Field Trips

Today I took my brothers and sisters to a living history exhibit at a nearby museum. Museums are not usually one of my favorite places to go - but if they've got living history on the menu I'm always up for it!

Let's just say, I was not at all let down by today's trip!!! I expected it to be a rather small museum, but it turns out they basically have a whole "town" on their grounds.

We visited:

Hat Shop*

Drug Store (complete with soda fountain counter*)

Dentist's Office

Sheriffs' Office

Market

Newspaper Office

Camera Shop

Blacksmith

Livery Stable

Bank

Church

School House*

Dress Shop*

Saloon*

General Store*

Barber Shop

Beauty Shop*

Train Car

Homestead*

....and more! The stars (*) indicate my favorite stops along the way! Most of these places made it on my favorites list because of the visits we got to share with the people inside. Several of the people proved to know a wealth of information about their "profession".

At the School House I met a woman who is going to be 100 years old in a few weeks. In 1928 she took her first teaching job at the age of 19. At that time, you were supposed to be 21 in order to teach highschool, somehow she got away with not disclosing her age (she said she claimed to be 108), and managed to get the job! I got to share with her the reason we homeschool and I also got to hear about some of her teaching days.

At the homestead I met a man who grew up in Oklahoma during the Great Depression. He knew just about everything there is to know about the things you might find in an old homestead! His story was especially interesting because he was raised by his grandma after being "abandoned" by his family. I could tell it was a touchy subject, but it sounds like his family felt that his Grandma would be able to provide for him better than they could so they just dropped him off. Upon reaching adulthood, he headed west and reunited with his family.

At the Hat Shop, I learned about the tricks that women used to styled their hair in those days. I saw a wreath that was made entirely out of womens' hair (and a picture of the women who donated their old locks for it). AND visited with a woman whose mother was born in the late 1800's. The mother traveled with her husband from their Minnesota home. This woman was amazed because her mother never complained about the move even though Minnesota was quite different than the land they pioneered.

I plan on posting some pictures. But before I do, I wanted to share one more thing with you...since this post is already so long, I guess you'll have to come back to find out what it is!