Waseca started the summer off with Happy Days, a celebration bringing the community together with food vendors and vintage cars and bikes. The Waseca Historical Society will continue that theme by showcasing the history of the 1950s and 1960s.
“Bringing it Back,” an exhibit at the Waseca County History Center, opened on June 18 and will run till Aug. 30. It features many items from the 1950s and 1960s, considered the beginning of teen culture.
The exhibit is littered with pop culture memorabilia from the time period, including records, board games, and swimming suits. The history center will play music from the era during exhibit hours as well.
Throughout is a description of the items and explaining the historical impact of them and the historical background of the era.
“It was such a cute time period, but there were such big changes happening,” said Amy Danielson, who is the programs, exhibits and marketing director of the historical society.
The main draw to the exhibit is the local history, as many of the items are from Waseca County and the time period. Almost all of the arrangements for the exhibits were done by Justine Meyer from Pearl Button Primitives.
One stand has 4-H projects by Lori Pommerenke, who collected and kept the projects from her childhood. Items from Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are also on display at the exhibit, along with sports uniforms, sports equipment, and prom outfits from the era.
One of the things Danielson is looking forward to having the public see is the lovers’ lane map they have set up in the exhibit. Virginia McCarthy, the research director for the historical society, looked up where lovers’ lanes were in the county. She made a map and pointed out where all the locations were, but she had some difficulty.
“Nobody would tell her where they were,” Danielson said about McCarthy’s mission. “She had a very hard time coming up with this many, because during that time period, it was more taboo.”
The map is turned away from the rest of the displays in the exhibit, so people can add lovers’ lanes locations secretly. Danielson and McCarthy plan to take a photo of the map with all the added locations, so they can keep it in the historical society’s files.
The exhibit coincided with Happy Days, which was a yearly celebration that took place in Waseca and was brought back this year by Peggy Zinniel. The idea to bring back Happy Days started with a conversation by Zinniel with her husband.
“We really wanted something to do for Waseca to support businesses,” Zinniel said about Happy Days. “It gives something for people to do.”
The first Happy Days event took place on June 6 in downtown Waseca and the second event is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will include food vendors, live music, and a car roll-in.
Danielson loved the idea to bring Happy Days back to Waseca and commended Zinniel’s idea to bring together the community.
“I wanted to support that because what a cool idea to set up more community events and things that are meant to be a celebration,” said Danielson.
The exhibit also has a station where people can write down their teenage memories and stories of the time period so the historical society can add them to their collection. Admission for the exhibit is free and will run through the end of August.
“I think people will be transported, especially if they came from that era,” Danielson said of the exhibit.
Most Popular
Comments / 0