Motor Muster (But I have to admit, I hardly even looked at the cars)

Car shows are awesome;  I really enjoy them.  And Greenfield Village puts on a car show like nowhere else!  But,  as the title of today's post states,  I hardly even looked at the cars - and there were hundreds  of  classic autos all lining the walks and open spaces throughout Greenfield Village.

The funny thing is,  I really am a car guy;  I absolutely love old historical vehicles.  Always have. 

But the Motor Muster at Greenfield Village has so much else going on in connection with the car show that I spent most of my picture-taking-time pointing the camera in other directions!

Part of the reason is they now include the vignettes and scenarios that simply cannot be done to any large extent at the typical car lot shows.  Since Motor Muster highlights autos from the 1930s through the 1970s,  each decade gets its own vignette;  a living illustration surrounding the automobiles to put them in their time.  

For instance,  the 1930s has a wonderful old acoustic blues singer sitting on the Mattox House porch,  allowing us to hear the past as he performs  "Blues from the Lowlands."  This year,  however,  I did not see him for I was not in the area during his performances.  

Unfortunately,  the blues performer was not there at the Mattox House when we walked by,  but,  instead,  they had a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation by the great actor/presenter,  Mr.  Anthony Lucas.
(Pic taken by Emily Marchetti)

The great Mr.  Lucas always gives an amazing performance - one that grabs you and commands you to listen and learn,  all the while in an entertaining manner!  I've enjoyed his variety of performances and presentations for years,  including one on slavery called  "How I Got Over,"  a Brer Rabbit story,  his reading of  "A Visit From St.  Nicholas"  at Christmastime,  and others he's done.

1930s Emancipation Day Celebration at the Mattox House
(Pic taken by Chris Robey)

And in the back yard of the Mattox House they had a summer picnic,
all the while listening to music coming from the radio.

The family had a backyard picnic with an old radio - a kind like I've not seen before. 

This is quite an unusual radio...and it looks like it is hooked up to a car battery!

Clean up time...

For the 1940s they concentrated on America's involvement in World War Two.

For this vignette,  they call it
Summer of 1943:  A Small-Town Wartime Homefront

Meg was there selling war bonds.

I think they did a bang-up job reproducing a 1940s living room.
Here we see Linda & Makenzie.
(Pic by Mike Nattrass)

Collected items to be shipped off to the fighting men overseas!

And Gigi was there,  reading to us about the importance of the
vegetables growing in her Victory Garden!
(My own mother used to tell me about her Victory Garden when she
was a youngster during the war)

I happen to know Peter's Great Grandfather,  who fought in the Civil War
(Peter is our Civil War unit's Military Commander)

I used my 1940s camera to take a snapshot of Makenzie,  Peter,  and Gigi.
(Actually I used my digital camera,  aging the photo with a little computer help)~

For the 1950s they showed America's obsession with lawn care and yard work.

With the rise of suburbia in post-WWII America,  the perfect lawn became an
 important symbol of the American dream. 
(Pic by Mike Nattrass)

Whether a sprawling sweep of green mowed in crisp diagonal bands or a more modest swatch of grass and clover,  a lawn expressed the national ideal that,  with hard work,  sacrifice,  and perhaps a little help from Uncle Sam,  home ownership and a patch of land could be within reach for every American.

For the 1960s there was a camping vignette,  along with a teen dance set in 1964!

"Stop!  In the name of love..."~

"You know you make me want to SHOUT!"~

What a blast - - so many of the fun songs of 1964 were played,  such as I Want To Hold Your Hand,  Twist and Shout,  The Nitty Gritty,  Glad All Over,  and a host of other hits,  even including a few  "oldies"  from before that iconic Beatle year such as Why Do Fools Fall In Love and In The Still Of the Night.

The 1970s had a Bicentennial  (1976)  barbecue picnic,  which I particularly liked for,  as you probably know,  that was one of my most favorite years of my lifetime...so filled with American History.  And,  as you also probably know,  I collect Bicentennial items and have amassed a fair collection,  the latest of which you will see in my next Passion for the Past posting on July 4  (2023):

Roy cooked up some dogs on the grill.
From what I understand,  the grill was a recent Greenfield Village acquisition - it was found tossed out as garbage in front of a house for trash pick up when an employee with a discerning eye could see it was exactly what they needed for their  '70's vignette and snatched it up.  
And what's in your garage?

Morgan checks out a magazine - not sure which one - from July 1976 while her  "parents"  prepare the food for the Bicentennial picnic.

Yep---she could have been one of my high school classmates,  if you go by 

how she is dressed!

I even got in on the Bicentennial fun!
I never had a Bicentennial t-shirt,  so I found one on Amazon and wore it this day---
and...
I never got to go to Greenfield Village during the actual Bicentennial. 
Well...here I am!
Now I'm here~!

The dance took place in the evening,  from 7 to 9,  and the Village closes right after.  But after the final song ended and people were herding toward the exit,  I turned in the opposite direction and took a quick trip to the far end because there was a certain picture I really wanted to snap.

I also snapped a few while huffing on down:

The Edison Office and the Edison Laboratory,  both exact reproductions of the originals as they once sat in Menlo Park,  New Jersey in the 1870s,  had an interesting feel as the sun set and the old-time street lights came on.

Worried that the wrought iron entry & exit gates would be shut and locked before I had a chance to leave,  I quickened my step to make it to the Cotswold Cottage,  originally built in England around 1620.

You see,  I've greatly enjoyed watching Tudor Farm and Vikings and the like on TV,  so this is as close to buildings from that period that I can actually physically be near,  and in my mind I have photographic ideas:

This was one such idea of the dovecote and the barn...

And then,  roughly from the same location,  as the sun set,  I took this.
I practically jogged all the way down for this shot  (and a few others like it)!

I would like to take another in this same location,  but hopefully under heavy,  thick,  gray skies...perhaps in the autumn time of the year when shadows come out to play.  I am just looking for those magical shots that I have pictured in my head.

The Motor Muster is quite an adventure through the mid-20th century,  as you can see.  And,  though it can make one feel old  (were the 1970s really 50 years ago??),  I must say I do enjoy seeing  "my time"  in time  (yeah,  the  '70s were my teen years).

And maybe next year I'll go to Motor Muster both days:  day one for the scenarios,  and day two for the cars!  There's just too much going on for only one day!

Until next time,  see you in time.

This post is more on car culture and cars.  American Graffiti comes to life!

~      ~      ~