The 1950s Park Forest House Museum will reopen for the season on Saturday February 7 from 1-3 p.m. The Forest Boulevard Classroom is decorated for a 1950s Valentines Day party and vintage Valentines are on display throughout the house.
I have been installing a very special exhibit of Dolls of the 1950s. Many of the dolls are in residence. The labeling is ongoing. Those of you who know dolls will know them without all of the labeling in place. More dolls will be added to the exhibit, which we plan to have up for three months, if it is well-received. Relive memories of your childhood dolls, or just come enjoy the dolls and their outfits. Bring your sisters, friends, moms, daughters, and granddaughters. For those men who come along, the museum has a number of toys you will remember playing with, and we have some wonderful mounted automobile car ads from old magazines.
During this 60th Anniversary month, when we are celebrating the Village’s Incorporation, a visit to the museum is a wonderful way to immerse yourself into what our pioneer citizens experienced from 1948-1953. Come read leases from two of the earliest families, and see photographs of what the rentals and the town looked like 60 years ago. Read newspapers stories of the Tent Meeting of November 27, 1948, where Incorporation was presented to the tenants. We have even added a set of photos of the Wheeler family who actually lived in 141 Forest from 1952-1955. Come learn what made Park Forest so unique as the first fully-planned post-World War II suburb, with one of the first two shopping centers in the country. If you have a fourth grader, in April, two schools will be using a curriculum unit on Park Forest history written by retired teachers Suzanne Brown, May Wiza and Jean Bernstein. Stimulate your students’ curiosity with a trip down Memory Lane at the museum.
The 1950s Park Forest House Museum, operated by the Park Forest Historical Society, located at 141 Forest Blvd at the corner of Forest and Fir, is open Saturdays from 1-3 p.m. A donation of $5 is asked of adults; children 12 and under are free with a paying adult. Group tours can be given by appointment. Contact Museum Director, Jane Nicoll at [email protected]. Directions and a virtual tour are on our website at www.parkforesthistory.org.
A visit to the museum in February is a great way to shake the winter blahs. It is full of color and great artifacts and photographs to get the cobwebs out of your memory!
