If you'd like to have a cozy and pleasant afternoon, consider the New York Historical
After I got laid off in December, Terri texted me to check in, and then mentioned that if I needed some good cheer, I should visit the New York Historical. It was actually already on my radar thanks to the “Pets and the City” exhibit I’d been getting ads for, and Terri’s rec gave me a little extra motivation to check it out.
Honestly, I don’t know what took me so long—this museum feels made for me personally! I really like looking at history through the lens of “small” things—household objects, cookbooks, cards and stationery, Christmas decorations, beauty products, clothes, etc.—and I love learning about New York City, and NY Historical does both of those things very well.
While the “Pets and the City” exhibit was solid (I did not know that actual pigs used to roam the streets and serve as NYC’s sanitation department!), I thought the best part of our visit was the permanent collection of Tiffany lamps. Because inexpensive reproductions are readily available these days, I’d never given much thought to how we got here. But the originals are genuinely incredible. The lamps are largely the work of one woman—Clara Driscoll—and her team of “Tiffany girls.” (The women were employed both because Louis Comfort Tiffany believed their smaller hands were better for the delicate, nature-inspired patterns, and, essentially, to thwart a union strike. Oh and every single woman quit as a matter of course after she got married. Isn’t history fun?) The exhibit is just really well done—Terri was totally right that it makes for a cozy, cheery time—and I think it would be a huge hit with kids too.
The lamps alone make NY Historical worth the trip, but there were a lot of other highlights, including John James Audubon’s original watercolors (you know the ones!); real clothes from working women over the past 200 years; and “Pride and Protest,” which features the photography of Fred W. McDarrah of the Village Voice. And I feel like we barely scratched the surface on this visit; the museum is a lot bigger than we realized, so we ended up buying a membership so we can go back whenever the mood strikes! 🗽