The National Museum of American History (Smithsonian Institution) is located in the heart of Washington, D.C. We visited on Martin Luther King Jr. Day since street parking was free. The museum is free to get in (as are all of the Smithsonian museums). We drove in early to find a spot which meant we had fifteen minutes to spend before we could enter the building.
Obligingly, the museum has an outdoor exhibit. Arches of Life is a wooden sculpture by Foon Sham, an American born in Macau, China, in 1953. He's a professor of art at the University of Maryland and has done other outdoor sculptures for the museum.
The garden area also has an imitation Victory Garden. During World War II, food shortages in England, America, and Germany inspired locals to plant gardens in their yards that grew fruits and vegetables. Such a gesture was a small contribution to the war effort. The museum's garden wasn't very impressive, probably because we visited in January.
We walked around to the Mall side of the building to stand in the sunshine as we waited for the last five minutes to go by.
The edges of the building also have plants growing.
We finally made it inside. The very first exhibit we saw was the Star Spangled Banner. This flag was the one flown over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814. British ships shelled the fort all night. Francis Scott Key witnessed the bombardment and wrote the famous poem that became the United States national anthem.
Photography is not allowed in the exhibit since the flag is so old. It's in a case full of special gas under low lights to preserve it as long as possible. The flag is huge--thirty feet by thirty-four feet. Mary Pickersgill made it in her home and was paid over $400 for the project. Since it dates from 1814, it has fifteen stars and fifteen stripes for the fifteen states.
We walked around and discovered the Batmobile from the first Tim Burton film in 1989. The movie ushered in the modern era of superhero films with a more serious take on the character and more convincing visual effects.
The museum has lots of random historical items in displays throughout the building.
Some of the exhibits are interactive and designed to draw children's attention. One creative place is the Spark!Lab.
Inside, visitors can try out various crafts, like designing makeup for performers or helmets for athletes.
Right outside the Spark!Lab is Object Project, a less interactive but still interesting display of household items from American history. One interactive exhibit has visitors pick out clothes and see what they look like.
A display showed various refrigerators and the sort of stuff we keep inside them.
Another section of Object Project has a display on bicycles from a by-gone era.
Entertainment at home has been important ever since homes were invented. Some modern items on display are record players, phones, and computers.
Another interactive display had us playing The Price is Right. My son was better at guessing the initial cost of one of the first instant cameras on the market.
One corner has a display on the Transcontinental Railroad, with a map on the floor showing the routes of the original tracks that crossed the North American continent.
More from the museum in the next post!
Obligingly, the museum has an outdoor exhibit. Arches of Life is a wooden sculpture by Foon Sham, an American born in Macau, China, in 1953. He's a professor of art at the University of Maryland and has done other outdoor sculptures for the museum.
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| Arches of Life |
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| Sheltering from the cold |
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| More arches |
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| Is this also art? |
The garden area also has an imitation Victory Garden. During World War II, food shortages in England, America, and Germany inspired locals to plant gardens in their yards that grew fruits and vegetables. Such a gesture was a small contribution to the war effort. The museum's garden wasn't very impressive, probably because we visited in January.
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| Victory garden |
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| A variety of plants |
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| Lettuce called "Red Deer Tongue"! |
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| More vegetation waiting for spring to come |
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| View to the EPA building |
We walked around to the Mall side of the building to stand in the sunshine as we waited for the last five minutes to go by.
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| Washington Monument and museum sign |
The edges of the building also have plants growing.
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| Ornamental Onion tree |
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| Sneezeweed, so we were happy for January weather |
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| Seriously, I didn't make up the name |
We finally made it inside. The very first exhibit we saw was the Star Spangled Banner. This flag was the one flown over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814. British ships shelled the fort all night. Francis Scott Key witnessed the bombardment and wrote the famous poem that became the United States national anthem.
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| Entrance to the Star Spangled Banner exhibit |
Photography is not allowed in the exhibit since the flag is so old. It's in a case full of special gas under low lights to preserve it as long as possible. The flag is huge--thirty feet by thirty-four feet. Mary Pickersgill made it in her home and was paid over $400 for the project. Since it dates from 1814, it has fifteen stars and fifteen stripes for the fifteen states.
We walked around and discovered the Batmobile from the first Tim Burton film in 1989. The movie ushered in the modern era of superhero films with a more serious take on the character and more convincing visual effects.
 |
| Batmobile under the purple lights--Curse you, Joker! |
The museum has lots of random historical items in displays throughout the building.
 |
| Etch-a-Sketch, Mickey Mouse ears, canned goods, etc. |
Some of the exhibits are interactive and designed to draw children's attention. One creative place is the Spark!Lab.
 |
| Going to the Spark!Lab |
Inside, visitors can try out various crafts, like designing makeup for performers or helmets for athletes.
 |
| It's good to practice on someone else, or something else in this case |
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| Making a helmet so it's more protective |
Right outside the Spark!Lab is Object Project, a less interactive but still interesting display of household items from American history. One interactive exhibit has visitors pick out clothes and see what they look like.
 |
| Zombieparent as a golf pro from the 1920s |
A display showed various refrigerators and the sort of stuff we keep inside them.
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| Kitchen chills |
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| Ice containers/trays |
Another section of Object Project has a display on bicycles from a by-gone era.
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| Bike shop |
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| Interacting with the exhibit |
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| Another rider |
Entertainment at home has been important ever since homes were invented. Some modern items on display are record players, phones, and computers.
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| Old-style CD player |
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| Rotary phone |
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| The original Macintosh computer |
Another interactive display had us playing The Price is Right. My son was better at guessing the initial cost of one of the first instant cameras on the market.
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| Price is Right display |
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| My bid was too low |
One corner has a display on the Transcontinental Railroad, with a map on the floor showing the routes of the original tracks that crossed the North American continent.
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| Railroad info |
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| Some historical items |
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| The map |
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| The meeting point |
More from the museum in the next post!
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