Originally published in The Blade on Thursday, February 28, 2008
BY RYAN E. SMITH
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Want to know what to do on a date?
Worry no more, young people. The Wood County Historical Center and Museum in Bowling Green can help: Just ask your crush to go help set up for the local community scavenger sale. Or take her to a weenie roast. Or a swim meet. It could work, right?
Maybe in the 1950s.
Some of the advice in the museum's new exhibit, "Dating through the Decades" may be a bit, well, dated, including this attempt at guidance by a 1951 film called What to do on a Date that the museum shows. But that's kind of the point.
"The whole idea behind this whole exhibit was to show how things have changed," says spokesman Kelli Kling.
The museum doesn't open for the season until April 5, but a guided tour of the exhibit, which traces courtship and wedding traditions from the Victorian Era to the present, will be offered at 7 p.m. tomorrow. "Dating through the Decades" will remain on display at least through the end of the year, officials said.
"My favorite part would just be to see the progression," Kling says. "How the trends change, how the styles really do speak a lot about the time period, and they really do tell a story."
Wedding gowns from various time periods are scattered throughout the museum, including some from Victorian times, which ended around 1900. One dress that is blue - a color that once symbolized purity, according to Kling - has a 24-inch waist.
Which brings up the subject of corsets and naturally leads visitors to the next room, "Victorian's Secret." Here a number of uncomfortable-looking women's underwear are displayed. Some seem closer to torture devices than articles of clothing.
"They say everything comes back," Kling says, though she sounds unconvinced.
The rest of the exhibit includes displays on valentines, wedding photos, and more. One room is decorated as a sock hop and soda fountain from the '50s, complete with letter jackets and milk shakes, and another is set up for speed dating.
There are interactive elements to the exhibit as well, namely a room set up as a recording studio where visitors can tape their own courtship memories. The intent is to transcribe them and include them in the permanent exhibit, Kling says.
The Wood County Historical Center and Museum, 13660 County Home Rd., Bowling Green, offers a guided tour of its exhibit, "Dating Through the Decades," at 7 p.m. tomorrow. Tickets are $5 and reservations are suggested. The exhibit will be open at least through the end of the year once the museum opens April 5. Information: 419-352-0967 or www.woodcountyhistory.org.
