5 of Texas's Incredible Museums

Texas is the second largest state in America. It boasts both natural and historical attractions, although other states can compete with it in this regard. But there are some “highlights” in Texas that you can be proud of. This is what they do here with success!

Washing Machine Museum

The Texas town of Mineral Wells is 50 miles (80 km) west of Fort Worth. It is named after the mineral springs that were very popular here in the early 1900s and attracted many visitors. Nowadays, the flow of vacationers on the waters has decreased significantly, but, nevertheless, Mineral Wells is a colorful town and there is something to see there. The Baker Hotel and Crazy Water Hotel, Mineral Wells State Park and the Vietnam War Museum are at the top of the list of attractions in Mineral Wells.

But the biggest surprise awaits you on West Highway 180. There is one of the strangest museums in America, dedicated to the purest page in the history of the scientific and technological revolution. The inscription on the doors reads: “Laumdronat. Museum of washing machines. Free admission". The deliberate incorrect spelling of Laumdronat (in giant letters), apparently, should cause righteous indignation among passers-by, that is, it should immediately attract their attention. Laumdronat is an extraordinary interactive museum where you can experience most of the exhibits in action. Feel free to bring your dirty laundry to the museum and put it in one of the operating modern machines. This entertainment will cost you $1,75 - $3,25 for one half-hour wash - depending on the volume - and 50 cents for a 15-minute drying (this, apparently, compensates for the freebie at the entrance).

While your clothes are being washed, you can explore the museum's extensive collection - from a huge Speed ​​Queen to an antique Horton, Thor, Beatty and even such a rarity as a Big 3, as well as old troughs, gangs, wooden vats with drums and wringer rollers, washing and ironing boards suspended from the ceiling and walls. On the walls of the laundry museum there are signs with inscriptions related to laundry, and in the back there is a display case with all sorts of small exhibits, without which it would be impossible to imagine the laundry of the past. This whole crazy collection, as well as the idea, belongs to city dweller Fred Nelson, who, as usual, once bought an old washing machine quite by accident, and realized how great it was - that’s where it all started!

Be sure to visit Laumdronat, whether you need to wash things or not. I assure you you will not be bored. And do not forget to take a camera with you. It is highly recommended to come with children. They will get real pleasure from this place, since in addition to washing machines, Laumdronat is also equipped with many old gaming machines.

Address: W Hubbard St, Mineral Wells, TX

Magic lampSan Antonio exists Magic lantern castle museum — a museum dedicated to the history of the Magic Lantern projection apparatus is the only one in the world, as its creator Jack Judson likes to emphasize. Judson's passion for collecting and repairing magic lanterns began in 1986, following his retirement.

The so-called “magic lantern” (Laterna magica) is a slide projector. The earliest known overhead projector, dating back to the late 1600s, was invented by Athanasius Kircher, a German scientist and inventor considered by his contemporaries to be almost a magician.

As strange as it sounds for the 17th century, Kircher was obsessed with the idea of ​​creating cinema. Kircher first published his teaching on image projection in his treatise, The Great Art of Light and Shadow (Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae). His “magic lantern” served to project an image through a system of lenses onto a white surface (screen or curtains). It consisted of a wooden or metal body with an opening and a lens. The body contained a light source - a candle or lamp.

Before the invention of cinema (moving pictures) at the end of 1890's, the “magic lantern” was considered the only available projection technology. Artists with a barrel organ and a “magic lantern”, in which whole paper ribbons with different landscapes and everyday sketches rotated, roamed throughout Europe. The change of images in the “magic lantern” already resembled modern cinema, or rather, children's filmstrips. Thus, the magic lantern was "the father of the cinema and the grandfather of television."

The private museum, created by Jack Judson, presents several models of "magic lanterns". Visiting this rare museum is possible only by appointment.

Museum address: 1419 Austin Highway in San Antonio.

A galloping horse saddles

В Cowgirl Hall of Fame worth a look to those who believe that cowboy is a symbol of America. A stern, taciturn man in a saddle, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and with a cigarette in his mouth - this image is firmly entrenched in our minds. But there is another side to cowboy life - the female side. The first female cowboys appeared in Texas at the end of the 19th century. Women in the West worked equally with men; they were quite able to independently manage the ranch in the absence or after the death of their husbands. Some of them even put on men's clothing and became cattle drivers. In the end, the Texas ladies decided to compete with the men in the art of horsemanship at the rodeo, and got so carried away that they began to beat the men. And they soon realized that they were no worse than a full-fledged cowboy. But who would appreciate it?

In 1975, in the town of Hereford, near Amarillo, a group of enthusiasts, convinced that the best Texas cowboy was a woman, founded the Gallery of Fame dedicated to female cowboys. The museum was originally located in the basement of the Deaf Smith County Library, but in 1982 it moved to a private home. In 1993, the museum's management realized that the popularity of the Gallery of Fame went far beyond the small town, and began looking for a new building in a big city. Thirty-five cities in 6 states competed for the right to host a women's cowboy museum. Fort Worth, Texas, was lucky, where the museum moved and where it exists to this day. The grand opening of the museum took place on June 9, 2002, accompanied by a parade in which living legends of the women's cowboy movement took part.

The museum celebrates women who showed courage, courage, independence and a pioneering spirit in trying to forge their own paths, from the 1800s to the present day. The Hall of Fame honors more than 200 women in a variety of professions, from Kay Whittaker, who competed in rodeos from the age of 12, to Mary Jane Coulter, the late 1800s architect who designed many National Historic Landmark buildings, to Sharpshooter Annie Oakley, writer Laura Ingalls Wilder, singer Patsy Cline and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to former First Lady Laura Bush.

The permanent collection of the museum includes costumes, documents, books, saddles, spurs, small household items and photographs of beautiful cowgirls in full gear - a total of 5 thousand exhibits and photographs. Most of the collection's artifacts were donated by private individuals. For those who believe that cinema is the main art, a short documentary film “Real Cowgirls” is shown, telling about the life of the fair sex in the saddle - about competitions, exploits, stunt tricks and gun ownership.

In addition to the Gallery of Fame, the museum hosts exhibitions of women artists or exhibitions dedicated to certain heroines. For example, in 2010, an exhibition of works by Georgia O'Keefe took place.

The Cowboy Museum of Fame is located in Fort Worth at 1720 Gendy St.

Automotive art is not only the ability to drive

В Art car museum You will immediately understand that not all people wash and polish their cars with a special product so that they shine clean and delight the owner’s eye, as on the day of purchase. The Art Cars movement, or the car as a work of art, is taking a completely different path.

For those who create their own art cars, how their car looks is also very important. For them, it is like a blank canvas, where they work not only with paints, but also with glue and other items that are glued to the car. But we must not forget that a car, among other things, must perform its main function - to drive, because the creators of their masterpieces drive them to work.

Often the creators of such artifacts do not have special artistic training; they are not artists, but ordinary people who go to work every day. They usually choose old, used cars, but not always. A favorite style of such artistic works is the use of some objects that are glued to the outside of the car body: cameras, bottle caps, disks, prizes, etc.

In Houston, this kind of art is part of urban culture. The tradition originated in 1986, when the The Orange Show Museum (our newspaper wrote about it earlier) exhibited 11 art cars. They were successfully sold at an art auction. In April, 1988, the city hosted the first parade of art cars, which became the first official parade in the United States. Over 2 thousands of residents came to see the 40 parade of painted cars. The Houston art car parade remains to this day the largest in the world.

And in 1998, a museum of art cars called Garage Mahal opened in the city. It was founded by his wife James and Anna Haritas (James and Ann Harithas). James, former director of the Corcoran Museum in the city of Washington and the Museum of Modern Art in Houston. The project of exterior decoration of the museum building belongs to David Best, he used chrome-plated parts and metal collected in a landfill.

Their collection includes cars, motorcycles, bicycles, scooters and many other motorized and human-powered equipment - all exhibits are decorated in different styles. Among the most interesting exhibits: Rex Rabbit - a car in the shape of a giant rabbit with a basket of eggs, a car based on the fantasy of the famous American sculptor David Best, decorated with the head of a water buffalo with huge horns, and a car in the shape of a giant cockroach.

Fans of exotic cars, artists, fans of popculture, traveling in Texas, should certainly include in their program a visit to the Museum of art cars. When planning visits, be careful, as the museum is only open from Wednesday to Sunday from 11 in the morning to 6 in the evening.

The museum address is 140 Heights Blvd.

Flower house

Who does not know Eclectic Museum of Flower Man and Cleveland Turner? Cleveland Turner nicknamed Tsvetochnik everyone knows. Anyone who lives in the Houston area of ​​Third Ward (or Tröschka, as the rappers call him) that near the University of Houston, can tell you his house. The Turner House, or rather the house-museum, is strikingly different from all the buildings in the area. Merry bright yellow house, looking out of lush vegetation and decorative designs, looks like a hut in the fabulous jungle. A sign on the fence says that “the legendary artist from the people, nicknamed Flower Man” lives here. The owner can be found at home, swarming in the garden, or seen riding around on a bicycle decorated with flowers (because of him the nickname appeared).

Cleveland Turner believes that there is beauty in everything. He decorates the front of the house and the garden with colorful designs, mirrors, Christmas lights, tinsel, toys, and ties ribbons around the trees in the garden. Half a dozen toy horses jump over the fence of his house. And in the house there is a whole room filled with a bunch of weird things. All this was found by Turner on the street and decorated the space of his house in accordance with amazing, crazy harmony. Every day he goes out on his bike to hunt for another piece of junk. “What is junk for one person is a godsend for another,” the Flower Man likes to repeat. In his garden, zinnias, lilies, roses, periwinkles are fragrant, cotton, corn, pumpkins and zucchini, peas, sugar cane and even watermelons grow. The flower bed from the garden spills right onto the street.

Cleveland Turner has always had a passion for beauty and a love of flowers. “As a child, looking at the flower garden in my mother’s garden, I dreamed: when I grow up, I will have my own house and a garden with flowers. They tell me: you’re a man, but you smell all the flowers. Well, that’s the kind of person I am.” Cleveland was born in 1935. In 62, fate brought him from Mississippi to Houston, where he remained forever. Actually, he was going to California to try his luck, but he stopped to visit a friend, had a drink, then another and another, and as a result he never made it to California. Then there were years of ordeal and severe drunkenness. “I slept in vacant lots and abandoned houses. But even then, at the sight of a wild flower, my heart fluttered, and I began to take care of the flower.” The “dive to the bottom” lasted 17 years. In 1983, Tetner almost died from drinking and was hospitalized for 5 weeks. There he seriously thought about how he lived. A few days before he was discharged, he had a vision. “I see some multi-colored trash swirling around, and it’s getting bigger and bigger. And the more I watch, the more I like it. Then I began to pray: Lord, turn me away from alcohol, make sure that I don’t drink another drop of wine. I will improve, I will make my life beautiful, and please give me a house - a small, old one, so that I have a place to live.” And so it happened. Turner rose to his feet and became an artist and collector. Now he proudly shows visitors a certificate stating that he has not drunk for 30 years.

He rented his first house and zealously began decorating it with trash he found on the street. But several years ago the building was declared unfit for habitation. Turner would have ended up on the street if not for the Orange Show organization, which recognized the Flower Man as an original folk art artist and cultural treasure of Houston, took him under its protection and quickly moved him into another house on the same street. Cleveland Turner became a full-fledged homeowner and could now transform his new home on a grand scale. First of all, I laid out a flower garden, then dragged all the exhibits and decorations from the old house. Added to the scenery was a car covered with figurines of animals and birds (“I would like to take part in the Art Car Parade,” says Turner, “yes, it’s a pest, it won’t start at all”). During Hurricane Ike, a gorgeous red cow flew off the roof. Now she stands bashfully in the flower thickets, as if she has done something wrong. During the move, Turner found assistants: “29 people helped me,” he boasted.

Tsvetochnik said that someone was trying to rob his museum. Instead of having a dog, he started a pet and a rabbit, until recently unnamed, but through the efforts of my son, now called Funny-Bunny.

Neighbors who maintain the warmest relations with the Flowerman and visitors to the house-museum occasionally throw up their unnecessary things to him, but Turner admits that what he finds himself pleases him much more. Cleveland maintains feedback from visitors. He distributes cards to his return address and asks that people send him letters and photographs. Photos carefully adapt to the walls and replenish the museum collection.

The florist is famous not only in Houston, but throughout the country. Director Jeff Springer made a short film about him as part of the American Dreamers series.

Florist Address: 2305 Francis St., Houston, TX

The material was first published in the newspaper. "Our Texas".

See also:

Where to relax with children in Texas

Los Angeles museums: what and when you can visit for free

How to get to the museums of New York for free

How to get to all the museums of Chicago for free

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.