The Mu$eum of American Finance

The Museum of American Finance has recently opened in new digs, in the old Bank of New York building on Wall Street. (No, I'm not the one who thought of that clever use of the $-as-S, they did.)

I'd never heard of it either, until I saw a bit on it in The Economist, but you should know that it's:

...the nation's only independent public museum dedicated to celebrating the spirit of entrepreneurship and the democratic free market tradition which has made New York City the financial capital of the world.

New York is obviously the right place for this museum. Not that museums always end up in the right place, of course. Why, if they did, that would mean that it actually made sense that the Museum of American Sanitary Plumbing (a.k.a., the Toilet Museum) was located for many years in my home town of Worcester, Massachusetts. Hmmmmm. (The curators are retiring, and the museum is moving to the almost eponymous city of Watertown, Mass.)

As is always the case when I visit a museum - even if the visit is only virtual -  I wend my way to the gift shop. (Confession: sometimes the only reason I visit a museum is for the gift shop.) Among other things for sale at the Museum of American Finance:

• A fine art photograph of a $500 bill, selling for a mere $550.00.  On second thought, you can get a fine art photograph of a $1000 bill for the same price. I'd go for the $1,000 photo - that is some real value!
• For $1200, a print of "The NYSE at Noon."
• All kinds of bull-and-bear statues, bookends, clocks and paperweights, all pretty high quality, judging from the prices, but - then again - it is only going to sit on the desk of someone who at least has to convey the image of financial success. No tawdry plastic objects here!
• Stroll-down-memory-lane stock certificates for outfits like PanAm, NY Central RR, and Howard Johnson's. (Hey, Howard Johnson still exists, don't they? And who knew that Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey was/is a public  company. Very cool certificate, by the way, but, alas, only available as computer wallpaper. I couldn't tell if there was a company tag line on it. Is it still "There's a sucker born every day?")
• A doily made out of one dollar bills - very artfully schnitzeled, it that's the right word - for $800. (Who said doilies are out of style?)
• Bear & bull cufflinks, pendants, and earrings, but, I am floored to report: NO SUSPENDERS.

And I learned a new word here:

Scripophily, the collecting of antique stock and bond certificates, is a fascinating and growing hobby, with thousands of collectors worldwide.

My favorite sales item is a CD containing songs about money. I guess they could find any songs that are exactly in praise of the rich, of Wall Street, or of hedge fund managers. Most of the songs are by folkies like Woody Guthrie, Sony Terry and Brownie Magee, and Pete Seeger,  (I'm not familiar with Pete's song "Business", but I have a fairly strong hunch that it's not in praise of.)

Which reminds me of Tom Lehrer's classic tune, The Folk Song Army, with my favorite stanza:

Remember the war against Franco?
That's the kind where each of us belongs.
Though he may have won all the battles,
We had all the good songs.

In any event, on my next trip to The City, if I make my way to the Wall Street area, I will definitely try to stop in at the Museum of American Finance. It looks like a very interesting place. (If nothing else, I want to check out the fab looking sofa made entirely out of nickels. I think I'll take a pass on the exhibit with the actually pork belly in it.)