I made it to the Henry Ford this past weekend to view the new Driving America exhibit. This exhibit is long overdue as it has been decades since the Museum made any significant updates to its automotive vehicle displays. I was pleased to see that the exhibit now represents more recent history with an eye towards the future. The timeline display of vehicles is much more complete and, finally, up to date.
Racing and trucking are still categorically represented but in a less cluttered fashion. Related artifacts are now nicely incorporated into slick exhibit cases that help tell the story of transportation and the automobile's evolution.
I understand that one reason the former display had become stagnant was due to the difficulty in exchanging vehicles in and out. The Henry Ford appears to have solved that issue as it plans to further enhance Driving America with other cars that are normally stored off-site. Movement and storage of these treasures is certainly a tricky proposition at best.
I did notice for the first time that some, if not all of these vehicles were on axle stands. Tires are hovering a millimeter or so off the ground. This makes sense as it is probably pretty hard to find a set of tires for a 1931 Bugatti or 1896 Duryea !
It's nice to see some of the old favorites as well as some seldom seen cars from the collection.
Click on photos for more details.
Texaco Service Station
I also stopped by the Texaco Service station c.1946. The station has a service bay with a plastic mock up car that kids can "service". I watched two ten year olds change a tire, unsupervised! They were having a blast and looking for the oil ...
Lamy's Diner
It's great that the museum has made Lamy's diner functional. Originally a veteran's post-war start-up, it sat at various locations in Massachusetts until it was acquired by the museum in the '80s. Visitors can now stop in for refreshments and soak up some of the vibe from the mid-century road food era.
Interactive Displays
Being a techno-geek as well as a gear head I spent as much time with the interactive elements of the exhibit as with anything else. Here is that experience (in great detail) that I recommend you try for yourself.
Have you ever wanted to see, up close, the coils on Henry Ford's 999 or closely inspect the speedometer on the 1931 Bugatti Type A Royale? Well, now you can!
The Henry Ford has made a significant investment in technology for this exhibit with eighteen 42 inch interactive touch screen kiosks sprinkled amongst the displays. The museum has organized hundreds of high-resolution vehicle photographs and digitized many related artifacts all available to each kiosk visitor. Navigation is a breeze now that iPhones and iPads have made touch sensitive gestures familiar to millions. Driving America's kiosks are like using a 42 inch iPad; they serve as windows into the collections treasures. It's fun to free associate, zooming in and out of Hi-resolution images and playing back videos by personalities such as Bill Gates and Bill Ford.
So, if you would like to read that part number off the carburetor on the 1949 Volkswagen, now you can!
This digital collection content is never limited to the vehicle stationed behind each kiosk. The entire digital collection is accessible at every kiosk as well as on the Henry Ford Collections website.
My Collections Card
Perhaps the coolest feature of the interactive kiosks is their ability to read your "My Collections Card".
The My Collections Card or "MCC", as we will call it, is your passport to taking some of the digital collection home with you for further perusal. The credit card sized MCC uses the latest RFID technology to great effect.
Creating a "collection set" from your visit.
This process requires two things; 1) a Henry Ford Collections Website account and 2) a MCC card.
1) If you have been to the Henry Ford digital collections website and have already created an account, you are halfway there. In fact, I would recommend this prior to physically visiting unless you are comfortable enrolling in front of others touring the exhibit.
2) MCCs are available from any Driving America docent and are good for one day only.
When you visit your first kiosk, place the card on the black rectangle in the lower right hand corner.
The initial presence of your card begins the login process.
If you already have a Henry Ford collections website account, just enter your account (e-mail address) and password. Otherwise, you must create an account in order to proceed.
Once a valid account and password has been submitted, the account is "linked" to your MCC.
- No personal information is stored on this card.
- No collection information is stored on this card.
The MCC merely identifies you at each kiosk when you lay the card on the little black rectangle.
These cards have zero intrinsic or functional value outside of the museum.
Now you may browse through the collection archive at each kiosk. Selecting "add to my collection" adds any photo, video, or other digital artifact to your very own "collection". Take the card with you to the next kiosk.
I saved a bunch of my favorite artifact images to my MCC and dropped the card off at the desk upon exiting the museum. The Henry Ford purges these cards daily thus breaking the connection between the user and the card.
At home I received an e-mail containing a web link to my new "collection set" labeled with the date of my visit. Upon opening the set I found all the items that I had added to My Collections Card ! Nice ...
On the Henry Ford collections website you can create additional collections and even build a "virtual exhibit" ... lots of fun! Here's my Virtual Exhibit created from items I encountered that day.
Next Time
These interactive components are great and a wonderful way to engage younger visitors. There are no fewer than 12 additional interactive games and experiences at these kiosks that I did not have time to check out.
I'll be going back to do just that and to inspect the physical artifact cases at length. Also I'll be sure to to have a seat at the diner for a beverage. I wonder if I can get a Yoo-Hoo? - Leo Early
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