#1 in the American Museum of Fly Fishing’s Top 50 Objects: Fly Panels from 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
After 9 months of counting down, we’ve reached #1.
For more than 50 years, the American Museum of Fly Fishing has been preserving the history of fly fishing across two physical locations—in Manchester, Vermont, and Springfield, Missouri—and through their award-winning quarterly journal, The American Fly Fisher. This year, AMFF and MidCurrent have teamed up to count down the 50 most interesting objects in the museum’s permanent collection, which currently includes more than 25,000 objects in total. Each month features historically significant items, with brief descriptions from AMFF curator Jim Schottenham.
We’re finally ready to reveal the top object! If you missed the first nine installments, be sure to check them out (Part 1: #50—#36, Part 2: #35—#26, Part 3: #25-#16, Part 4: #15-#11, Part 5: #10-#6, Part 6: #5, Part 7: #4, Part 8: #3, and Part 9:#2).
Orvis exhibition panels from 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
AMFF permanent collection (1967.009.001)
In preparation for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, Mary Orvis Marbury (1856-1914), daughter of Charles F. Orvis (1831-1915), compiled and created hinged wood panels to represent the Manchester, Vermont–based C. F. Orvis Company. Each panel featured flies tied at the company’s fly shop paired with photographs of well-known nineteenth-century fly-fishing locations in the United States and Canada. While conducting research for Field & Stream magazine in 1963, Hermann Kessler found these panels in attic space above the Orvis Company rod factory. He recognized their historical significance and several years later approached Orvis President Leigh Perkins about establishing a fly-fishing museum, which led to the founding of the American Museum of Fly Fishing.
Join author and historian Steve Woit and AMFF Curator Jim Schottenham tomorrow—Thursday, December 11—at 3 p.m. EST for an in-depth discussion about the #1 object in or Top 50 series, an amazing exhibit assembled by Mary Orvis Marbury and her team of fly tiers for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Steve has recently published a book about Mary and these exact panels (Mary Orvis Marbury: A Life in Flies), and you can register for the event here.
