STROLL THROUGH HISTORY AT ANTIQUE MUSEUM VILLAGE
Staff | August 14, 2012 | CommentAntique Museum Village at the Dutchess County Fair offers visitors an interactive and authentic look at the past. The displays, machinery and household objects are part of Dutchess County’s past from the 1880’s through the 1930’s.
This exhibit, which may be the largest accumulation of antiques in the Hudson Valley, is kept fresh each year by the inclusion of ‘new’ antiques donated to the Village.
Their 2012 finds include a Horse Power or Horse Tread Mill. A unique machine, requiring the efforts of a horse to run it as a cutter or ensilage (green corn), a corn sheller or even a water pump. The exhibit is making its’ first Dutchess County Fair appearance with the help of a life-size plastic horse in front of the building, where the rest of the antique machinery chugs and clugs and runs all day long.
Inside a new Barn Frame Loom, previously used to make rugs will be demonstrated by one of the dozens of volunteers. These volunteers and storytellers, all dressed in period costumes, give us a look back at a quieter and simpler time in our rural history.
Fairgoers can visit a working Blacksmith Shop, a Print Shop and an operating Shingle Mill. Additionally, a Wheel Driller runs periodically throughout each day of the fair.
See Chair Caning demonstrations and marvel at a Home Exhibit depicting how our great grandparents ran their homes without all the modern conveniences we take for granted. This year’s Kitchen, Parlor and Bedroom are decorated for Christmas with authentic ornaments, gift-wrappings, tree decorating and even pastime cooking going on each day of the fair.
There is also a Clock Shop, Country Store, Textile Exhibit, Wood Craft Shop , Hand Power Machine Exhibit, Ice Harvest Exhibit and a Dutchess County Products Display. See brooms being made in the Broom Shop and visit a Vintage Auto Repair Shop for all those pesky Model T’s!
The always popular “What’s it Exhibit” in the back of the main building changes each day and is a great test to our knowledge of our ancestors tools, utensils and various other gadgets.
Mark and Judy Germond along with Asa Beckwith are the Museum Village Curators, but they are proud to work alongside over 50 volunteers who organize and present the time-honored displays. They are all the Volunteers of the Century Museum Village and Collectors Association and are responsible for year round up-keep, as well as manning the building for 12 hour days (10am-10pm) during the Dutchess County Fair. Each year the volunteers start planning new exhibits and polishing up all the collections in early June.
Be sure to visit the Antique Museum Village this year , have your curiosity peaked, and questions answered about our rural ancestors. You can even buy a souvenir of your time spent in the Antique Museum Village!
AUTHENTIC ANTIQUE SCHOOLHOUSE
Take a quick left on your way out of the Museum Village and head up the hill to an authentic one-room Schoolhouse. Originally built in 1881, by Henry Bentley as a tribute to his mother, the Bentley Schoolhouse was in operation until 1940. It is currently filled with memorabilia that reflects educational practices and schoolhouse activities from that era. During the fair, volunteers man the schoolhouse to answer questions about its history, and occasionally teachers who taught during the school’s long history stop by and share their memories as well. The exhibit opens each day of fairweek at 10am.
For more information contact the Dutchess County Fair at (845) 876-4000 or visit www.dutchessfair.com.