I’ve been trying to visit some of the local attractions I’ve missed while living here. I know as soon as I move away I’ll realize there are a hundred other things I wanted to see before I left, I’ll just have to see those when I come back for visits!
One of the things on my list was the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, and I was finally able to make it out there this past weekend with my friend Stephen. In spite of the lack of heating in the museum on that chilly day, it wasn’t a disappointment!
The building itself is quite exceptional from the outside. It becomes even more so when you learn that the entire thing was made from concrete. Even the window frames are concrete! According to the museum, this was done for 2 reasons: so the building wouldn’t burn down and to help prevent robbery. And according to wikipedia: “Locals mocked his choice of building materials, but on completion of the museum, he lit a bonfire on its roof to prove that it was fireproof.”
Inside, the place is packed from floor the ceiling. Every wall and railing has a boat, carriage, apple press… you name it, hanging from it. The ceiling, 5 stories up, has chairs, tables and cradles hanging down, seemingly precariously.
Many of the items really were “normal life from America pre-1900s” but there were some more amusing pieces, like the “Vampire Killing Kit” pictured above, which the museum believes to be of contemporary origins made to look old for the benefit (or deception?) of vampire lore collectors.
You know, I feel quite silly for not realizing the “tortoise shell” design that a lot of plastic combs and hair clips was not just a design – it was because these same things used to be made from tortoise shells. I think it’s because I never could have imagined that such things could be made from the shells, amazing. Also pictured above are some tools for clock-making, as I was trying to figure out what “geeky” pursuits people got into, and if I wasn’t a woman what profession I’d be most likely be inclined to follow – clock-making seemed sufficiently fascinating.
Much of what occupied my mind as we walked through the museum was “wow, how would I have survived in the days of churning butter, washing clothes by hand, curing meat and preserving fruits, making my own clothes…?” With a dash of “no wonder we’re fat now!” as we take so many tasks for granted that were such a chore 150 years ago – laundry day today means quite a different thing than laundry day back then.
Another thing that had me preoccupied was the feeling that Henry Mercer was pretty eccentric, to say the least. He cataloged and wrote categorization rules for thousands of items, and while it may be fascinating today (perhaps a testament to his future-thinking), I can’t imagine what people of his day thought of him for collecting all of these items, some of which were still contemporary in his day, and building a whole museum around his collection. According to the museum many of the displays are the same as when he assembled them upon building of the museum.
Toward the end of the visit, on the 6th floor, you start finding strange stairways and halls which frequently end abruptly or go into staff-only sections of the museum. This is where it really gets interesting (and chilly, the 6th floor was freezing!). In one of the rooms there was an old horse-drawn hearse, in another gallows – complete with trap door, which you might miss if you don’t stop to take a look since you walk *under* it as you walk through the oddly-shaped room. Another room is full of wood and coal burning stoves, and opens into a maze of stairways and hallways which goes into a room full of front plates used on these stoves, pictured above.
We spent about 2 hours at the museum, and in spite of the previously mentioned chilly weather the only floors of the museum which were very cold were the 5th and 6th, with a coat on the rest of the museum was quite tolerable, I’m glad they keep it open in the winter in spite of the chill. For dinner we hopped on 202 and headed down to East Norriton for indian dinner at Bombay High – yum!
What is my next Philly adventure? I’ve been before, but with weather today in the comfortable 40s I’m taking my mother out to the Philadelphia Zoo. But first… some coffee.
Saturday, Jan 16th, 2010 at 19:49
Interesting stuff…. I like the vampire slaying kit….
The building reminds me of Colditz….
Saturday, Jan 16th, 2010 at 23:50
Don’t miss the home he built out of concrete, Fonthill! It’s just as amazing, has his cuneiform collection embedded in the pillars of one room, every single room has at least two entrances, and the not-quite-level floors always make me dizzy halfway through the tour (!!)