03.12.09
The Gene Autry Museum Part I
Yesterday my boys and I visited the Gene Autry Museum. I had been wanting to see what was inside this museum for a long time, but never got around to it until yesterday.
I honestly didn’t know what was going to be inside, but I found it to be pretty interesting. Basically, the museum is dedicated to the old American West so there was a lot of cowboy stuff. And since Gene Autry was in the Hollywood business, the museum starts off with cowboys or the wild west in Hollywood. Unlike the museums in the Philippines, this one allowed unlimited pictures! Woo hoo! So let’s see how many I can fit in one post, heheh.
They had literature, posters, costumes, saddles, and bridles, and the like used in Hollywood on display.
Then they also had artwork which depicted the old west including the first known Frederic Remington bronze cast, The Bronco Buster, 1895.
They had a costume of a 22nd Infantry soldier of the 1870s. He’s wearing buffalo hide.
And right next to him was a buffalo hunter. Hmm. Somehow this is not what I pictured buffalo hunters would look like especially with those sunglasses. But according to the placard, those sunglasses were the glasses from the 1870s. Oh. . .
There were many more costumes there of which I took pictures, but only have limited space here, so I’ll just post one more, a bear coat.
It was behind glass, so it was hard not to get a glare when taking this picture. I think this is the very first real bear coat I’ve ever seen.
They also had lots of guns and rifles, but for some reason I noticed they had mostly Colts. I wanted to see a Smith and Wesson as the .357 magnum revolver is my favorite, but I saw none. My dad used to take us kiddies to the shooting range many, many moons ago. And prior to my AA diagnosis we used to go to the shooting range, but for some reason after AA, I haven’t had any desire to go. But anyway, the reason I favored the .357 revolver is because I felt they were more reliable than guns with magazines. Revolvers just don’t jam like magazines do occasionally. And a .357 can also accommodate .38s. Well, anyway back on topic, amongst the firearms on display was this gatling gun.
When I saw it, I immediately remembered once while at the shooting range they had firearm vendors at the range, and they brought all sorts of firearms that we could try. That was a cool treat because we didn’t know they would be there. Amongst all the firearms was a gatling gun that they were letting people try for a small fee. I was too chicken to try, so never got the feel of it. But it was kinda interesting to watch it in action.
Then moving right along there were mining equipment and other inventions of the time. Now before I share any of the other inventions on display, I had to take a picture of this one. Eh, I’m guessing this chair was designed by a “man.” At least I “hope” it was. I mean this chair is one of the most ugliest chairs that I’ve ever seen. So I guess that makes it one of the more interesting pieces to have, ha ha!
Okay, it’s really late, and I’m tired and want to hit the hay. So, I’ll leave it for here and continue later. They had a lot of fun stuff to share at the Gene Autry Museum that I can’t just stop here, heheh.
Night, night,
Marlakins
