I have already written about the Motown exhibition and "I Am An American":
"Motown" had been one of our goals, but "I am an American" was a surprise.
That is a pretty common OHS experience; no matter what you have in mind you will find more. We went for the Santaland exhibit, now including an old Cinnamon Bear costume.
I know some unfamiliar with the bear have found the eyes disturbing, but we had familiarity on our side.
Then, as part of that display, there is this cat doll. It is probably supposed to be Felix, but it reminded me more of the classic Kit-Cat Klock. That would make a lot of sense, as it was invented in Oregon.
We also went for the exhibit on the Jantzen Beach Carousel.
It's a topic we're interested in, and we know some things about restoration, but I had not known much about Jantzen Beach.
For as long as I can remember, that was a mall, that happened to have a carousel, and it was also the name of the swimsuit company, but I didn't really think about that.
In fact, Jantzen Beach functioned as an amusement park/boardwalk, and it was built to encourage the sale of swimsuits.
It closed in 1970, leading to other commercial development, like the mall. That's before I was born, so it makes sense that I didn't know, but many of the adults who were around when I was a child might have visited and known about it. I could easily have known if it has come up.
It is interesting what stays in the public consciousness, and what doesn't. Also, apparently it was much more common to build amusement parks.
Museums and historical societies make it easier to remember what might be forgotten, as well as helping us to interpret what we do know. On project to help this is the Oregon Encyclopedia, which I discovered through a sign while there.
https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/
Though the most unexpected find may have been that urinals for women was once a thing. And the Historical Society has one.
But mainly, the Historical Society is a place to learn more about and appreciate Oregon.
COVID:
Better than some. Not everyone was masked, but we were not the only ones, and an upcoming lecture on the Far Right in Oregon will be virtual. They are still holding off on bringing in Santa and putting children on his lap, though they do still have Santa's throne.
Accessibility: Mostly good once inside the building, but the ramp to get to the main entrances seems a little steep. It may have seemed worse given the wetness of the day.
Related posts:
https://sporktogo.blogspot.com/2019/02/oregon-historical-society.html
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