# What museum displays ordinary junk plated with gold and silver? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2004, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-museum-displays-ordinary-junk-plated-with-gold-and-silver/228094 "2004-02-08T06:47:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carrielikewhoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@carrielikewhoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrielikewhoa)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-museum-displays-ordinary-junk-plated-with-gold-and-silver/228094/1 "2004-02-08T06:47:06Z")
Okay, I swear I’m not insane, but I once read about this crazy guy who had preserved lots of useless junk for 30 years or something–lightbulbs, toilet seats, toilet paper rolls–and covered them in silver and gold foil, so the whole effect was weird, and now it’s on display somewhere. It may have been on the SD. Can some one please please please help me out? No one believes me and this has been driving me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![headshok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@headshok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/headshok)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-museum-displays-ordinary-junk-plated-with-gold-and-silver/228094/2 "2004-02-08T06:58:47Z")
Well, there was [this](http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/155777_foilroom08.html) practical joke that was done to someone a while back. Could this be what you were thinking of? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-museum-displays-ordinary-junk-plated-with-gold-and-silver/228094/3 "2004-02-08T07:05:44Z")
I’ve seen the artwork in question. It’s on display at The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington (It’s one of the first pieces you see once you get through the lobby). I’ve seen it several times, but haven’t been to that museum in about eight years; I assume it’s still there as part of their permanent collection. Foil-wrapped commonplace objects are placed in an arrangement similar to a church’s altar, and the long-winded name of the piece (which escapes me at the moment) has a religious/sci-fi tone to it. The artist (whose name also escapes me), a Washington native, had assembled this over the years in his garage. The Smithsonian came into possession of it after he died. ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-museum-displays-ordinary-junk-plated-with-gold-and-silver/228094/4 "2004-02-08T07:06:44Z")
I love that kind of stuff, but I’m afraid I’m not familiar with anything matching those details. You might want to try looking around here: > **[Roadside America - Guide to Uniquely Odd Tourist Attractions](https://www.roadsideamerica.com)** > > Home Page for Roadside America, travel tools and guide to unusual attractions, tourist traps, weird vacations, and road trips. There are all sorts of places similar in one manner or another to the one you describe. If it’s in America, and is as you describe, I’m almost certain it’ll be on Roadside America (whether you can find it one there or not may be another matter). ---
**Author:** ![carrielikewhoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@carrielikewhoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrielikewhoa)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-museum-displays-ordinary-junk-plated-with-gold-and-silver/228094/5 "2004-02-08T07:14:08Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > I’ve seen the artwork in question. It’s on display at The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington (It’s one of the first pieces you see once you get through the lobby). I’ve seen it several times, but haven’t been to that museum in about eight years; I assume it’s still there as part of their permanent collection. Foil-wrapped commonplace objects are placed in an arrangement similar to a church’s altar, and the long-winded name of the piece (which escapes me at the moment) has a religious/sci-fi tone to it. > > The artist (whose name also escapes me), a Washington native, had assembled this over the years in his garage. The Smithsonian came into possession of it after he died. That’s it. Yay! You get a medal. It says thanks. Yay. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-museum-displays-ordinary-junk-plated-with-gold-and-silver/228094/6 "2004-02-08T07:30:50Z")
Here it is! James Hampton’s “The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly.” There’s a photo of it–and the artist, a janitor for the General Services Administration in the 1940s and 50s-- at [http://www.missioncreep.com/tilt/hampton.html](http://www.missioncreep.com/tilt/hampton.html) . ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-museum-displays-ordinary-junk-plated-with-gold-and-silver/228094/7 "2004-02-08T07:43:14Z")
Descriptive titles are appreciated. Consequently, I have edited the title of this thread. bibliophage moderator GQ