Happy Day After Christmas!

Ready For Christmas!

The American Treasure Tour will get you into the holiday spirit!

 Our huge collection of vintage holiday storefront displays and Christmas themed automatons is great fun for all!

 Book a tour to enjoy this winter wonderland with the whole family! 

Funny Friday, Stranded on an Island

Today's Treasure: Clowns of All Kinds

We hope that you're not coulrophobic at the Americna Treasure Tour! We have clowns all around! Some of them are even automatons. Automata are self-operating machines, often utilizing clockwork mechanics to move without continuous human guidance. 1860 through 1910 is considered the "Golden Age of Automata."

Funny Friday Lobster vs. Crab

Today's Treasure: Stained Glass Windows

Gorgeous stained glass windows decorate the room housing our collection of nickelodeons. Enjoy the colorful artistry of these windows while you listen the playful music of our mechanical music machines!

www.AmericanTreasureTour.com 

Barrels of Fun!

At the American Treasure Tour ... you will have barrels of fun!

BUT our barrels are a little different.  Ours are musical.

A barrel is a pinned cylinder usually made of wood on which a musical composition is programmed for used in a nickelodeon, player piano or organ.

For a barrel of fun, book a tour today! phone: (610) 551-1629

Funny Friday: Not a Bear

credit to Grammarly.com's facebook page

Today's Treasure: Circus Sideshow Paintings

Inspired by vintage advertisements for circus side-show acts, Pennsylvania artist Joan Fay painted nearly 100 original canvas paintings in the manner of circus advertisements from the early19th century. 

 Some of the acts from circus of a bygone era were of talented performers who trained themselves to do things like breathe fire (see below) while others were the result of imagination and inventive costuming like the above act for a half man, half alligator....yikes!

S

Funny Friday: Posting Fever

credit to: http://internet-safety.yoursphere.com

TGIF! Funny Friday

from letssmiletoday.com

Today's Treasure: Captain Morgan

This larger than life Captain Morgan once stood as a liquor store advertisement for the rum brand named after Sir Henry Morgan, a successful privateer and pirate of the17th century. Now he stands like a ring leader near our circus collection. We figured he would be tough enough to handle the circus tigers and bears.  

Real American Treasure: Scott Joplin

photo courtesy of:  http://www.visitmyarkansas.com

Scott Joplin (1867-1917) traveled and played with a number of musical groups in the 1890's. Around the turn of the century, he composed the "Maple Leaf Rag." He later worked on a ballet, and by 1902, the style of his compositions was officially dubbed, "Ragtime." 

Perhaps his most famous tune was "The Entertainer." Joplin's music was recorded for the phonograph and often made into rolls for nickelodeons like the ones you can hear at The American Treasure Tour.

Thanks to http://www.usa-hero.com for lots of great information on US Heros!

TGIF

Funny Friday comic: We got a kick out of this one :)

Today's Treasure: Classic Cars

The classic car collection at the American Treasure Tour is an exceptional collection of vehicles from the dawn of the automobile industry into the nostalgic styles of 1950's automobiles.

Influential American: P.T. Barnum

Phineas Taylor Barnum is best known for his part in Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. 

An entreprenuer from the start, Barnum owned a newspaper in his Connecticut hometown before moving to New York where he quickly founded "Barnum's Grand Scientific and Musical Theater." He purchased a museum which he used as a platform for performances from his variety act and for other human curiosities and oddities. Eventually, his museum housed America's first aquarium. 

       While ever adding to his list of attractions and oddities, Barnum was also a very productive politician, serving two terms in the Connecticut legislature, and eventually becoming mayor of Bridgeport, CT. 

      Barnum did not enter the travelling circus business until he was in his sixties. He started "P. T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome," a traveling circus, menagerie and museum. He later partnered with Bailey, creating Barnum and Bailey's "Greatest Show on Earth." 

    At the American Treasure Tour there is a wonderland of circus memorabilia, artifacts from the circus and vintage advertisements from the show's heyday. 

Funny Friday Ducks

Hope you're having a better day than this guy: 

photo courtesy of: cutefunnyanimal.blogspot

Band Organ

The delightful sounds of a Wurlitzer Band Organ you can hear many times over at the American Treasure Tour....

American Treasure: Walter Lippmann

Walter Lippmann was a New Yorker, a writer, reporter and political commentator in the early to mid 20th century. He pointed out inaccuracies in the news reporting and spoke out against censorship. Lippmann's articles and books often touched on tensions of modern America, between politics, liberty, and news.

Lippmann was the first to use the term "Cold War," and later coined the word "stereotype" as it is used today. His Catchphrase "Manufacture of Consent." has been used over again in literary works by great thinkers of the next generation. He published several books in addition to writing his syndicated newspaper column, "Today and Tomorrow," for which he was twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize (1958 and 1962). 

Influential American: Samuel Goldwyn

Famed for his relentless ambition, bad temper and genius for publicity, Samuel Goldwyn became Hollywood's leading "independent" producer. Goldwyn was an American emigrant from Warsaw who found his way from New York's Garment district to Hollywood California. 

He produced 193 films, and was best known for his films, Guys and Dolls, Wurthering Heights, and The Best Years of Our Lives. Here is the full list of titles. 

Goldwyn died in 1974 at the age of 94.

Get Cranked

Are you cranked?

Our music boxes at the American Treasure Tour are hand-cranked ~ music before electricity!

Don't be cranky, come visit the American Treasure Tour!  You'll go away with a smile on your face for sure!

Young American Treasure: Vinnie Ream

Vinnie Ream was the first woman, and the youngest artist ever to receive a commission from the United States Government. At the age of 18 in 1866, she was awarded the commission of a full size marble statue of President Lincoln which still stands in the Capitol Building.
Vinnie was from a Pennsylvania Dutch family who emigrated from Germany to central Pennsylvania in 1717.
She worked in the United States Post office during the Civil War and later a stamp was created in her honor.

A talented writer and singer as well, Vinnie Ream gave concerts in Civil war hospitals and helped wounded soldiers write letters. 

Today's Treasure: The Simpsons

The Simpsons show holds the title of the longest running American animated program, and the longest running sitcom on television. Even though we are still used to seeing the iconic family on TV, the oldest episodes are nearing the age of vintage, possibly even "classic" TV. 

A Simpsons trivia question: Where does Marge hide the Christmas money? 

*scroll to the end of the post for the answer*

This likeness of the Simpson family larger than life: notice the convertible top of one of our classic cars in the background to get an idea of just how big they are. Come by the American Treasure Tour to visit them in person!







Marge hides Christmas money In Her Hair

American Inventor Elias Howe

Elias Howe worked tirelessly on a design for the modern sewing machine. Although he was not the first to conceive of the idea that sewing could and should be done by machine, he was the first in the US to obtain a patent for a machine performing a lockstitch which uses two threads and one needle...the beginning of sewing machines as we know them today.
These three factors were unique to his design:

• a needle with the eye at the point,
• a shuttle operating beneath the cloth to form the lock stitch, and
• an automatic feed.

So here's to Elias Howe, a real American Treasure from Massachusetts who invented a world-changing device. 

Funny Friday

Here are some automobile related Friday funnies:

comic courtesy of funfluster.com

Today's Treasure: The Concertina

Today's treasure is a hand-held instrument. Similar in function to the accordion, the concertina is a free-reed instrument with bellows to produce sound. the horns on this German style concertina amplify the sound.

Young American Hero: Mary Jane Dilworth

Mary Jane Dilworth was among a group of pioneers travelling west through the un-searched United States in the early 1800's There were many children in the caravan of wagons headed west, and they proved difficult to wrangle. Mary Jane decided to organize a school like atmosphere for the youngsters. She was so successful at keeping their attention that she was asked by Joseph Smith to open a schoolhouse when the group arrived at their destination. At the age of 16, Mary Jane Dilworth opened the first school in Utah. The year was 1847.

Fist Pump Friday

Today's Treasure: Airplanes in the Rafters