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Jack Gann

@jackgann.bsky.social

410 followers 270 following 240 posts

Historian and curator. Museums, Victorians, and medicine. Currently curator at Thackray Museum of Medicine, Leeds

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · Jul 26

New exhibition opens today.

It's about poo. And answering children's questions.

It's both silly and informative. And can be enjoyed throughout the summer and up to the end of the year.

💩

thackraymuseum.co.uk/event/poo/

A paper towel dispenser typically seen in public toilets. It is labelled "Take a Sheet" and dispenses fun worksheets for museum visitors

A museum display with a poster and objects in a glass case. A text panel reads "Peek-a-Poo". The case is made up of round peep holes through which different shapes of plasticine poo are displayed on perspex blocks. They are the different shapes of the Bristol Stool Chart, made and described by local school kids.

A Bristol Stool Chart type 4 is captioned "A smooth, slippery pickle. Looks like a hotdog or a baby's arm".

Twenty toilet seats mounted on a wall. They have questions on the lid ranging from "when?" and "why?" to "can poo be used for medicine?"

A fossilised faeces from the Middle Ages, sitting in a clear petri dish on a perspex block. Colourful neon lights reflect off the surface of the block.

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · 5h

By inviting kids to keep asking questions in our latest exhibition, I have condemned myself to a job of constantly responding to weird fecal enquiries.

Fortunately, having a 5 year old has been the perfect training for this.

A form written in a child's handwriting that says: "Lucy, aged 9, from barsnley. in the olden days what did the people use to wipe there bottoms before toilet roll"

A screen with a cartoon poo character and printed text that says: "Even before toilet roll, people used paper to wipe their bums. Pages torn from books or newspapers were popular with the Victorians. Further back, Vikings used moss and natural materials, while ancient Greeks favoured broken bits of pottery. Ouch!"

A form written in a child's handwriting that says: "Tabitha, aged 10, from Bolton. Is it true that we get our gut bacteria from our mother when we are born?"

A screen with a cartoon poo character and printed text that says: "Yes, it is. Your gut develops its community of helpful germs right from the moment you are born. Germs passed on from your mum while she gives birth give your guts a healthy start in life, helping you to fight disease as you grow."

A form written in a child's handwriting that says: "Rosa, aged 9, from barnsley. did people use to eat poo?"

A screen with a cartoon poo character and printed text that says: "Eating human poo exposes you to some nasty germs, so has never been a good idea. However, for Inuit people in Greenland, the droppings of a bird called a ptarmigan are considered a delicacy."

A form written in a child's handwriting that says: "Emily S, aged 9 and a quarter, from Milnrow. Do bigger/older people do bigger poos?"

A screen with a cartoon poo character and printed text that says: "Grown ups tend to do bigger poos than children, because they eat more. But that does not mean poos get bigger and bigger as you get old. In fact, people over 60 are much more likely to be constipated, which generally results in much smaller poos. (Type 1 on the Poo Chart over there)."

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · 1d

The star was definitely this cheap little souvenir gladiator from the amphitheatre in 1st century Pompeii.

The museum was full of cosplayers from the comic con outside and it really drummed home how fans are always going to want collectable figurines of their faves.

Antique funko pop.

A photo of a little terracotta figurine on display in a museum. It is a model of the murmillo-class gladiator whose helmet we just saw.

Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · 1d

Enjoyed visiting the Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum exhibition at the Armouries.

Especially learning that they existed on an almost entirely bean-based diet. Which means that Russell Crowe in the training barracks should have been letting rip like that scene in Blazing Saddles.

A gladiator's helmet in a museum display. It is an example of the heavily armed "murmillo"-class gladiator. The helmet shows an embossed depiction of the personification of Rome standing over conquered people.

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · 5d

Come and have free food and a chat about gardening at Thackray Museum this Wednesday.

thackraymuseum.co.uk/event/commun...

A poster with people sitting at a long table enjoying a meal, surrounded by plants. The title reads "Community Table: Plants, gardens & health".

Reposted by Jack Gann

Vanessa is the name of the Doctor! @hpsvanessa.bsky.social · 7d

*peers through two holes cut in a newspaper*
www.spymuseum.org/about/career...

Historian

Job Opportunity: The International Spy Museum is searching for a Historian & Curator to join our Exhibitions and Collections team. Our new museum is located at L’Enfant Plaza.

www.spymuseum.org

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · 7d

The museum's lecture series, Insights, is back from this Saturday.

To tie in with our POO! exhibition, the first lectures come from Dr Piers Mitchell from Cambridge's Ancient Parasites Laboratory and gut microbiome scientist Dr Jane Freeman.

Tickets here:
thackraymuseum.co.uk/event/thackr...

An image of microscopic gut bacteria in shades of purple. It has the title "Insights 2025/2026" over the image.

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Reposted by Jack Gann

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 10d

I knew they’d come for the archivists and librarians but honestly I assumed it would be for a reason better than “Our Special Boy wants to give his friend a sword! Give him a sword!”

Jess Piper @piperformissouri.bsky.social · 10d

“They asked for a sword, and we said, ‘Well, we do have swords, but we can’t give them away because they’re museum artifacts,’” said Todd Arrington, forced to resign as head of Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.”

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · 13d

Being stuck at home with covid makes me wonder how long until the museum puts on its inevitable covid exhibition.

How soon is too soon? At what point does it become a valuable and important thing to look back on and memorialise?

A photo of the lights hanging over the staircase at Thackray Museum of Medicine. A set of spiky balls resembling the COVID-19 viruses, each in a different rainbow colour, it is the museum's covid memorial.

A photo of a pop-up museum display from 2021, showing the Thackray Museum's contemporary collecting around COVID-19. The display includes homemade scrubs and posters and signs.

A photo of a vial of COVID-19 vaccine on display at Thackray Museum of Medicine. It is the Novavax version, taken from trials conducted at the museum.

A photo of a street in Leeds, taken during the COVID-19 pandemic. The streets are unusually quiet and empty. A public information sign gives information on social distancing and hand sanitiser, saying: "Welcome to Leeds city centre. Your safety is our main priority."

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · 18d

Just booked my covid vaccine for two weeks time, then this happens.

Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · 19d

Come and see me talking blood, politics, capitalism, and disease at @otleyscience.bsky.social on November 14th. What a fun afternoon (Mike Berners-Lee is on in the evening, you could make a depressing day of it).

otleycourthouse.org.uk/events/otley...

A museum display featuring three objects: a vial of blood clotting factor from the 1970s, blood sample test tubes with HIV biohazard labels, and a red, yellow and black memorial ribbon from the campaign group Tainted Blood.

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · 19d

9 pairs of testicles and a pair of ovaries. All the leeches could just breed with any other. (No leech babies at the museum yet)

Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · 20d

Any opportunity to talk about how chemical warfare cured my cancer!

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · 20d

We get asked about this often enough that I added it as a bonus answer in our "answering kids' questions about poo" exhibition.

A white and blue ceramic apothecary jar from the 1700s with a painted label saying "Torment", like a delftware Pandora's Box.

Next to the jar, a museum label asks "What's in a jar of torment?" and answers "Torment means pain and suffering, but this medicine does the opposite. The roots of tormentil, a yellow flower related to a rose, have long been a natural cure for the torment of diarrhoea."

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · Sep 7

"Kind and witty"

www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/2536769...

Tributes paid to ‘exceptionally generous’ councillor and digital health pioneer

Tributes have been paid to “kind and thoughtful” Salisbury councillor and digital healthcare pioneer Bob Gann, who died last Thursday aged 72

www.salisburyjournal.co.uk

Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · Sep 3

Something I really appreciate in all the professional tributes to Dad is the emphasis on his kindness and generosity as much as the big stuff he did. Good to be reminded of the value of being a kind person.

Patient Information Forum @pifonline.bsky.social · Aug 28

This week we are paying tribute to our friend and colleague Bob Gann.

Bob was a tireless campaigner for health literacy and digital inclusion. He had a hugely successful career but was always willing to share his knowledge and expertise.

He will be greatly missed.
pifonline.org.uk/news/bob-gan...

pifonline.org.uk

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Reposted by Jack Gann

Bob Gann @bobgann.bsky.social · Aug 16

Bob’s funeral will be held at 12 on September 2nd at Salisbury Arts Centre. Tea and Coffee from 11.30.

Wear whatever you like.

No flowers, donations to the Samaritans via the funeral director ([email protected]).

All welcome to our home for refreshments after the funeral.

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · Aug 5

I'm going to take some time out. This has left me shocked and at a loss.

Bob Gann @bobgann.bsky.social · Aug 2

Bob’s sons Tom, Jack and Joey here. We’re really sad to let you know that Bob died suddenly on Thursday. The funeral will be in about 3 weeks – we’ll share further details here when we can. If you want to get in touch, you can email Jane, our mum, at jcgannuk[at]yahoo.co.uk

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · Jul 30

Sign of the times, though, that children born in the pandemic have dolls whose accessories are face masks.

The Chelsea doll being played with by small hands. She is wearing a purple face mask.

Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · Jul 30

"El Alma de Madrid" is just as Yorkshire as train beer. Both brewed in the York area, just beside the LNER line.

Reposted by Jack Gann

Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · Jul 30

Love story of two Edwardian servants on Yorkshire estate told in new collection. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Love story of two Edwardian servants on Yorkshire estate told in new collection

Grandson of valet Alf Edwards and kitchen maid Caroline Palmer donates dozens of their personal objects to English Heritage

www.theguardian.com

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · Jul 30

Have reached the point where a train trip requires bringing not just a choice of entertainment for real world 5 year old, but also for Chelsea.

A doll of Barbie's kid sister Chelsea, sat on the table of an LNER train. She has headphones on and a tablet, along with a backback and a teddy.

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Reposted by Jack Gann

Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · Jul 28

A large anatomical ‘fugitive leaf’ from Cassell’s People’s Physician, Vol. 5, published in the 1930s. These kind of anatomical illustrations with fold out sections functioned as paper dissections, and were intended to help non-medical audiences learn about anatomy.

An illustration of the dissected female body with sections folding to right and left to show other aspects of dissection, and portions of the anatomy that lift up to show the structures underneath

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Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · Jul 27

When that cinema opened, L Frank Baum was still producing his own silent short Oz films with his own studio. This might not even be the first Oz movie it showed.

Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · Jul 27

I'm on LeedsTV on an occasional rotation all weekend discussing an "orb of poo". You can also see the piece here

www.facebook.com/YEP.newspape...

2.2K views | Designed for children, this new exhibition at the Thackray Museum transforms toilet talk into science fun | Yorkshire Evening Post

Designed for children, this new exhibition at the Thackray Museum transforms toilet talk into science fun.

www.facebook.com

Reposted by Jack Gann

Alison Atkin @alisonatkin.bsky.social · Jul 27

increasingly want to see an exhibition that is just "lil' guys from history"

Six is a one pound monster. @thesix.bsky.social · Jul 26

We have always made delightful little guys.

Tumblr normal-horoscopes
Everyone shut up and look at this carving of a whale from the 1200-600 CE
Chumash culture

The whale looks delightfully round and seems to be smiling.

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