Museum exhibits toys' stories throughout history

The Monroe County Historical Center is a treasure trove of things from the past. Their newest exhibit, Toys Through the Ages, traces the development of toys from the early 1800s to the present.

Jenny Mack, exhibit designer, said the majority of the pieces in the exhibit are a part of the museum’s collection.

“Part of the inspiration for doing this exhibit is that it is appealing to people of all ages, and it’s really nice when you already have most of the pieces to go in the exhibit,” Mack said.

The exhibit begins with a board that says, “Toys are the iconic image that naturally comes to mind when one thinks about childhood. The toys in this gallery belonged to individuals and families of Monroe County, but they tell a national story and reflect national events.”

The block, a toy created in the early 1800s, is featured in nearly every case due to the fact that, as Mack said, “it’s a toy that never dies.”

The first case, dedicated to the 1800s, contains old metal cars and trains. A few weathered dolls sit above the trains.

Jumping to the 1950s, toys that would have been played with by the Baby Boomers, including plastic pistols, marbles and dolls, are featured.

Mack set up the exhibit a little differently when it came to the ’70s era toys.

Mack put together a Star Wars-themed boy’s room decorated with posters and knick-knacks. The boxy TV and headsets complement the old room and give it the air of a young boy interested in the new technology of the era.

The final cases cover the 21st century and are filled with technology-based toys due to the tech-savvy youth of today.

Sophomore Adrian Hepfer, intern at the museum, helped set up some of the exhibits.

“Jenny gave me a lot of freedom in designing the exhibition, so the placement of most of the toys in the cases was by my design, but she provided much appreciated guidance and ideas,” Hepfer said. “Overall, it was a collaborative work, and the exhibition is a product of the ideas that both of us had. Most often, our ideas fed off of each other’s, which, in my opinion, made the exhibit more rich than it would have been with only one person designing it.”

One of the main attractions of the Toys Through the Ages exhibit is the actual play area in the center of the room where children can play with the toys placed there.

“Of course, with any exhibit, it’s always nice to have an interactive element. That’s why we put the play place here,” Mack said. “We have tinker toys, blocks, dolls, you name it.”

The Toys Through the Ages exhibit provides a long-view perspective of history.

“To me, it’s pretty amazing that although children sort of live in a different world, that is to say, they are exempt from making decisions that influence the ‘adult’ world. Their toys, one of the aspects that sets them apart from adults, tell the story of our nation and world just as well as do the history books,” Hepfer said.

The museum is home, not only to the Toys Through the Ages exhibit, but to other historical exhibits as well, such as ‘Making Clothes Making Do: Carol Wise and the Art of Daily Living’ and the Cook Gallery.

The beginning of the ‘Making Do’ exhibit begins with a quote by Wise: “I don’t know that I have any more skill than anybody else. What happened is, like everything, the more often you do it, the better you get. And so, if that’s the only way you’re going to get things, you do it a lot.”

The ‘Making Do’ exhibit features clothes that were hand-sewn by Wise and represent different historical eras.

“It is absolutely wonderful to be able to organize things in terms of time, and it is so interesting to research each piece, finding out where it came from and why it is significant,” Mack said.

Another exhibit featured at the museum is the Cook Gallery. Different pieces from the early 1800s and the mid-1900s decorate this room. Grungy tools used by limestone workers reside in the back, while a little further on an old loom rests.

There are numerous cases holding historical objects, but at the end of the exhibit is another room, which has been transformed to look like a hand-hewn cabin.

As an interactive piece of the exhibit, the museum has a checkerboard set up that welcomes visitors to sit and play.

An old classroom sits next to the cabin and features real desks from the 1800s. An iron stove roars in the corner keeping the atmosphere light, and a dunce hat rests on one of the desks, reminding viewers of the unusual, old-time punishments some teachers resorted to.

The final piece in the exhibit is a slightly rusty unicycle, owned by local lawyer Charles Waldron.

Waldron rode the bike in the early 20th century, and on election days, he would ride his unicycle around the courthouse.

If the person he voted for won, he received $10 from the friends he bet with. If he lost, he had to ride his unicycle around the courthouse for the rest of the day in a three-piece suit and bowler hat.

At the end of the Cook Gallery, the Curry License Plate Collection hangs from the side of an old dresser. The plates were the personal collection of Richard S. Curry and were donated by his son, Cary K. Curry.

“The exhibits vary, they can be toy-driven and very kid-centric, or they can be very adult-centric,” Mack said. “It depends on your audience, of course.”

Diane Ballard, director of the museum, said to stay on top of new exhibits, there is a committee that decides what to bring to the museum.

“There is a lot of collaborative decision-making that goes on when it comes to new exhibits,” Ballard said. “A lot of the exhibits that are here are due to creative thinkers like Jenny Mack.”

One of the primary goals of the museum is education, Ballard said.

“Our mission statement, our main focus, is preserving the history of our county, interpreting it and making it available to the public”

Ballard said. “Everyone here should get a chance to experience his or her history.”