When docents lie
 

I was just recalling a trip to Newport RI Breakers Mansion. We were in the "Music Room" and a woman asked about the pock marks on the floor. The docent without blinking said it was due to the ladies of the era's shoe heels. I rolled my eyes but didn't correct him that of course it was from cello's or bases. Hello we're in a music room. He just made the shat up.

Any good docent lies you've encountered?

A friend used to be a tour guide and she said they always lied. I live in neighborhood where the tour guides used to have microphones and loud speakers and they often make up crap.

One time we went to something called Bethpage Restoration Village, a colonial mess. I walked ahead of my wife and her sister and went to the hat maker, and asked if the wooden block was the origin of the term blockhead. The fake colonist said he did not know.

Ten minutes later when my wife entered the hat maker's cabin blockhead became part of the spiel.

It really is unfortunate when the most memorable thing about a room is what somebody said about it.

Sorry you chose to misinterpret or put a spin on my post. It wasn't the most memorable thing about the room, it was simply a quirky sidebar of a very impressive room. Docents make stuff up. I chose not to call the man out that day. Thought it would be a fun topic.

During an architecture cruise in Chicago a few years ago, the guide said the Prudential Building was designed by the same architect as the World Trade Center in NYC. When I asked if he was sure afterward, he said yes but I knew Yamasaki created only one building in the city and it wasn't that one.

While visiting the Benjamin Harrison home, the guide said Harrison completed the map of the continental US. I told him that wasn't possible because he left office in 1893 and Utah didn't become a state until 1896; Oklahoma joined in 1907 and New Mexico and Arizona in 1912.

Now I think back on some of the docent tours I have taken with suspect. :(

Iolani Palace comes to mind. A story was told to us how the Palace re-acquired some of the original furniture. Now I am skeptical.

It isn't just docents.
Some of the stuff tour guides tell to our visitors is just complete and total hogwash.
http://articles.philly.com/2007-04-2...t-philadelphia
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0828/p20s01-ussc.html

I am a docent at our zoo. We carry special postcards with us. If a visitor asks a question that we don't know the answer to - we give them the card. They write the question and self address it. We turn them on and they get answered and mailed to the visitor. We aren't supposed to guess or make things up. Does that mean it never happens? I can't speak to everyone, but most of our docents do make use of the cards. We spend 6 months in training and learn lots but can't answer some of the very creative questions posed.

On the flip side.

We had the most knowledgeable and pleasant docent at ST John's the Divine on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. We usual shun tours because of the rote manner in which they spew information, but we certainly glad we went with her.

Somebody's Law says never to attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence [or poor training].

To accuse a docent of lying implies a deliberate malice that certainly did not exist.

It is unwarranted.

Some folks believe that you shouldn't let the truth get in the way of a good story (not the experts here of course).

Now, take this the wrong way, but ...

How do you know your version is the accurate one?

The play "Lettice & Lovage" giving increasingly embellished tours of a manor house, with increasingly enthusiastic tourists.

vincenzo, I am quite familiar of the marks left by the end pin of those instruments on a floor. After many performances they leave a certain pattern that cannot be missed. Enjoying all the responses and stories.

I'm with Ackis on this one--seems like a pretty mean spirited thread. We have had wonderful docents at the Supreme Court and Library of Congress and Scottish Rite Temple in DC in recent years, without whom our experiences of these places would have been much poorer. I'd hate to see anyone "shun" tour guides on the grounds that Fodorgarchs say They Lie.

I am always curious to see what will raise the ire of some fodorites. I gues we all have our hot buttons. I don't think it was meant to be a mean spirited post just a "huh I wonder if anyone else has heard any doozies?" To be honest , I often wonder how much of what we're told on a good tour is fact and how much is embellishment. I have been on a couple that were so boring , they couldn't possibly have been made up. Having said that, I assume most tour guides or docents have more information than I do.

Imdonehere- we are taking the vertical tour at St. John's in June. I hope it's a good one. I thought my kids might like the whole standing on a buttress thing. They aren't fond of tours either.

abram, you beat me to it. All I could think of was the delightful Lettice and Lovage!

One of my friends is an Iolani Palace docent. We had lunch yesterday, and I asked her about this. She said they have very strict rules against making up your own history. Also says the furniture tales are true; and the fact that they are so amazing is why they are including in the tours.

I have a higher expectation for accuracy from docents at cultural institutions than for guides working for commercial tours.

Thank you to all those docents who, in sharing their knowledge, enriched my travel experiences.

HTtY

Cjar

I will see if any my friends remember her name.