The Mercer Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania - Part 1

     The Mercer Museum, located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, was built by Henry Chapman Mercer, and it houses his collection of American preindustrial artifacts.  Preindustrail means the time before the year 1850 or the time before machines mass produced goods in factories.  Henry Ford said that the Mercer Museum was the only museum in the United States worth visiting.  It is the most unique, as far as I'm concerned, from the collections to the style of the displays to the building itself.  You can't go to the museum without also going to Fonthill, Henry Mercer's home, and the Moravian Tile and Pottery works, Mercer's business.  These three locations are known as the Mercer Mile.
     Henry Chapman Mercer lived from 1856-1930.  He had a liberal arts degree from Harvard and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.  He was admitted to the bar, but instead of practicing law, he spent ten years after law school traveling in Europe and Egypt.  He was able to do this with the support of his wealthy aunt, Elizabeth Lawrence.  Mercer returned from overseas a self taught archaeologist.  He founded his pottery works in 1898 after spending time as an apprentice to a German-American potter.  The pottery was successful and it helped finance Mercer's collecting.  Elizabeth Lawrence died childless in 1905, and she left a portion of her estate to her nephew.  Chapman was now extremely wealthy, and he could afford to indulge his childhood fantasy of living in a castle, and he could build a museum for his artifacts.
     The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m.  Admission is $14.00 for Adults, $12 for Seniors, $8.00 for ages 6-17, and free for children age 5 and under.  Parking is free.

Henry Mercer loved dogs.  These are the graves of Rex, the Collie and Dickie, the Airedale.

Mercer's favorite dog was Rollo a Chesapeake Bat Retriever.  Rollo's statue and portrait are in the museum.  His paw prints are preserved in some concrete steps in Fonthill.

There are two sheds in the back of the museum which house wagons and carriages.  There is also a one room cabin.  Unfortunately, the cabin was closed on the day we visited.

The museum is built from rebar reinforced poured concrete - walls, floors, ceilings...

... even the muntins.
Mercer used concrete because it was fireproof.  He didn't want his treasures to burn should fire sweep through town as it did in Boston in 1872.  The museum is neither heated nor cooled.  Construction was completed in 1916.  The building cost $38,944.99.  Mercer employed ten workers used one horse named Lucy to help with the heavy hauling.  They mixed all of the concrete by hand.  There were no blueprints or formal drawings.  The crew worked with sketches done by Mr. Mercer.        

There are six floors of relics.  Every surface, including the ceiling, is covered.  That's a blue whaling boat at the top, right of center.  Sixty percent of Mercer's collection is on display.

Ceilings are covered with chairs, baby cradles, boxes, and baskets.

     

Separate rooms are dedicated to different industries.  This room contains bone buttons, combs, and hair ornaments.

Candy molds and everything related to candy making.

Butter molds and butter making tools.

Cigar Store Indians
These early examples of advertising and commercial art were most popular between 1850 and 1890.  Of the estimated 100,000 that were produced, about 3,000 remain today.  

Shoe Making Artifacts

Hat Making

Basket Weaving

Tools for Trapping

This is a Conestoga Wagon.  These wagons were named after the Conestoga River or Conestoga Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  These wagons were used for moving freight.  Being narrow at the bottom and wider at the top kept the contents from shifting during transit.  People did not ride on these wagons.  Horses pulled at the front and the human walked along the left side where the brake was located.  There was a pull out board where the driver could stand and operate the brake, and sometimes a person would ride the horse that pulled at the left side.  The left-sided-ness of this vehicle is the reason Americans now drive on the right side of the road.  One other thing: Conestoga wagons were always painted blue.   

The stage coach from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh ran through Downingtown.  The door of this coach is decorated with a cow.  Mike says this model must have been the cow-dillac of stage coaches (groan).

A classroom with slates and ink wells.  No dry erase boards and mass produced Ticonderoga #2 pencils here.