Horse-drawn hook and ladder wagon pulled by three horses with three figures. a: three horses (two black and one white) and yoke, falling tongue, wagon axle and two wagon wheels; b: brown painted ladder wagon with red wheels; c: hooks; d: hooks; e: blue fireman with peach-colored face; f: gold fireman; g: red ladder; h: red ladder; i: blue ladder; j: blue ladder; k: blue ladder; l-n: red buckets; o: blue fireman with white face. Date: c. 1910. Medium: cast iron, paint, plastic. Dimensions: 6 3/4 x 28 1/2 x 7 inches (17.1 x 72.4 x 17.8 cm)

Provenance
SFO Museum Deaccessioning Project

SFO Museum is conducting a review and downsizing of our holdings that fall outside our collection focus. In the museum profession, this process is called deaccession and is a regular part of responsible collections management. It ensures that the museum’s limited staff resources and storage space are allocated to objects that support and promote the core focus and purpose of the collection.

Since the early 2000s, SFO Museum’s permanent collection has been defined and guided by the following statement:

The collection focus of the San Francisco Airport Commission Library and Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum (AML) is to collect objects and media that document the development, legacy, and cultural context of commercial aviation and the airline industry with an emphasis on the West Coast and Pacific Region, as well as the history and development of San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

Since that time, the museum has collected objects, books and archival materials that are tightly focused on the history of commercial aviation and SFO. However, before this collection focus statement was crafted, the SFO Museum accessioned a wide variety of objects, both aviation-related and non-aviation-related alike, that do not fall within the bounds of our current collection focus.

To meet our program objectives, SFO Museum has implemented a comprehensive review of its collection holdings acquired through purchase between the 1990s and early 2000s, identifying aviation and non-aviation-related objects that no longer support our collection focus. Objects acquired through donation are not part of this deaccessioning project. The deaccession candidates currently occupy 20% of available museum storage capacity while representing less than 1% of usage in our public programs.

The deaccession process adheres to the highest professional standards in accordance with the American Alliance of Museums, San Francisco Airport Commission, and the City and County of San Francisco. Any revenues generated from the public sale of deaccessioned objects will be held in trust, designated for the future acquisition of objects for the San Francisco Airport Commission Library and Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum. Through responsible collections stewardship, SFO Museum believes that this initiative will help to support our mission for many years to come.