic displays and things that make you smile (like leaky pens). Done right also means also having volunteers who give tours, do demonstrations of calligraphy and help with hands on entertainments for kids, like teaching cursive or italics. The admission price has to be at the low end of museums in the area and it should include a take away. I’m thinking of a plastic envelope that visitors can use when they get home to mail you all of the pens from their junk drawer,
Right Attitude: Includes the right balance of irony and seriousness, keeping it a fun place for visitors and volunteers. Having a low price gift shop selling pens, quills, postcards, fine paper and notebooks. Being flexible to change and on the lookout for sponsorships Bic, Parker, Pentel etc.
Other ideas:
Art made out of and with pens.
Pen testing equipment.
A very fine Fountain Pen exhibit.
Film of pens being made.
Don’t locate in Scottsdale AZ and call it The Writing Instrument Museum. Irony gets old fast and then offends.
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