New mammal hall in the 1960s, with a habitat gioiij) of hailcbcrst ( Alcelaphiisj to the right — the f irst exhibit one sees in 

 Hall 15 upon entering from the rotunda. 



item was a large dinosaur bone that tourists could touch, 

 but they could no longer walk under the specimen. 



Across the rotunda, the Hall of Ocean Lite was less 

 than satisfactory, and some staff members still consider 

 the term "disaster area" more appropriate for it. The 

 old whale model, based on measurements taken of a 

 beached specimen, left the impression that the creature 

 was nearly as flat as a pancake. The prime feature of 

 the renovated hall, "Life in the Sea," was the new, ninety- 

 two-foot model of a great blue whale. During its con- 

 struction, someone removed the wrong rope and the 

 head fell off with two people inside, but fortunately 

 they were not hurt and only a small dent was put in 

 the fiberglass. It was common practice for the director. 

 Remington Kellogg, to stop by nearly every day and 

 tell the whale-construction crew that he was going to 

 retire as soon as the model was completed. One day he 

 noted the slow rate of progressing by observing, "You 

 sons-of-bitches will keep me working forever." 



Kellogg did retire, and the hall, although it was in- 

 complete, was dedicated and opened in February 1963. 

 An elongate balcony had been installed opposite the 

 whale, partly to simulate the side of a ship and allow a 

 view of the whale from the side. The balcony was used 

 for only a few months for one temporary exhibit, and 

 none of the dioramas planned for it had been installed 

 before the stairway to it was declared unsafe. The bal- 

 cony has been closed off ever since. 



In one incident, humorous only in retrospect, a vis- 

 itor wrote to point out that a California abalone shell 

 on display was not of legal size. He donated a larger 

 one, just in case the Museum did not have a proper 

 specimen. A letter of thanks was sent, but a year later 

 the same person wiote that he had visited again and 

 the display had not been changed. One of the curators 

 of mollusks replied by explaining how hard it was to 

 have an exhibit changed — an accurate statement. About 

 forty-eight hours later there was an inquiry from the 



Neu< Faces, New Funds, New Fxhihits 



95 



