MOTnews 17 (04/05/2001)

NEWS New 'What's it' on the web site We are giving you lots to think about again, because the 'What's it' page on the MOT web site is once more filled with a series of new objects that we can't identify. Surf to www.mot.be quickly and help us.

Museum Day, Sunday, May 20 It's here again: Sunday, May 20 is Museum Day. MOT has taken part in this event for several years now, organising special activities for the general public and this year, too, we have a wide-ranging programme in store for our visitors. Upon request (info@mot.be), we will send you the full programme, but we will give you just a glimpse of what we are planning here. Make sure you're there on 20 May.

In the department Liermolen you will experience the moving lifestory of a working class woman at the beginning of the 20th century. If you're looking for something a little lighter, then why not take an exclusive look at the children's bread exhibition. But hurry, because after Museum Day, this exhibition will only be accessible upon request.

The smell of freshly baked bread is streaming from our bakery, because for Museum Day we are also organising a baking session. The department Guldendal focuses on wood. You can find out how you can do up your old attic treasures yourself and see how a wood sculptor can conjure real works of art out of a tree branch of wood. There's enough going on to give you a fascinating day out.

Looking back at National Mills Day On April 29 we opened our doors wide for National Mills Day. This is a subject that is clearly close to many people's hearts, because we welcomed a whole host of visitors. The milling demonstrations in the Liermolen, complete with the new camera pictures (see MOT News 15) gave the public an additional insight into the world of mills and milling.

TRUE or FALSE

Can a chain break without a load being attached to it? You will find the answer in the next MOT NEWS

ANSWER to TRUE or FALSE in MOT NEWS 16 (13 April 2001)

You can use matches to light a fire, but flints work as well.

You strike two flints together to make fire.

FALSE

You only need one flint. The other stone must be pyrite. If you strike two flints against one another, you will only get sparks, you can't start a fire with them.

SAY WHAT? In this MOT-NEWS item we try to explain proverbs and sayings that have their roots in our technical history. Similar proverbs are found in different languages, but each language has it's own typical sayings. Therefore we do not translate this item in English.

KIDS NEWS: something to tell your children this evening Gathering pinecones.

Perhaps you have had to gather a couple of pinecones for a school assignment, or you collect them yourself for handicrafts. Did you know that in former times gathering pinecones was a serious business? For many people working on the land at the beginning of the 20th century, the pinecone harvest was an important source of additional income. The cones were broken open so that the seed could be removed and sold. The pinecones themselves were used for kindling the hearth.