Sunday, May 14, 2023 (continued)
Whew! Thanks to Kent's driving and gaining an hour in New Mexico, we made it to the
Tinkertown Museum (1983) in Sandia Park, NM before it closed. The folk museum started as a four-room summer cabin and grew into a 22-room legacy of Ross Ward, a tinker and carver. Ward's miniature wood-carved figures were first part of a traveling exhibit that was shown at county fairs and carnivals in the 1960s and 1970s.
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The walls of the museum incorporate over
50,000 glass bottles and other available
recycled materials; the bottoms of
the bottles are seen here ... |
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... and the tops of the bottles can
be seen on the other side of the wall |
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| Samples of carved wooden figures by Ross Ward (KSS) |
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| Rusty Wyre and the Turquoise Trail Riders Band (KSS) |
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| Jason P Ward's General Merchandise Store (KSS) |
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| Monarch Hotel |
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| Mechanics at work |
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Indian Trading Post, with the animated silversmith
hammering at his worktable |
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| Jason's Old London Toys, Ltd (KSS) |
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| One of the varied "collection" displays |
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| Collection of wedding cake toppers |
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| Concession stand at the circus |
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| Sideshow tent at the circus (KSS) |
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The Fat Lady fans herself while the
Living Art Gallery shows her tattoos |
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| The Circus Band wagon |
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| Inside the circus Big Top |
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On display is a 35'/10.5 m wooden cutter
the Theodora R (1936) that survived a 10-year
voyage (1981-1991) around the world
by Fritz Damler, Ross Ward's borther-in-law |
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| One of the very unusual items in the museum |
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| Kids were encouraged to write a message and place it in a bottle |
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| Buddha in a mystical cave |
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| Church windows and a saint's shrine |
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| Part of the doll collection |
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| Peddler Doll (1988, by Ross Ward) (KSS) |
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Otto's Automatic One-man Band
required a quarter to play, and that is how I
used the quarter I was given upon admission
(thank goodness, because I forgot to bring
in our little wallet of quarters) |
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Old auto license plates were everywhere,
including on the walkways to smooth
out bumps and cover crevasses |
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Grandmother Esmeralda will tell
your fate for a quarter |
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| Outside were Wild West storefronts with larger "found items" |
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1925 medicine show wagon advertises
Dr Rattlesnake Dave's "World Famous Cure-All" |
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| New Mexico Historic Route 66 sign |
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| The rear of a chuck wagon ... |
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| ... and the front of the chuck wagon |
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For dinner we tried a couple New Mexico specialties:
Frito Pie ... |
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| ... and Green Chile Stew (anything with green chiles!) |
Next: Petrogylph National Monument:
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