On November 26, 2017, the Secret Lives of Objects exhibition closed after a three-and-a-half-year run, requiring Museum staff to return the exhibition’s artifacts to storage. One of the largest was a Model P motor buggy sold by Sears, Roebuck & Company around 1910.

To move large, heavy, or cumbersome objects off display and transport them back to our off-site storage facility, we typically contract a local rigging company that specializes in lifting and moving fine artworks and artifacts.

To do the job safely, the contractors set up a gantry system to lift and move the buggy. The buggy attaches to the system at various points in a manner that does not subject it to added stress. The crew carefully lifted the buggy from the display platform and rolled it onto its mount, which is designed so the wheels are just inches off of the ground. Staff and contractors then rolled the buggy into our freight elevator, took it to ground level, and wrapped it for protection during the trip back to storage.

Buggy Information (accession number 1988.647)

Model P four-seater motor buggy with removable canopy, c. 1910
Sold by Sears, Roebuck & Company
Gift of Tech-Cor Inc. on behalf of Sears, Roebuck & Co., 1988.647