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Let's
Play: Pastimes from the Past
Special Exhibit
(Exhibit Now Closed)
 |
| Circuses and Wild West Shows were popular leisure time activities in Carthage |
What were the favorite children's toys in the 1800s? What college sport was most popular in the 1890s? How did "broom drills" promote women's fitness at the turn of the 20th century? The answers to these questions and more can be found in the traveling exhibit, "Let's Play: Pastimes from the Past."
The special display offers an intriguing look at the ways Americans enjoyed their leisure time at the turn of the 20th century. "Let's Play" was developed by the Rogers Historical Museum, Rogers, Arkansas, and was supported in part by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The late 19th century saw Americans enjoy more leisure time than ever before, due in part to technological developments. Adults increasingly accepted the importance of play as the proper pastime for children, but play was not limited to children. Many adults participated in imaginative play like amateur theatricals and costume balls, parlor games like dominoes and charades, and hobbies like needlework and coin collecting. Outdoor amusements like croquet and golf were also important.
Portions of "Let's Play" explore such topics as the fitness craze, the role of organized sports, the rise of the sportswoman, America on wheels, and costumes for play. Illustrating these topics are photographs, documents, and such actual artifacts as a 1897 collapsible cyclist's cup, turn-of-the-century card games, and early toys such as marbles, a "Frozen Charlotte" doll, checkers, and model soldiers. Toys and other articles of leisure activities used in Carthage will be added to this photographic traveling exhibit.
Copyright © 2008 Powers Museum
1617 West Oak • P.O. Box 593 • Carthage, MO 64836
e-mail:infonow@powersmuseum.com
| phone: 417-358-2667
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