Museum Analysis 2: Idaho Historical Museum

 The second museum I visited was the Idaho Historical Museum where I looked at the room displays. In particular, I looked at the M.C. Smith’s Bar exhibit which depicts a normal bar scene from the 1800s. This tries to give the audience a feel for what life used to be like.



The exhibit is housed at the top floor of the museum in a large, open room. It is sectioned off by a low, wooden slatted fence, which marks the end of the museum’s carpeted halls and the beginning of the bar’s worn wooden floor. A long mirrored bar lines one wall and a leather sofa and chair take up most of the other. The middle of the room houses a wood stove surrounded by chairs. The room is not bare, housing everything from books and mounted buffalo heads to oddities such as a two-headed calf and a cannon. Very little documentation is offered other than a pictured plaque, which describes where this bar was previously housed and the process by which bars in the late 1800s were purchased and transported. Additionally, small cardboard cards explain why the calf was included in the exhibit and describe the history of the “Samuel Tilden” cannon.



Unlike other exhibits, which feature items stored in sterile glass cases, this exhibit is artistically arranged to appear as though you are looking back at a specific moment in time. Details such as an old calendar and the inclusion of so many historic items like clocks, a phone, and historic furniture lend to the effect. Additionally, a tray of food and drink lay abandoned on the counter, as if it’s owner had just left the room a moment ago. Though most of the items appear to have a purpose for their inclusion, the cannon seems a bit odd to include. Its card describes the history of its donation, but gives not reason why it is housed in this particular exhibit. In this case, it seems that the museum simply felt the need to display the generous gift and this exhibit offered the only available free space.

I think it is an effective exhibit for its audience, which is likely to be primarily schoolchildren. As I was sitting next to the exhibit, two groups of 4th graders came by on their field trip, excitedly pointing out the two-headed cow and all the little details in the bar. For such an audience, fewer descriptive cards are necessary; visuals communicate more about the past. They are able to connect to a scene in front of them more than individual elements isolated in glass cases.



The last question I had when looking at the display was which elements were real and which were reproductions. Other than a few of the bigger items, none were labeled, so I had no way of knowing. For an adult, it might be more satisfying to know if items are authentic or not, but I suppose as long as the reproductions were true to the time period represented, in this type of display, that knowledge is not vital.