Wednesday – July 3, 2013 – St. Louis, MO
Today was another gorgeous day. We were greeted in Branson with clear blue skies and 61 degrees. We were looking at a 4-½ drive to St. Louis and we were on the road by 8:00 AM. It was beautiful sailing through the Ozark mountains. The greenery is wonderful. So, the ETA for St. Louis was 12:30 PM, which was perfect because the museum we wanted to visit today was only open until 4:00 PM. This would give us time to grab a quick bite to eat before we went to the museum.
Well, it happened again. About an hour and a half outside of St. Louis we came across an Antique Mall that Elisa simply couldn’t resist. So we made a stop at Heartland Antique Mall in Lebanon, Mo. Elisa assured me we would only stop for 10 or 15 minutes so she could take a quick look-see. I was a little bit skeptical that she would be able to cover all 40,000 sq feet of antique mall in 10 minutes. So an hour later, we were back on the road. We did find a couple of treasures that we simply couldn’t leave in Lebanon, MO.
We did finally roll into St. Louis at 1:30 PM. This meant we had to skip lunch so that we could get over to museum. Although we were weakened with hunger, we manage to make it through the museum tour.
The Eugene Field House and Toy Museum is located near the new Busch Stadium at the corner of S. Broadway and Cerre St. First of all – who is Eugene Field. He is a writer and poet of stories and poems that were beloved by children and adults alike. He wrote poems about Wynken, Blynken and Nod. He also wrote about the Calico Cat and Gingham Dog. This is the home where Eugene Field was born and where he lived until he was about 7 years old. This building also received National Historic Site designation because of Eugene Field’s father, Roswell Fields who was a lawyer in St. Louis. Roswell Field is famous because he represented Dred Scott and his wife both of whom were former slaves. Dred Scott was suing his then owner for his freedom arguing that Missouri as a free state, should therefore afford him his freedom. Roswell Field was successful in his suit, however the decision was subsequently overturned by the Missouri. Roswell Field then argued the case before the US Supreme Court where he lost. This decision by the US Supreme Court is widely regarded as the worst decision of any Supreme Court. Supreme Court had hoped that this decision would quell the abolitionist movement and put the freedom movement to bed. Instead it had quite the opposite effect and is regarded by many as being one of the contributors to the start of the Civil War.
Eugene Field and his Brother Roswell Jr. lived and played in this home as children along with several young brothers and sisters. Regrettably, all of their siblings would die during a cholera epidemic and their Mother then passed away when Eugene was a young boy. Their Father, a busy lawyer sent Eugene and his brother Roswell Jr. to live with an Aunt in Amherst, MA. By all accounts, Eugene was a struggling student having attended several different colleges before finally graduating. Eventually he took a job as a journalist with the St. Joseph Gazette, where he eventually became the editor. Eugene liked to write columns and editorials in the paper which were humorous and thought provoking and very popular with the readers. He was eventually lured to Chicago where be became one of the first syndicated columnists. This afforded him the time to travel with his Bride Julie Comstock and their 8 kids. He also began to write stories and poetry that although not necessarily intended for children because of the messaging and metaphors did in fact become very popular with children. Several of his poems were illustrated by famed art deco artest Max Parrish. Several of those illustrations are instantly recognizable.
Eugene Field was as much of a child at heart as his 8 kids. He was an avid collector of toys which he acquired from around the country and across the world. He advised his employers to send his money directly to his wife as “he had no head for it” – (what a guy). Unfortunately, his vast collection of toys were in storage in Chicago and were lost in a fire. Only 9 of Eugene Field’s toys are know to exist and the museum has 7 of them. They are all windup toys. It is because of Eugene’s passion for toys and the fact that many of his works are so beloved by children that the museum made it part of their mission to collect and preserve and display toys. All of the other toys in the museum have been donated.
About the house – the home was built in the 1830’s when a developer entered into a 99 year lease to obtain access to the land that was owned by the St. Louis Board of Education. The developer chose to build row houses that were targeted as rentals to working professionals including bankers and lawyers. The row houses included a basement and three other levels and were considered upscale and luxurious for their time. The ground floor included two parlors (a gentlemen’s parlor and a ladies parlor). The second floor boasted the master bedroom and a library/den. The third floor included two more bedrooms. These homes included a unique feature, a second structure attached at the rear of the home called a “flounder”. This structure was 2 floors, the first housed the kitchen and dining area and the second floor was domestic quarters. What about bathroom – there was no indoor bathroom – outhouse only. In fact there was no indoor plumbing, nor electricity in 1835. The homes were plumbed with gas pipes for lighting and it also boasted fine wood work and hand painted and stenciled flooring. After the 99 year lease came to pass, the then descendant of the developer were not interested in renewing the lease as the homes by then had fallen into great disrepair and none had been modernized to include plumbing nor electricity. The homes were turned over to the Board of Education and they were to be razed. In 1935, a movement was mounted to at least save the home of Roswell and Eugene Field, and so it came to pass that this single unit remains.
About the Collection – On the day that Elisa and I arrived, the museum had just taken down a large portion of their toy display so that they could begin work on a new one. So, we did not have a large number of items to look at, but I must say that the quality and uniqueness of what was there is amazing. One of the original 7 Field toys is an old mechanical toy that was hand made in 1780 – its called a “Snake Bite”. This toy is made of wood and includes a hand carved snake like figure that is spring mounted and hidden in he box. A wood trap door conceals the snake and the words “Pull Hard” are on the wooden door. When it opens, the snake springs out at the hand of he unsuspecting victim. If you look closely you can see that the nose of the snake includes a sharp tack that i suspect might hurt. The three windup toys shown above are also original Eugene Field pieces and were made in the 1800 in Germany and France. Also pictured is an interesting rocking horse that can come off if its rockers and be pulled along on a set of wheels.
While the exhibits were a bit of a disappointment to us Stephanie Bliss, the curator of the museum made up for it. Stephanie has worked at the museum for 2 or 3 years now after getting her degree in Preservation at the Univ or MO. She personally guided us through the home and allowed us to look closely at several of the items and allowed us to handle some of them. When we spoke to her about our trying to open a Toy and Doll Museum in San Diego, she really opened up and shared a lot of useful information with us. She gave us the name of wholesale sources for contemporary windup toys that can be sold in our gift shop. The items sell well and help generate funds for the museum. She spoke with us about the database software that they use and showed us the guide that they use for nomenclature in describing and cataloging the items. She gave us her contact info so that we can follow up with her as we move forward. She also gave us a catalog on where we could order specialized storage containers that they use to preserve their artifacts. Thank you Stephanie.
By the time we were done, it was rolling up on 4:00 PM. So we made our way up to “the Hill”. This is a section of St Louis that was predominantly occupied by Italian Immigrants. Famous residents of the Hill include Yogi Berra, Joe Garagiola and Joe Buck. The Hill is also home to numerous famous and renowned Italian restaurants, delis and bakeries. We received numerous recommendations on places to eat, and opted to eat at a place called Zia’s. The food was very good. We both shared an appetizer called “arrancini” which means little oranges. These are balls of rice that are stuffed with prociuotto and cheese, then breaded and deep fried. When served the look like little oranges. They are served with marinara sauce. We both enjoyed the appetizer. For our main courses, I ordered the broiled strip steak served with their own rub and topped with their own “steak butter”. It was delicious and very tender. It was accompanied with a small pasta dish in a garlic cream sauce that was great. Elisa ordered the Chicken Marsala that was good but not great. It as served with saute’d bell peppers which Elisa doesn’t like. We both shared asparagus as our cooked vegetable that was fabulous.
After this busy day of driving, touring and eating – what did we do? Right – we ate some more. We found a nice Gelataria – Gelato di Riso in the Hil area. I had a little mint chip and root beer float and Elisa had Peach/mango. It was great. As we made our way back to the car, we came across a bakery that was still open and they had home made – fresh cannolis – so we picked up a couple to go. Don’t worry, they were small.
Tomorrow we head to Fayetteville, TN to spend a couple of days with our good friend Jimmy Thompson. After than we head down the road a little ways to see my Sister and Brother-in-Law. Can’t wait.
Here is a link to other photos we took – enjoy.
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