Saturday, July 20, 2013 – Rochester, NY
After 2 days of blazing heat and drenching humidity we woke up to a very different day. Our plan was to head up to Rochester, NY to visit a well known Doll Hospital and shop in North Chili, NY which is just outside of Rochester. If we had time, we would also visit the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester. Unfortunately, the Doll Shop was closed so we would focus on the National Museum of Play.
The drive up to Rochester was about 320 miles and it would take us from New Jersey, into Pennsylvania and then into New York. What a difference a day makes. Today the temperatures ranged from 65 degrees to no higher than 82 degrees. As soon as we hit Scranton, PA, the skies opened up and we had rain the rest of the way into Rochester. At times the rain was very hard and traffic would slow to a crawl. We thought we were crazy for staying on the road, but then we passed the guy on the motorcycle – now that’s crazy.
Once we got to our campground in Canandaigua, NY which is just outside of Rochester, the rain stopped. By the time we got into Rochester, you couldn’t tell it had been raining. We couldn’t have ordered up a more perfect day. The temperature was in the mid-70s and the air and sky were clear.
We had no trouble finding the Margaret Strong National Museum of Play. It is located near the center of town in Manhattan Square in a beautiful 200,000 sq ft building. It is huge and definitely the largest museum we have seen dedicated to toys, doll and the science of “Play". The museum was built around the collection of Margaret Strong, a long time resident of Rochester.
Margaret grew up the only child of a very wealthy family. She was an avid athlete and collector of toys and dolls from her earliest days. In 1968 she contacted the University of Rochester to speak about starting a museum around her vast collection. Using her substantial estate that was bequeathed to the museum the initial direction was focused on the effects of progress and industrialization because most of he items in her vast collection were mass produced. The museum came to its current location in 1982 and had modest success. In 1990 after much market research they refocused the museum on families with emphasis on toys and the science of Play. And it grew and grew to what it is today, a huge facility occupying a modern 280,000 sq foot building.
The museum is a huge attraction in the upstate New York area drawing over 600,000 visitors a year. There is a huge lobby atrium area as you enter that is large enough to house a full size antique carousel and a 1950s diner that is used as – you guessed it a diner. There is also a very large food court in the building that includes a Subway, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and a Louie’s Ice Cream shop. Amazing…
The objective of the museum is to put forward the scientific and philosophical arguments that support that Play is a critical part of child development. The argument is put forward in countless creative displays that incorporate actual toys – both antique and contemporary, with other artifacts tied to a particular theme -such as play acting – toys of the 60s – superheroes – educational play – and so many more. There are so many interactive stations that encourage the whole family to participate. It was very interesting. By the time we got there, it was late in the afternoon – around 3:00 pm and there were a couple hundred kids and parents roaming around the huge museum. This was one place where we did not see scores of screaming whining kids – there was pure joy there.
To learn more – check out this link:
The photos don’t do the museum justice, unfortunately flash photography was discouraged.
Follow this link for more photos of the day:
Photo 1 – Rain in Scranton – home of Dunder Mifflin of Office fame
Photo 2 – Clear skies in Rochester
Photo 3 – arriving at the Strong National Museum of Play
Photo 4 – Toys encouraging exercise – antique sleds – one with wheels for summer and one with runners for winter.
Photo 5 – giant Rube Goldberg machine – similar to the miniature we saw elsewhere.
Photo 6 – Interactive set of displays focused on toy cars – Parents and child alike play with Hot Wheels
Photo 7 – There was a temporary exhibit focused on Arcade Games – that included antique wind up toys of carnival from the Strong collection displayed among other antique and contemporary arcade games.
Photo 8 – Wheel of Fortune machine. We gave it a spin – the question asked by Elisa, “will we win the lottery?“ The answer, “Most Likely”. Hmmm?
Photo 9 – They had a very interesting display dedicated to comic books. The had a collection of the toys and games that were often advertised in comic books.
Photo 10 – There was a exact replica of the Sesame Street. In it was an interactive booth where a child sits in front of a green screen and looks at a monitor that depicts her interacting with one of the sesame street characters. The kids loved this as did the parents who could see it in a large monitor.
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