On Sunday, December 1, don’t forget to exit through the gift shop.
I have a supporter whose kid is ghost with theNew York Citysubway scheme . He has all but memorized the schedule of the Q power train ( his train ) , is always up to date on what lines are being rerouted , and can tell me which gear would be the truehearted option to get to Times Square from basically any location I spring on him . ( Who require Google map when you have your own short rail savant ? )
It ’s pretty obvious then , why his best-loved shoes is theNew York City Transit Museum , with itsvintage carsand vacation train shows and exhibits on the evolution of conveyance , in an previous subway station itself . But perhaps his favorite part is themuseumgift shop class . The detail in the Transit Museum ’s giving store are the platonic ideal of museum talent shop class items : informative , kinky , nostalgic , and totally saucy . My brother has little subway gear replicas , theodolite function , mapped - out socks and t - shirt , and even a subway mathematical function clock . He ’s gotten his dad cufflinks made from old metro tokens . And whenever he has a new friend over , these items are an excuse to spill the beans about his passion for transit .
A good museum memory is an annex of the museum , where the experience is distilled and remixed into pocket - sized memento . Items are often topically - made , representing and supporting the biotic community , with purchase going towards artists and the ethnic initiation themselves . But if you ’re unfamiliar with the joys and versatility of the museum talent shop , there ’s some good tidings : On Sunday , December 1st , you ’ll have plenty of chance to purchase alone , mission - driven gifts for everyone on your list , when more than2,100 museum storesspanning all 50 states and in 25 countries will participate in the 8th annualMuseum Store Sunday .
Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
With the help of the organizing team , we ’ve put together a leaning of some of the more unique spaces participating in Museum Store Sunday to get you go . And even if it ’s not on December 1st , the next time you chew the fat a museum , do n’t forget to exit through the giving shop .
NYC’s New Holiday-Themed Subway Car Is Actually From the 1930s
Your December commutes just got a lot more interesting.
The Museum of Flight
Seattle , WashingtonFor any aviation enthusiast in your life , the Museum of Flight is a must - do , housing tens of thousands of artifacts include over 175 aircraft and spacecraft , including thefirst - ever Boeing 747 . But we have to be dependable : We covet everything in the natural endowment shop , from thepaper aeroplane earringsto thisastronaut vaseto amodel Concorde . And who would n’t wantfreeze - dried internal-combustion engine cream ? Just sound out , you ca n’t go wrong .
Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site
Philadelphia , PennsylvaniaWe’re big sports fan of the criminal justice deputation of Eastern State Penitentiary , one of the most expensive prison house build when it was completed in 1836 as a massive institution promoting the “ repentance model . ” Today it is a museum dedicated to education and prison house reform , with tours and one heck of aHalloween festival . endowment store items all fund its serious visual sense , but that does n’t mean they ca n’t have a little fun , with perhaps a atomic number 50 cupful orkey good luck charm bracelet , or ashot glasswith one of the prison house ’s most famous residents , Al Capone .
Musical Instrument Museum
Phoenix , ArizonaThe Musical Instrument Museum was found out of a desire to go beyond the documentation of Western instrument , and illustrate that medicine is indeed the general language . This treasure treasure trove is now the large museum of melodic instruments in the existence , housing over 7,500 instruments from 200 state . And of track you may purchase some playfulness and unique cat’s-paw of your own , likepainted wooden ball shakersmade by Indonesian artisans , Peruvianclay razzing water whistles , sing bowlsmade in Nepal , or aThai guiro shaped like a frog . When you black market the joystick along its back , it mimic a salientian sound .
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Cleveland , OhioOn Museum Store Sunday shoppers at the Rock Hall will receive twenty per centum off their purchase , with items include locally - made Cartesian product from Cleveland artisans . This is also a rock museum , so you’re able to get thing likebranded pedalsin collaboration with Ohio - base EarthQuaker Devices , musician Funko Pops , and sign guitars , including one for theDef Leppard sports fan in your life(20 percent off $ 10,000 is a steal , if you require us ) .
Tate Geological Museum at Casper College
Casper , WyomingWyoming has so many dinosaur bone that take the air into this free gem of a museum — attached to Casper ’s community college — and the first matter you ’ll notice is Dee the Mammoth , an 11,600 - class - old Columbian Mammoth who is not only the populace ’s big Mammoth specimen , but the most over . ( It ’s named after the backhoe hustler who found it while digging an crude oil well . ) He towers over a space that also houses over 6,000 fossils and mineral specimens . As you could envisage the talent shop is also a geologic and peleontological wonderland , with stone , puzzles , digging tools , and some pretty singular jewelry . There ’s no online store for this one , so you ’ll have to take a trip-up to the museum to see the offer . If you do , send our paying attention to Dee .
Golden Spike Tower
North Platte , NebraskaFrom the Golden Spike Tower , you ’re deal to an expansive aerial view of the world ’s largest classification railyard , as you could watch the crews of Union Pacific Railroad kind and unite over 10,000 rail cars a day from an open - air or enclosed platform . Then take a bit of the railway home with you , with gifts like aLocomotive Bank , aUPRR Denim Apron , or , to the point , a oarlock that says I <3 gear .
Fort Nisqually Living History Museum
Tacoma , WashingtonThis British outpost was the first European small town on Puget Sound . Today its history is fetch to life by volunteers and faculty in period clothing , and heritage activities from the mid-19th century . Giftshop item also speculate the clock time period , like ahand - forge courting cd bearer , made by volunteer blacksmiths , and traditionally used by young men when woo their ladies ( it ’s enjoin that when the young man come a - vocation , he would stay put until it burned to the first iron ring ) . In reality everyone can employ them : it ’s just a practical design for a candleholder .
American Jazz MuseumandNegro Leagues Baseball Museum
Kansas City , KansasJazz and blues culture were large in Kansas City in the 1920s , with dance halls , cabaret and speakeasy , but it did n’t quite explode until the 1930s thanks to political knob Tom Pendergast , who allowed alcohol to flow in Kansas City during prohibition , cementing it as an amusement center . One area it flourished was 18th and Vine , where the African American community resided and where you ’ll now find the American Jazz Museum , which shares a construction with the also excellent Negro Leagues Baseball Museum . The gift shops are both deserving a visit : In the wind museum ’s workshop you ’ll find plenty ofthings that look like other thing , like salad tongs shaped like guitars , or spoons shaped like drumsticks . In the Negro Leagues Museum go for throwback gear wheel , diachronic items , andbobbleheads of Buck O’Neil , Kansas City Monarch and the black-market coach-and-four in Major League Baseball .
Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library
Dee the Mammoth at the Tate Geological Museum.|Courtesy of the Tate Geological Museum
