A View From the Archives
House museums established during the early 20th century that were “colonial” or “pioneer” in nature frequently featured elaborate kitchen displays that focused on displaying as many objects as possible. Looking at early 20th century museum kitchen views it is often difficult to tell houses apart. Today, the story telling at house museums has largely shifted from using rooms as display spaces for the objects to using the objects to tell specific stories about the spaces.
This particular postcard of an early museum kitchen is fabulous. Multiple spinning wheels? Check Waffle iron? Check Musket? Check
Chamberlain Memorial Museum (Closed)
Location: Three Oaks, Michigan.
History: The museum was originally opened in 1916 in the Chamberlain family house. The museum closed and in 1952 the collection of almost 10,000 objects was moved to the Michigan State College Museum in East Lansing, Michigan and is still accessible at that institution.
Interpretive focus: Before closing, the museum was identified as a “Pioneer Museum” with a collection focused on material culture related to Michigan.
To learn more: www.museum.msu.edu
Postcard: Collection of Susan De Vries
studiotinker.com 