Tchotchkes! Treasures of the Family Museum

Tchotchkes! Treasures of the Family Museum

Date

Mar 01 2000 - Apr 15 2001
, 10AM- 6PM

JMM Original Exhibit on view March 1, 2000 – April 15, 2001

What’s in a Name?
When we use the word “tchotchkes” in everyday conversation, we usually mean knick knacks or what nots small, ordinary things that don’t seem especially significant. But tchotchke has many meanings. It means fancy and treasured as well as trivial and frivolous. Multiple meanings make it hard to pin down just what is a tchotchke. Is it cheap or costly? Hand made or mass produced? Valuable heirloom or piece of junk? Jewish or American or both?

A World of Tchotchkes
While definitions of “tchotchke” vary greatly, we mostly use the word to describe the small items that decorate our homes, offices, and even our cars. Some of these are Jewish and others are not. For this display, the Jewish Museum has chosen to present a rich array of tchotchkes with clear Jewish meanings. They serve as markers of Jewish identities. They carry group and family and personal memories. They declare to the world, “This is a Jewish home!”

Photos of Exhibit


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