Dick Scott Automotive

The new Driving America Exhibit is ONLY 5 days away from opening at the Henry Ford Museum! This remarkable mix of hundreds of historically significant vehicles, artifacts, digital media, interactive play and personal accounts, makes this exhibit like no other exhibit!

Texaco Station hands-on activity - DA

Driving America will offer a brand-new opportunity for kids to pretend they're auto mechanics. And what better place for this to occur than inside the service bay of the Texaco station-a space that's been closed to the public since this historic building was brought to Henry Ford Museum in 1987?

Inside this newly-opened space, kids will be able to change tires and mufflers, check fluids and filters, and use a creeper to glide under a ¾-scale, 1960s-era car. Our Education team has made sure that these activities are safe, easy to understand, and age-appropriate.

But the curators got a different assignment:  create the atmosphere of an auto garage from the 1960s era using real artifacts. We are, after all, a history museum. We pride ourselves on authenticity. And we wanted to include real objects that adults could relate to and talk about with kids who had never heard of things like rust-proofing.

But how to go about creating that atmosphere?

We looked at old pictures of service bay interiors (there weren't many). We shared our memories (or those of our husbands or fathers) of old auto garage interiors. We considered what was available from our own collection and what could be acquired through outside sources. (The designation "NOS" on eBay turned out to be a goldmine to the world of "new old stock" auto accessories.)

Just furnishing the space as a look-in would have been easy, but the ultimate challenge was that people would be entering this space, potentially touching and interacting with these items. So we determined that some things would be placed low and would invite touching (like the hubcaps), while rarer items, like the license plates, would be placed higher up.

It's sometimes hard for us literal-minded curators to think about how to furnish a space that's "just pretend"?but that's what we tried to do here.

Do you have any memories of old full-service stations like our Texaco one, or remember hearing details of them from your parents or grandparents? Share them in the comments section below - and be sure to check out the Texaco Service Bay when "Driving America" opens this Sunday, January 29!

As read on: http://blog.thehenryford.org/2012/01/fitting-out-the-texaco-service-bay-in-driving-america/

Visit Greenfield Village this Memorial Day Weekend for one of my favorite events of the year! My family and I got a membership to Henry Ford/Greenfield Village last year and had such an amazing family day at this and many of the other events that we didn't hesitate to renew our Membership this year! We will definitely be attending the Civil War Remembrance again this year!!! And they are even open Saturday 'til 9pm!

A time to reflect. A time to celebrate. Greenfield Village's most treasured signature event. Memorial Day weekend is filled with high emotions and vivid experiences as we honor veterans who fought and died to preserve our nation's freedom. More than 450 military reenactors create an authentic Civil War encampment for an observance filled with parades, artillery demonstrations and heartfelt 19th-century music. Kick off summer with a gathering that is reverent, reflective and triumphant.  
        

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Activities:
Greenfield Village offers you the opportunity to learn about and challenge the many viewpoints of the Civil War period. Hear from both Union and Confederate soldiers along with the people on the home fronts as they present "Civil War Remembrance."

Click here to download the 2011 Civil War Remembrance Program

SPECIAL ENTERTAINMENT
The Dodworth Saxhorn Band, America's premier 19th-century brass ensemble will perform a variety of music that was popular at the time of the Civil War.
See below for specific performance times.

RECOGNITIONS & COMMEMORATION

Special Recognition Badges
for veterans and current armed services members
Saturday 9:30am-7pm
Sunday and Monday 9:30am-5pm
(Village Pavilion, outside)

Memorial Day Commemoration
with historian William Hendricks
Monday only, 12pm
(Village Green)

SPECIAL EXHIBITS & PRESENTATIONS

Original Army and Navy Artifacts
from the Civil War by Jack Barnhart
and Kraig Lawson
Saturday 12pm-7pm
Sunday and Monday 11am-5pm
(Village Pavilion)

Michigan Civil War Battle Flags
Preservation with John Gibney
Uniforms, battle relics and artifacts
Saturday 1pm, 3pm & 5pm
Sunday and Monday 11am, 1pm & 3pm
(Miller School)

What We Wore - Fashions of the Past
fashion show and lecture by Beth Turza
Saturday 12pm & 4pm
Sunday 12:30pm
(Town Hall, outside)

Mysteries Uncovered: Details of Dress for the Civil War Civilian
Saturday 12pm-7pm
Sunday and Monday 11am-5pm
(Village Pavilion)

Special Civil War Clothing Presentations
Men's Clothing by Bill Christen
  -Saturday 1pm
  -Sunday 2pm
  -Monday 3pm

Dressed for the Occasion by Pam Yockey
  -Saturday 3pm
  -Sunday 3pm
  -Monday 1pm

Steel Mills and Steel Petticoats: How the Industrial Revolution Changed the Way America Dressed by Carolann Schmitt
  -Saturday 5pm
  -Sunday 1pm
  -Monday 2pm

The Last Camp - See the Original Poem Written by J. Wesley Benedict in 1872
Saturday 12pm-7pm
Sunday and Monday 11am-5pm
(Village Pavilion)

Funeral at the Adams House
19th-century mourning
Saturday 11am-7pm
Sunday and Monday 9:30am-5pm
(Adams House)

Union Regimental Headquarters
Saturday 9:30am-7pm
Sunday and Monday 9:30am-5pm
(Susquehanna Plantation)

Sutlers Row
The Sutlers were traveling merchants and purveyors. Stop by Sutlers Row to purchase authentically reproduced goods of the era including items from the Greenfield Village Glass Shop.
All day
(Near Town Hall)

Sock-Making Demonstration
Saturday and Sunday 10am- 4pm
(Weaving Shop)

MILITARY & CIVILIAN CAMPS

Confederate Military Camp
All day
(Near Logan County Courthouse)

Union Military Camp
All day
(Near Susquehanna Plantation)

Confederate Civilian Camp
All day
(Near Carousel)

Union Civilian Camp
All day
(Near Mulberry Grove)
 MILITARY REENACTMENTS

Marching and Drill Practices
Saturday 10:30am-12:30pm
Sunday 11am-11:30am
Monday 9:30am-11:30am
(Village Green)

Bayonet Drills
Sunday only, 12:30pm
(Village Green)

Cavalry Demonstration with the
Michigan Cavalry Brigade
Saturday 4pm, Sunday and Monday 2pm
(Walnut Grove)

Artillery Firing Demonstration
Narrated by Al Day
Saturday 5pm, Sunday and Monday 3pm
(Walnut Grove)

Tactical Demonstration
Narrated by William Hendricks
Saturday 6pm, Sunday and Monday 4pm
(Walnut Grove)

HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES

Show Your Support
Make souvenir ribbon rosettes
Saturday 9:30am-7pm
Sunday and Monday 9:30am -5pm
(Edison Homestead)

Researching Your Civil War Ancestors with Civil War Historian Dale R. Niesen
Saturday 12pm-7pm
Sunday and Monday 11am-5pm
(Village Pavilion)

Enlist in the Army
Sign up and receive a reproduction Volunteer Enlistment paper
Saturday 9:30am-7pm
Sunday and Monday 9:30am-5pm

Mustering in and Drill
Once you've enlisted at the Post Office and seen the surgeon at Dr. Howard's Office, you can report for mustering in and your first drill.
Saturday 10:30am, 12:30pm, 2:15pm, 4:15pm & 5:45pm
Sunday  10:30am, 12:30pm, 2:15pm & 4:15pm
Monday 10:30am, 2:15pm & 4:15pm
(Logan County Courthouse)

DRAMATIC PRESENTATIONS

The Door
Saturday 12:30pm, 2pm, 3pm 5pm & 6pm
Sunday and Monday 12:30pm, 2pm & 3pm
(Susquehanna Plantation)

The Breath of Emancipation
Saturday 1pm, 2:30pm, 4:30pm & 5:30pm
Sunday 12pm & 1:30pm
Monday 1pm & 2:30pm
(Hermitage Slave Quarters)

MUSIC

Dodworth Saxhorn Band
Saturday 2pm, 3:15pm, 5:15pm & 7pm
Sunday and Monday 11am, 2pm & 3pm
(Town Hall)

Camp Chase Drum & Fife Corps
Sunday 10:30am, 11:30am, 2:30pm & 3:30pm
Monday 10:30am, 2:30pm & 3:30pm
(Scotch Settlement School)

SHOPPING

Greenfield Village Store
- Liberty Craftworks Store
- Burbank Store

Saturday 9:30am-9pm, Sunday and Monday 9:30am-5pm

http://www.hfmgv.org/events/civilWarRemembrance.aspx