Holiday Cheer, Museum Style

Anne

Earthquakes come and go—literally, but in this case I’m talking about the 1906 quake centennial exhibit—and now it's "Holiday Cheer by Stagecoach" at the Wells Fargo History Museum in San Francisco. Visitors can see toys and greetings from the past and learn about Wells Fargo's role in providing holiday cheer, whether delivering presents by stagecoach, wagon, or train.

My sister works at UPS , and installing this exhibit each year reminds me how similar her work is now to that of historical employees of Wells Fargo back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There is very little time for breaks during this season they call Peak . A digital montage of express labels and winter illustrations that we added to the exhibit this year presents a fun visual of this notion. I checked it out, and UPS was just getting into the express game when Wells Fargo was getting out.

In the Wells Fargo Museum in San Francisco, we added some interactive elements this year to our annual holiday exhibit, with old-fashioned toys to play with and a card for visitors to write down and share a favorite toy memory. We haven't gotten an overwhelming number of responses so far, but I did enjoy the comment from Liem C., a recent fourth grade visitor, who described her penny collection, which is so "special" that she will "pass it down." Are people just too busy this time of year for a little fun reflection? If you want to share, here’s the prompt! Go ahead and leave a comment:

"Did you have a toy that had a special place in your room, entertained you for hours, or maybe even launched a lifelong passion?"

And if you're in the area, come visit. We're open Monday-Friday, 9-5, and have special holiday concerts and open house events(PDF).