Walsall Museum facts for kids

Walsall Museum was a small museum in the middle of Walsall, a town in the West Midlands. It used to show off the history of the local area. The museum had many different items. These included old fire marks from the 1600s and modern posters from the 2000s. It also had a big collection of clothes and fabrics. A special part was The Hodson Shop Collection. This was a unique group of clothes that were never sold from a shop. They were everyday clothes from the 1920s to the 1960s. The museum closed for good in March 2015. But all the items are still kept safe. Walsall Council's Museum Service looks after them.

What the Museum Collected

The Walsall Museum collected many interesting things. These included items made by local businesses. Most of these were from the 1800s and 1900s. The museum also had strange objects and old costumes.

Metalwork Wonders

The museum had a very large collection of metal items. This included lorinery, which are metal parts for horses' harnesses. They also had locks, brass items, and chains. Many of these were made right there in Walsall.

Modern Industry Items

The collection showed off cool items from the 1900s. You could see shiny stainless steel kitchenware. These were made by Old Hall in Bloxwich. There were also plastic items from Gaydon and Beetleware. These were made by BIP's Streetly Plastics.

Walsall During Wartime

This section had objects from the First World War and Second World War. You could see things like gas masks. There was also equipment that soldiers used during the wars.

The Hodson Shop Collection

This collection is very important for the whole country. It came from a small clothing shop in Willenhall. The shop closed, and all the clothes that were never sold became part of the museum. These were everyday clothes from the 1920s to the 1970s. It's rare to find such common clothes in museum collections.

Curious Objects

The museum also had some very unusual items. One was a scold's bridle. This was a metal mask used long ago to punish people who talked too much. There was also a preserved crocodile. These items were often called 'curios' because they were so unique.

Famous Walsall People

You could also find a few items connected to famous people from Walsall. This included the local writer Jerome K. Jerome. There was also the nursing pioneer Sister Dora. Another famous person was John Henry Carless. He received the Victoria Cross for bravery in the First World War.