Geppi's Entertainment Museum: Lost and Found

After getting lost for twenty extra minutes because of the construction, parking far away from the entrance door, and walking around the sports museum that hides Geppi's museum, I stepped into the control-panel-wall-papered elevator of Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, I automatically knew that I was in for a good time. I stepped into the beautiful museum to find that no one else was there; although, not being able to find the door to the museum may be the answer. After paying the worker gave me and my friend a bundle of different things. First, we got a pin as a sort of entrance ticket. Then, we got a card in which we could play trivia games on and get a prize (my museum name was bean); did you know that on one of the covers of a Batman comic book, Superman was there, cause I didn't. We got a map as well that informed us about each room. The halls reminded me of a sort of "Alice in Wonderland" type of feel. The tall walls had extra big famed movie posters hanging all over the place. As I strolled from room to room, I felt as though I were entering different time zones. It was a flash back from generation to generation.

The first room I entered was covered from top to bottom with colorful vintage comic books. After I read a ten-cent copy of “The Fantastic Four,” I moved on to one of my favorite rooms. The Star Wars room was something that I could truly connect with. Because I have been a Star Wars fan for as long as I can remember, a lot of the items that were present in the museum looked very familiar to me. Along the same lines, upon entering the toy room, I stumbled across the “California Raisins.” These items had a very sentimental meaning to me, being as how when I was a young girl, I was given a “California Raisins” shirt by my great grandfather who passed away. A lot of the items in this museum engendered an exceedingly happy emotion within me due to the mere fact that they reminded me of my childhood. However, the fact that my childhood toys were in this museum implied that the generation to which I belong is now being considered vintage as well.

This creative museum is exceptionally unique in the way that it goes about educating its visitors. Although at first thought one may think that each room was simply full of innumerable out-dated toys, there are many fascinating historical facts that define this museum as an article of history in itself. As I walked into each room, an automated recording explaining the importance of the items present in the room was played. There is a lot of meaning behind many of the objects that existed in Geppi’s Museum. For example, “I Love Lucy” played in the television room. Although sleeping in the same bed was a little to risky, this show was the first of its kind, in that it was the first publicized display of an interracial relationship. These objects are not only significant because of the emotional effect it has on people, but more importantly because each room shows a timeline of impactful events that span several generations.

One thing I did think was a bit controversial was the house wife magazines. Whenever we see an old advertisement for a dinner or cleaning product, we see that same cartoon woman, wearing that same apron, and smiling. At one point women's rights were strictly related to the family. They had the right to cook, clean, and love her husband and children. It is a good thing that we have come as far as to not have that same woman on the products any longer, but it is controversial in the sense that at one point women did not have the rights that were so generously given to us (I hope you catch my sarcasm) in later centuries. Women's rights, at one point, was an extremely controversial topic. It is a good feeling to know that those magazines are now in a vintage culture museum... where they should be.

Throughout the entire museum there were signs of strict gender roles. In rooms that there were occupied by action toys were marketed towards boys,whereas rooms that were meant for girls were engendered with dolls. The amazing comic book filled room was lacking in comics that were made for girls. Barbie may have been one of the only books that was made for the female demographic. Across the hall from the comic books was the doll room. After being in all of the rooms, I could tell that the rooms had a greater meaning in the way that they were set up. The fact that there was a girl's and boy's room showed that marketers did not allow for confusion as to what was "for boys" and "for girls". This reminded me of a reading that I read that talked about the makers of toy trains, and how they were scared to put a little girl on the box of the train because of the fear of losing the consumption from the male audiance.

Geppi’s Entertainment Museum is a hidden treasure in the city of Baltimore. The historical content that exists in the rooms of this museum is very powerful. From the beginning of the journey, consisting of simple toys and dolls, to the more recent time, including the Star Wars phenomena, the outside appearance of the museum is fun and entertaining, while the more obscure and underlying meaning behind the pieces are to evoke powerful emotional responses from the people that experience this special museum.