Have You Visited The Ford Lately?
If you haven't gone to the Henry Ford Museum lately, then stop reading this and get in your car and get a move on.
Do not pass Go, do not collect $200 -- unless you need the cash for the gas tank.
The family and I made the trek last Friday, and I don't know what I enjoyed more -- the exhibits or seeing our 16-year-old daughter become enraptured with our history. Her cell phone camera got a workout.
It'd been about 18 years since I'd last been to the gem in Dearborn, and shame on me for going nearly two decades between visits. But that'll change; we bought a family membership while we were there, courtesy of a special $99 coupon we found online.
For 12 months, all future visits to the museum and neighboring Greenfield Village are now paid for, thanks to our newly-minted membership card.
It's a hell of a deal.
A mere two visits, and the membership fee has paid for itself, and then some.
But I'm not here to shill for membership. This isn't a PBS pledge drive, so don't worry.
In one afternoon, I sat in the same bus that Rosa Parks did in 1955, got up close to the car that JFK was assassinated in, and was separated by merely a glass case from Lincoln's last chair.
I saw a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence, letters signed by George Washington, and Rick Neilsen of Cheap Trick's myriad of guitars.
I toured a Dymaxion House, which was a post-WWII experimental abode made largely of scrap aluminum and other materials from the war effort.
There was a cast of Lincoln's fist and a mask of his face. A test tube filled with, purportedly, Thomas Edison's last breath.
Cars and other modes of transportation from the 18th century on down.
The Rosa Parks bus -- one of many gems found at the Henry Ford Museum
Another highlight was a series of display cases filled with American pop culture examples, broken down by decade, starting with the early 20th century.
Remember Pong, the world's first video game?
But you're still reading, which means you haven't paid heed to my opening statement.
Get your rear end over to Dearborn and spend a day at the museum. I guarantee you'll feel good, but only if you take your time and reflect. If you do that enough, you'll walk out finding yourself, all at the same time, proud, disgusted, and bewildered at the history of our country.
Sure, there's some wonderful stuff about our founding fathers, but also shackles used for slaves down south. There's George Washington's mess kit, but also a KKK robe and hood.
Not all of what happened in the old days was warm and fuzzy, or better.
But it IS part of who we are as a nation, and the Henry Ford Museum captures it.
Spending an afternoon there is like wandering from one giant time capsule to the other.
It was neat, reflecting on the Rosa Parks bus. I knew which seat was hers, but I didn't dare occupy it, though others did, and had photos taken of themselves sitting in it. That's fine. But I just didn't feel that I should plop my big butt in it. Kind of like not stepping on a grave.
I walked all the way around the JFK car, which isn't surprising because I'm a sort of buff when it comes to his assassination. The car has been rebuilt in spots, but it's still very much the body shown in the accompanying photo, taken on November 22, 1963. The idea that I was standing before the same vehicle shown in that Zapruder film clip was both cool and kinda eery.
I'm not coming anywhere near doing justice to all the museum has to offer, but I'll say this.
Imagine that you had a giant camera, one that transcended time. Now imagine squeezing the shutter, thus taking a snapshot of everything from the 17th century to today.
If you ever had such a camera, and could ever process such a photograph, then you'd have what they have on display at the Henry Ford Museum.
What are you waiting for?
Do not pass Go, do not collect $200 -- unless you need the cash for the gas tank.
The family and I made the trek last Friday, and I don't know what I enjoyed more -- the exhibits or seeing our 16-year-old daughter become enraptured with our history. Her cell phone camera got a workout.
It'd been about 18 years since I'd last been to the gem in Dearborn, and shame on me for going nearly two decades between visits. But that'll change; we bought a family membership while we were there, courtesy of a special $99 coupon we found online.
For 12 months, all future visits to the museum and neighboring Greenfield Village are now paid for, thanks to our newly-minted membership card.
It's a hell of a deal.
A mere two visits, and the membership fee has paid for itself, and then some.
But I'm not here to shill for membership. This isn't a PBS pledge drive, so don't worry.
In one afternoon, I sat in the same bus that Rosa Parks did in 1955, got up close to the car that JFK was assassinated in, and was separated by merely a glass case from Lincoln's last chair.
I saw a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence, letters signed by George Washington, and Rick Neilsen of Cheap Trick's myriad of guitars.
I toured a Dymaxion House, which was a post-WWII experimental abode made largely of scrap aluminum and other materials from the war effort.
There was a cast of Lincoln's fist and a mask of his face. A test tube filled with, purportedly, Thomas Edison's last breath.
Cars and other modes of transportation from the 18th century on down.
The Rosa Parks bus -- one of many gems found at the Henry Ford Museum
Another highlight was a series of display cases filled with American pop culture examples, broken down by decade, starting with the early 20th century.
Remember Pong, the world's first video game?
But you're still reading, which means you haven't paid heed to my opening statement.
Get your rear end over to Dearborn and spend a day at the museum. I guarantee you'll feel good, but only if you take your time and reflect. If you do that enough, you'll walk out finding yourself, all at the same time, proud, disgusted, and bewildered at the history of our country.
Sure, there's some wonderful stuff about our founding fathers, but also shackles used for slaves down south. There's George Washington's mess kit, but also a KKK robe and hood.
Not all of what happened in the old days was warm and fuzzy, or better.
But it IS part of who we are as a nation, and the Henry Ford Museum captures it.
Spending an afternoon there is like wandering from one giant time capsule to the other.
It was neat, reflecting on the Rosa Parks bus. I knew which seat was hers, but I didn't dare occupy it, though others did, and had photos taken of themselves sitting in it. That's fine. But I just didn't feel that I should plop my big butt in it. Kind of like not stepping on a grave.
I walked all the way around the JFK car, which isn't surprising because I'm a sort of buff when it comes to his assassination. The car has been rebuilt in spots, but it's still very much the body shown in the accompanying photo, taken on November 22, 1963. The idea that I was standing before the same vehicle shown in that Zapruder film clip was both cool and kinda eery.
I'm not coming anywhere near doing justice to all the museum has to offer, but I'll say this.
Imagine that you had a giant camera, one that transcended time. Now imagine squeezing the shutter, thus taking a snapshot of everything from the 17th century to today.
If you ever had such a camera, and could ever process such a photograph, then you'd have what they have on display at the Henry Ford Museum.
What are you waiting for?
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