I love living in Chicago. I love that I’m raising my family in Chicago. (In fact, the only thing that I do not love about Chicago is its tendency to have “winter” equate to “half of the year. Digression.) And one of the absolute best things about this town is its fantastic museums- namely The Field Museum.
And so I jumped at the chance to check out The Field’s newest exhibit- Opening The Vaults: Wonders Of The 1893 World’s Fair. (Doubly cool, especially since The Field Museum itself was born outta that same fair. So many awesome things to see and marvel at!) Chicago’s World Fair was a huge deal for Chicago- and now visitors to The Field Museum of 2013 can experience the same wonders as fairgoers in 1893. Which is pretty darned awesome.
So what’s there? WELL. There are Peruvian mummies (and figurines which had been bundled and buried with them!), fairground memorabilia such as tickets and ledgers, mammoth murals and projections of what fairgoers saw, and a crazy amount of fun, hands-on exhibits- just to name a small, small few. And here’s something that would’ve blown the minds of your average 1893 Chicagoan: the Field Museum app lets you take guided tours of this (and many other) exhibits, or even create your own based on personal preference (or- let’s be honest- your kids’ preferences).
There’s a spiffy app to see this (and other!) exhibits at The Field. (When you visit, download it for free right here!) And the app’s tour for the Chicago World’s Fair is really fun to play around with. The cool part is that not all of the stops on the tour are in the actual World’s Fair exhibit room. Some are scattered throughout the (large/awesome) museum, such as in the Mammals Room. (Already a mandatory stop on the itinerary of my kiddos. They love them some small mammals.)
We started at the Totem Poles, which are a staple of any Chicago tour. (The app has the ability to scan featured exhibits, giving you tons of facts about each item. We totally live in the future.) But hands down, the girls’ favorite part of the World’s Fair exhibit were the interactive Javanese instruments, with drag and drop capacity onto a huge musical table- they could’ve stayed there for hours.
Okay, we did stay there for hours.
Then we rolled over to see the mammals and met this little guy:
Thanks for this cute picture, Tour App!
…And had to stay and say hi to every. Single. One. Of. His. Mammaltacular. Brethren.
This very cool collection evokes a very exciting time in Chicago’s history- and its citizens lost their collective minds over the chance to see these treasures, some of which they’d never again have the chance to see in their lifetimes. In this day and age of instant information and technology, it’s almost a charming idea.
The Opening The Vaults: Wonders Of The World’s Fair exhibit (and, honestly, the entirety of The Field Museum) are a must-see for any diehard Chicagoan, history buff…or anyone with kiddos who love love love interactive musical instruments.
Seriously, people, hours.
I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, however all content and opinions expressed here are my own.
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