Tuesday - best $5 I ever spent

I had a fun little outing this morning, more on that another post.

  



"Best five dollars I ever spent" - thats what a man said as we walked past him at the Miracle of America Museum here in Polson.    We totally agree.  Five dollar admission to the most unusual collection of all things American.  A sign tells us that there are over 150,000 things in this inside/outside museum.

Later we ran into to the founder as he was working in his machine shop.  Dave asked him what ever made him start to collect all this stuff....He answered "Its a sickness"!    Probably true  but what a cool place to wander around in.   We were there about 2 l/2 hours and barely scratched the surface of memorabilia.

Looks like people turn over their family heirlooms, pictures, clothing, appliances, vehicles, buildings, boats, medals, photos, jewelry, tools, tractors, outdoor equipment, toys, artifacts, oddities, etc., etc. etc. and he (or someone) categorizes them and arranges them in vignettes.    I have over 30 pictures, I'm not sure I'll show them all to you, probably boring if you haven't actually been there.  What a great day!

Hmmmm, where should we start?

an entire building dedicated to washers and washing paraphernalia

curly hair anyone?

two headed calf 

this guy has a HUGE collection of motorcycles - all ages of  BSA's, Nortons, Indians, Harleys and BMW's to name just a few.

remember these swing sets?

who could forget dear Ethyl?

wall mounted racks of snowmobiles

wrenches

hangman's noose (with the appropriate safety wire attached)

case after case of every doll imaginable

beautifully beaded Native American leather gloves.  Most of the Native American memorabilia were in cases or behind glass, hard to photograph.

Jesse would have loved this motorized trike....

just a few of the thousands of militarry uniforms.    Most are part of displays, but I liked them all hanging together

20 or 25 donated buildings, all filled with appropriate items

 

we are encouraged to open doors, sit on, turn dials, interact with the displays
(an insurance man's nightmare!)

Model A on tracks that was used to deliver mail in the winter

one of 3 racks of old outboard motors
(notice the unmanned water ski "boat" hanging in the background)

building filled with stoves and ovens

Dave peers in the door of an original sod house

it was amazingly cool inside

ouch

dentist torture chair
"Open your mouth, close your mouth, spit in the bowl"

Whew!   I guess I showed them ALL to you any way.   I employed the same logic I use to cut stress levels when I'm trying to pack for a vacation.  Its too hard to decide what to take and what to leave, so I just take it all!    I apologize for the yellow cast on most of the inside pictures.    Dave forgot to remind me to take the camera off "sunset" setting!