greenfield village is a given in detroit. everyone knows it. in fact it's only one part of the vast complex called henry ford museum. who thinks that this museum is only another tourist trap for "rich" euro owners with some dingy shacks in the backyard is mistaken. this museum is like a small town with more parking spots than any walmart supercenter, with a good chance to get lost in the cold and never finding your car again in the maze of imax theater, ford academy, research center, the henry ford museum museum, and greenfield village, an original turn of the century village.
when the yule tide nears greenfield village invites members and nonmembers to “step into a christmas card of the past”, which jerone and i did. it was freezing cold. i was wearing not only silken unterpants that santa claus had brought but over them a gray thick woolen panty hose topping this attractive ensemble with my jeans as a stronghold against the twenty something degree fahrenheit.
with gloves, scarf, hat and all intention to fight jack frost we merrily entered the lantern and bon fire lit paths of this village of which i had heard about for months. it's indeed remarkable for the houses are originals that ford transported brick by brick into this curious sample of famous buildings: the heinz (the ketchup guy) building, thomas edison’s lab, the wright brothers (who were "first in aviation" says the ohio license plate) house and bycicle shop where they created their plane plus original watch maker, gaffer, tin smith, and toy shops.
t
inside the wright brothers' family house we found this sign. their dad was a minister and maybe wilbur and orville were just trying to get closer to god.
hard to miss were the many ford model ts cruising down the streets with quite some speed so that strollers had to jump out of their way.
an outside movie theatre projected an old black and white scrooge on the wall of a house. but even with fire in front of the benches for the audience it wasn’t possible to linger around for longer than a few minutes.
ginger bread house exhibitions are big in ohio and michigan where people compete for creating the most beautiful, most creative, most sugary house. since we couldn't satisfy our hunger with those pieces of art we turned to the grilled roast beef walking by the chestnut booth.
mmh, there comes the freshly over the fire toasted roast beef sandwich with sauteed onions and bbq sauce. unfortunately by the time the sandwich reached out mouths it was already cold again.
village dwellers came in thick clothing and one lady even with a cute little furry muff. but she said that it's all faux fox.
a jester tried to cheer up frozen souls.
and christmas carol singers warmed everyone's hearts. 
to put it in a nutshell ford tried to create picture perfect innocent christmas days of the good old times. jerone's grandpa has the theory that ford tried to recreate a world that he helped to destroy.if you want to check out this highly commercialized but yet worthy to visit site: www.thehenryford.org/village/historicdistricts.asp
peach on peach tree street
pedestrian hostile atlanta
resting in front of church doors
urban art in front of a bank building
same bank tower, more art: the statue was huge
bars and stripes in a shop window
clark gable, vivian leigh, and most of the gone with the wind crew stayed here when the movie premiered in december 1939
margaret "peggy" mitchell house and museum are a "shrine" to gone with the wind says lonely planet usa. i think it's an enriching must for fans of the classic story. tickets are $9 for students which sort of paid off for us since we were the only visitors and got a personalized tour.
mitchell lived with her husband in this house part of her life until she died in a car accident on the way to a play. no pictures are allowed inside the building which contains several apartments. mitchell's features a small living room, an even smaller bed room with a dining table, and a tiny kitchen. the guide told us that mitchell never wanted to have a house because then guests would come and stay. she didn't even have another bed let alone a guest room in her apartment out of fear for visitors.
the museum is dedicated to the making of the movie
here she is, plucking away. the guide said mitchell started writing the book because she was at home with a leg condition and to entertain herself during recovery the piles of books her husband brought home from the public library were not enough and she began composing an own story. she said: "in a weak moment i have written a book."
our guide says originally she denied to friends that she's writing a book. but at a convention a friend pointed her out to a publisher who sought her to ask about the book. she denied again. a person overhearing the conversation started laughing at the thought that mitchell who had worked as a reporter before covering society events was writing a book. it made her so mad that upon returning home she put the manuscript in an envelope and sent it to the publisher's hotel.
similar to the beginning in gone with the wind, margaret mitchell married one guy to spite another one, tells us the guide. she also made these two guys room together so that she had a better chance to date both of them before matrimony. she married the bad guy first to motivate the good guy to intervene and stop the marriage from happening and propose to her. unfortunately he didn't hurdle himself in front of the altar but waited until her first marriage failed and married her afterwards.
Posts
