Mosaic Monday #124: Marvels and Memories

In the ongoing quest for museums to visit, #1 Son and I drove 90 minutes one way to the Miracle of America Museum in February.  (I wrote about our shared love of museums in my post on October 24, 2020.)  It was worth the distance!  We spent over 3 hours there, and could have used even more time.  If you click on the link above, the overhead shot at the top of the webpage shows that the "museum" is more akin to a campus.  The grounds contain outbuildings that have been moved from other locations; many of them are historic pieces in their own right.  And each of them contains extensive collections.  It is impressive in the magnitude of individual items, and the concept that one man (with the help of his wife), collected and displayed all of it!

The museum has an extensive assortment of motorcycles.  The Welbike was British built for their airborne forces.  It could be folded up, put in a special container and airdropped by parachute.  In under 40 seconds, a soldier could remove it from the container, raise and lock the seat in ride position, raise and lock the handlebars, start it by pushing and be on his way.  They were capable of speeds around 30 MPH.  Many of these were used in the D-Day invasion and carried off the naval landing vessels.

It's interesting what draws one's attention in a museum.  The Welbike stood out to me because I had never seen one before.  On the other hand, the  contraption to the right brought back a strong and deep family memory - riding a Flexible Flyer sled!  Did you have one when you were growing up? Initially, I thought someone had built a motorcycle from a Flyer, but it turns out that Briggs and Stratton Flyer Buckboards were produced from 1919 to 1923 in Milwaukee, WI and were intended as basic, short-distance, economical transportation.  They were not toys!

I was impressed with the diner set-up you see below.  It was so realistic, I was dying to plop down on one of the stools and order a milkshake!  Preferably mint-chocolate chip.  Do you have a favorite flavor of milkshake?

I was enthralled by the vintage children's toys/items in a small room.  

Do you remember the 1971-72 hit "Brand New Key" by Melanie? 

I couldn't get the tune out of my head after I saw these skates!  Notice the two "keys" in the lower right-hand corner?

We had a set of these wooden alphabet blocks.  I remember them so distinctly, down to the ribbed surfaces behind the painted letters.  Funny how certain things stick with you!

I have written in the past about a vintage card game called Touring  - May 3, 2020.  I was thrilled to see a version of it in the museum.  I have not done exhaustive research on the topic, but I am fairly certain that the edition I have is older than the one you see below.

I am uncertain if the vintage Valentines were a temporary display.  In any event, they were numerous, and took me back to elementary school.  I remember we used to make heart "baskets" out of construction paper; the heart would hang on the front of a desk, ready to receive all those Valentines!!!

The museum certainly had a serious side, with extensive military displays inside and out.  Below, #1 Son poses with two helicopters - look carefully for the one of the roof behind him.  (Originally, we had planned to visit this museum earlier in February, but we delayed our timing due to the deep freeze.  As it was, we dealt with boot-high snow around the outdoor displays!)

# means pounds

But humor could also be found in numerous places throughout the museum.  This was my favorite.

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I will be out of WiFi range Monday through Wednesday, and will be slow to comment.  Thanks for your patience!

Mosaic Monday

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