Museum's 'Gilded Age Glamour' Builds New Memories From Old Times

Wenham Museum's latest exhibit can help you enhance conversations about the "good old days" with your grandchildren or maybe help your own children understand what they missed from an earlier era.

The exhibit, titled is presented in the Thompson Gallery. It will be available for "kid-friendly" learning at the museum until Oct. 24.

Guests visiting the Thompson Gallery can actually see, first-hand, what 19th century dresses and accessories looked like. Family members can interact and discuss with each other how the world of fashion has changed over time.

The exhibit enables people to view and take part in a reproduction of a 19th century dressmaker's shop. The shop displays the finest workmanship and richest materials of extravagant gowns and accessories of the 1800s, fashioned by the tools and materials of that era.

Activity boxes containing supplies for use with the displays are provided at the front desk where the receptionist greets you. The boxes include materials, such as writing paper, scissors, sketching supplies, costume jewelry and accessories.

Children and their accompanying adults can dress up while observing the displayed manikins wearing 19th century gowns, hats and accessories. Curious visitors are able to sketch their interests in the shop at the design station. This trip to the dressmaker's shop even allows you to dress your 18-inch doll in elegant gowns.

One of the most unmistakable parts of the exhibit is that the models used in the 19th century display have extremely narrow waists. This is easily explained by the corsets used by women of the 1800s. Marketing Manager Mary Barthelmes said that the corset included in the activity box was typical of those times.

"The corsets worn by women in the 1800s used to cinch the waist to a size two," Barthelmes explained.

The large variety of exhibits at the museum represent different points in time. Some are dated from the early 20th century. Older visitors who bring their grandchildren here are able to show the kids what life was like "back in the day."

"A visitor may say, 'I remember that,' while looking at a display," Barthelmes said. "We learn from seeing and doing, and we all learn from each other."

Barthelmes also noted that the museum aids with child development.

"It teaches children the value of interactive play and developmentally contributes to very strong critical thinkers," she said.

Some interactive displays in the museum include buttons that children may push to watch all the action of an exhibit and a "seek-and-find" activity in which children may engage with their family in a visual "treasure hunt."

The museum celebrates New England childhood and family life, according to Director Lindsay Diehl.

"We like to see the different generations interact with one another," Diehl said. "They can share memories and experiences with each other. It promotes conversation."

The museum also holds the potential to build memories from the time one enters the museum until closing-time for the day.

"It's the feelings that they take away," said Barthelmes.

The Wenham Museum first opened in 1922 with a doll collection donation to the Wenham Village Improvement Society from Elizabeth Richards Horton. The museum has expanded over the years into a larger site that now houses over 5,000 toys and dolls.

The museum is a nonprofit organization funded by private donations.

"We exist because of generosity," Diehl said.

Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wenham Museum allows adults and children to share important stories with each other. It is described both by Diehl and Barthelmes as a "family-friendly, interactive, hands-on, history museum."

A "Family Fashion Show and Tea Party" will be presented in conjunction with "Gilded Age Glamour" in the Thompson Gallery at Wenham Museum on Sunday, Sept. 12 (Grandparents' Day) at 2 p.m.