Special Projects

Reading Museum Service is always involved in on-going special projects. Below is a selection of the most recent...

Taking the Biscuit: putting Huntley & Palmers online

Thanks to a grant from the New Opportunities Fund we are working on a new website to make the unique Huntley & Palmers collection accessible online. You will be able to find out why Reading was known as ‘Biscuit Town´ and how the Reading-based company had links across the globe. Using exciting interactive elements you'll be able to become a virtual biscuit millionaire or discover what working in a Victorian factory was like for the hundreds of workers in the production chain.

Huntley & Palmers was the largest biscuit manufacturer in the world employing over 5,000 people. Through the website you will be able to explore the following themes:

People
You will gain an insight into the lives of both the employees of the company and also the Huntley and Palmer families themselves through photographs, video and sound.

Tins
Are you one of the many people who have an old Huntley & Palmers tin in their attic or in the garage? From 1868 Huntley & Palmers issued small, highly decorative gift tins using the latest tin printing technology. On the website you will be able to learn more about hundreds of tins that were made for Huntley & Palmers.

Factory & Biscuits
You will be able to explore the now demolished factory and discover its products through film clips, maps and photographs. The company's famous clients and visitors will also feature, including Oscar Wilde and members of the Royal family.
Place
Did you know that Reading Football Club was nicknamed the ‘Biscuit men´? Huntley & Palmers was of such importance to Reading's identity that it became known as "Biscuit Town" and this section will look at the many links between the business and the town.
Global
The influence of Huntley & Palmers can be found all over the world. Discover more about the biscuits that Captain Scott took with him on his voyage to reach the South Pole in 1911.

The Huntley & Palmers website will be launched in December 2002 so don´t forget to check back for the latest and discover the wonder of biscuits.

Cross-sector research project

This project will allow users to search the research collections and facilities of 3 partner organisations: the Museum, Berkshire Record Office and Reading University's Museums.

The aim is to establish a shared web presence to promote the research value of library, museum and archive collections held by partner organisations. These include internationally and nationally important material (outstanding literary and publishing archives, natural history and archaeology holdings and rural history collections, for example). Its role will be to foster greater access to and research use of collections.

The project aims to...
        * improve awareness and access to the Reading and Berkshire collections on a cross-sectoral basis
        * create a first-point-of-call for anyone trying to locate information about collections in the region
        * provide marketing for museum, library and archive computer, and web-based resources in the region
        * aid greater public understanding of how to make use of collections for research purposes and the dissemination of good practice and methodologies to encourage wider self-directed learning from collections

The project has been set up and is funded as a partnership between the University of Reading, Reading Museum Service, and the Berkshire Record Office. The University of Reading Collections Development Project will act as the lead for the accounting management of the project.