Milwaukee Wisconsin Museum

There are so many fascinating things to browse and contemplate in a superlative museum. The Milwaukee Museum set the standard for quality displays - on all three floors. I restrained myself and tried not to take photos of every single thing that caught my particular attention. But here are a few.

The background paintings for dioramas and displays were absolutely jaw-dropping. Here's an example, which was over 10 feet long and about five feet high. I had to make it a two-part photo, to get it all in. The otter feeding in the foreground was a taxidermy piece, so beautiful.

There was one section, of one floor of the museum, dedicated to anthropological history of our country (there were other countries, in other areas). The dioramas were wonderful, so detailed. The figures are about 6" tall, and so intricately detailed - you felt you could walk into the scenes The transition from models to painted background was seamless. This one was obviously southwestern.

Hope you can read this - I was trying to save time by snapping some of the signs rather than writing it all down. ( Double click on it to make it larger, then back arrow to return to blog)

This section on the Canadian and Northwest natives was another diorama that captured me.
Not like I haven't seen similar scenes in some of our area museums, but this was exquisitely done. This section was specifically dedicated to the Kwatiutl people.

There were many familiar tools and artifacts on display. Felt like home.

Male artisans were woodworkers, a full-time occupation. Cedar and at times hemlock, alder or ash, were fashioned into everything from massive plant-walled houses, totem poles and sea-going canoes, to delicately tooled masks, rattles, storage boxes, food dishes and spoons.

Boxes were constructed by the distinctive method of folding. The sides were made from one piece of wood which was grooved, steamed, and bent at right angles. The two ends were then sewn together. The bottom was grooved to fit the sides and was either sewn or pegged on. These boxes were used in cooking by dropping hot stones into a water-filled box. They were also used for storage purposes.

So - the next time you need a new cooking pot - you know just how to make one!