Mike & I tend to be a little slow on the uptake when it comes to visiting museums. We just don't make the time, though we are surrounded by fabulous institutions up and down the East coast. A couple of years ago some one told me about the Mercer Museum . I knew instantly this would be Mike's kind of museum. Last weekend we finally decided to go.
It turns out Henry C. Mercer decided to collect "Tools of Trade" - any and every trade - that represented the industries of his time, the turn of the 20th century. Mercer collected so much stuff that he designed and built an incredible castle shaped building out of reinforced concrete to house everything. The result is this is a little known gem that's well worth the visit. Even stoic and usually unimpressible Mike was really impressed. If you're ever in the North Philly area looking for something to do, we recommend the Mercer. The collections run from things like every tool it takes to be a tailor, a miner, a whaler, a weaver, a potter, a stage coach maker, a apple cider maker, a clock maker, a basket maker, a miller, a cooper... It's a great collection of collections from a forward thinking, eccentric, rich guy.
2 comments:
I can see those visits with Dad to places like the plywood factory had a deep influence with you! Looks fascinating. We recently joined the Filoli Center near us. It was the Carrington house in Dynasty, but it has incredible grounds. We were there a few weeks back and the 102,000 tulips they had planted were not yet blooming. As you could see from the previous post, we need to go back to get the full effect right about now.
Yes - we were all scarred. You mentioned this place. Looks lovely! Love those long borders! It's the kind of place you can go year round and see something spectacular.
Post a Comment