Sunday, March 28, 2021

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!





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29 comments:

  1. ...now this is a museum right up my alley, but I'll wait for warmer weather for a visit. Thanks Angies for hosting.

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  2. So many fun things to see and we've not seen a skate key in a long time!

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  3. What a great fun... best of all is the horse thether weight 😂

    By the way... Do you know Karl Valentin? There are wonderful rememberings on his Museum in Munich, called Valentin Musäum. There are such funny things too. Thank you for sharing.

    Happy MosaicMonday

    Have a wonderful week.

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  4. you seem to have had a great visit at the museum :) Loved to see the roller skates and the keys. :)

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  5. I haven't been in a museum in a year, at least!
    I have that touring game, as well.

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  6. We had a run of visits to too many bad small community and/or private museums in one period back in our heavy-traveling days and gave up on them (I have horror stories) ... it’s kind of a joke with us. Now I’ll admit we’ve probably missed some good ones, like those you’ve shown, but at this point there are so many other places to go and things to see (and so little time) that I’m really not going to push it.

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  7. Hello Angie,
    What a cool museum. I do remember those old roller skates and the song.
    I like the old time diner. Looks like a fun tour and visit with your son. Take care, have a great day!

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  8. What a great post about this fascinating place, Angie. I'm a museum junkie, so I am sure I would enjoy visiting this one too. For the moment, thanks for the virtual visit.

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  9. What a neat museum to visit! I love vintage items, especially those of my childhood like the Valentines. Enjoy your week!

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  10. It does look like a fun visit. A trip down memory lane. I've kept every card I've ever recieved. I could start my own museum!

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  11. wow, this looks like a fabulous museum to visit. So interesting when we see things that were commonplace in our own past. Enjoy your week, stay safe, and thank you again for the link up. Spring is on it's way?

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  12. Love vintage stuff and used to collect a lot of it. Now I am trying to downsize.
    I am having a problem with my sweet computer and cannot access my collage program so I will just visit this time
    MB

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  13. Three hours in a museum! Glad you enjoyed it and had a companion who likes museums as much as you. I'll confess I'm finished with museums well before my Dear is. When he and my daughter are in one together they take their sweet time. Fun stuff in this one!

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  14. What a great place to visit, I do remember the song but didn't have roller skates!

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  15. Angie, I don't know if they do maple walnut milkshakes but that would be my favorite. Loved the museum visit. Enjoy your week. Sylvia D.

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  16. Fun times! Glad C could join you. You will have to share the Touring game with me next time I'm visiting; I never heard of it.

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  17. I too, love to wander around museums. This one looks as if you could be there for ages as it is filled with fascinating things. That Welbike is cool and I always love to revisit toys and cards from days gone by.

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  18. Thanks for the memories. The song, the skates, the animal crackers, vintage valentines and memories of elementary school. Looks like a great museum. Love meandering through spaces like that taking in all the little details and objects on display. Never heard of that fold up motorbike. Thrift stores and antique shops can sort of be like little museums when they are curated and organized. Miss going to places like that. I miss traveling. I miss my boys. :(

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  19. What a fun museum. I still have a set of those alphabet wooden blocks! It's so interesting to see the things from the past and how our lives have changed. Hope you've had a good time out of wifi range.

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  20. What a great museum! Oh those skates...we used to call them "cheese-cutters" don't ask me why! :) I think my favourite flavour of milkshake is chocolate...but then I add a dash of bourbon to it and it makes the flavour fantastic! I hope to rejoin your Mondays soon Angie! :)

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  21. Now that's the sort of museum I would like. A pal of mine has a large collection of motorbikes that are more valuable than his property! it's the way to go.

    Have a sunny but warm weekend Angie. We have sun and frost.

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  22. Wow, talk about snow, lovely. And Melanie, Brand new key, perfect.

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  23. That's a cool museum with lots of interesting things to see. I remember that song and now it's still singing in my head. :) Have a wonderful Easter, Angie.

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  24. Cool museum!! I love the Welbike. I remember those blocks like it was yesterday. We had two sets, one big and the other smaller. We played a lot with them.
    And Valentines at school. Everybody made boxes with lots of paste and glue and then we give each other cards.
    Wow, again, great museum.

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  25. Fabulous looking museum, and I am now humming 'Brand New Key' by Melanie

    All the best Jan

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  26. an entertaining museum. are all of these things that old and why do i remember them being in my life?!?!

    LOVED the last item, if only we could!!! hehehehe

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