A Mesmerizing Arrival
Shunning the crowded escalators, Kathy and I slowly ascended the two stories’ worth of steps that arose from the subterranean entry. Approximately halfway up, a gold, multi-pointed star began to rise above the floor as if levitating. With each successive step, it became clear that the green hand that held aloft the gilded stellar body was an enormous Christmas tree. As we finally clambered onto the rotunda’s floor, the feigned Christmas Fir rose four stories above our heads.
Clothed in its elaborate finery and bejeweled in tens of thousands of twinkly lights, the tree could not be ignored. Nor did we want to. It was mesmerizing. Standing around the perimeter walls were its diminutive retinue. Dressed in their own finery, these smaller trees graced the rotunda like so many ladies-in-waiting. Their collective illuminations shone on the polished marble floor as if it were a reflecting pool. It was truly captivating.
A Historical Exhibit
Located in Chicago, The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry’s “Christmas Around the World” and “Holidays of Light” exhibits will enliven anyone waning from the Christmas spirit. The annual exhibit started in 1942 with a single tree that was newly decorated for 12 days to represent the nations fighting alongside the U.S. during World War II.
Since then, it has grown to over 50 trees representing a multitude of nations and cultures and the different nuances in which they celebrate the yuletide. We learned that the children of Puerto Rico place boxes of straw beneath their beds for the camels of the Magi. Or that Native American nativity scenes can depict bison and wolves, and that the Czech tree, one of the original 12, is decorated with fruits, nuts, and gingerbread hearts.
If you’re looking to layer in some holiday magic beyond the museum, these three Chicago tours are perfect for an unforgettable Christmas‑time experience: take the Christmas Tree Crawl Experience, a guided “treasure hunt” through iconic and under-the-radar Christmas trees around downtown, take a Holiday Stroll & Food Walking Tour with festive treats, or opt for the Private Magical Christmas Journey for an intimate, personalized experience.
Ever since a grade-school field trip introduced me to its fascinating worlds of science, technology, and engineering, I’ve been enamored by its world of knowledge presented in a way that both the inquisitive and the indifferent can easily be entertained and maybe even learn something along the way.
Opened in 1933, Griffin MSI is located within the only remaining building from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. This structure, built in a Beaux-Arts style popular at the time, was originally the fair’s Palace of Fine Arts. Today, the Museum—one of the largest science museums in the world—houses more than 400,000 square feet of exhibits.
For travelers hoping to make a full day of Chicago’s museums, the Griffin Museum is part of the Chicago CityPASS, which covers admission to several of the city’s most iconic attractions. It’s an easy way to save a chunk of money while skipping long ticket lines — especially helpful on those packed holiday weekends when everyone else has the same idea.
The Transportation Gallery and Beyond
Of our many forays into its cavernous halls, we had never experienced its ode to the world’s celebration of Noel. An unusually warm day had us walking through its doors with thousands of other families who were taking advantage of the Holiday break to explore the world within.
Besides the seasonal display of festive Douglas Firs, the museum is all about its permanent galleries, and they still inspire. The Transportation Gallery is just beyond the rotunda, where it creates that unique phenomenon of “craning necktitus.”
Throughout the gallery, visitors of all ages crane their necks ceiling-ward in an effort to view a bevy of full-sized aircraft effortlessly suspended from the ceiling. A Stuka dive bomber diving towards us as a Spitfire fighter pursues it. A Curtiss JN “Jenny” biplane floating upside down as an intrepid “barnstormer” walks its wings and, inexplicably, a full-sized silver-clad Boeing 727, its cabin open for “passengers” to explore the fascination of commercial jet travel. Youngsters seemed entranced by the plexiglass-covered hole in its fuselage that allowed them to view the gallery below.
And below is a display that could bring joy to children of all ages on a Christmas morning. The Great Train Story is a 3,500-square-foot model train display that recreates a trip from Seattle to Chicago in miniature on 1,400 feet of winding track with a multitude of running trains past soaring mountain peaks, through vast cityscapes, and across massive bridges, with more than 30 trains running simultaneously on 17 tracks. We found ourselves seeking out the little surprise vignettes, such as lumbermen felling a tree or engineers blasting a tunnel through a mountain.
Read More: Illinois Railway Museum: Classic Steam Over Illinois
Discovering the World of Weather, Humans and Coal
Elsewhere, the immense, two-story Science of Storms exhibit beckoned us to discover the mysteries of nature’s most powerful phenomena: tornadoes, lightning, fire, tsunamis, sunlight, avalanches, and atoms. We watched as young adults manipulated the vapor of a 40-foot tornado as it whirled above our heads. We stood in a tube and experienced 80 mph winds and had electrical bolts crackle from our fingertips.
Nearby displays of real human specimens preserved through plastination allowed us to gain a deeper understanding of the human body, such as the fact that there are nearly 60,000 miles of blood vessels in our bodies!
In one of the museum’s oldest exhibits, you can descend into a mine shaft, take a ride on the rails, and learn all about the technology of coal mining. A replica of a downstate Illinois mine, Old Ben No. 17, it’s a quaint experience that still teaches about a dangerous and fast-disappearing industry.
Mold-A-Rama
Memories of my father digging deep into his pockets for hard-won quarters brought on by my begging, dare I say histrionics, as we stood before a boxy, jukebox-size contraption still resonate with me. A trip to a museum or zoo was never complete without, at the very least, watching the creation of one of the colorful plastic toys from the small factories known as Mold-A-Ramas. And if we were lucky, and enough quarters were found, the actual ownership of one of those molded plastic figurines was a treat.
At the MSI, I could not ignore the exhibit on the history of Mold-A-Rama. For over 60 years, Mold-A-Rama™ machines have pumped out hundreds of varieties of collectible plastic novelties while providing a peek into mass production. It tells of its original creator, J.H. “Tike” Miller, who was looking for a way to replace the figures in his Nativity scene. He ended up crafting new statues with injection molding, and the rest is history.
Most intriguing, the exhibit features a collection of popular, rare, and experimental designs through the years in a variety of colors and designs. I overheard an older gentleman exclaim that he had once owned the bust of Lincoln as he placed his nose against the glass display case.
If you wish to expand your collection, a $5 bill or the swipe of a credit card has replaced a handful of quarters. Once fed, the glass bubble-topped machine springs to life, rumblings emanating from below as an array of black rubber tubes, gauges, and assorted mechanical devices push two lead-grey blocks together while faces watch keenly in anticipation. Moments later, the blocks separate, revealing that magically created souvenir as a metal spatula slides beneath the keepsake, tumbling it into the receptacle below.
Maybe the best part is the sweet, petroleum-based smell that emanates as you lift the small metal door to extract your prized train, or lion, or any of the many creations available through the years.
U-505
In the very bowels of the Museum, appropriately 42’ below the surface, lies a remarkable piece of World War II history: the World War II era German submarine, U-505. No trip to the Museum would be complete without visiting this amazing example of maritime technology. With my wife in hand, we descended the stairs into the depths, my anticipation growing with each step.
The 75 x 300-foot underground concrete gallery barely contains the 2 ½ football field-long submersible. It is immense! Here we discovered the extraordinary story of the capture of U-505. World War II ended for the 58 sailors of U-505 on June 4, 1944, off the coast of Africa, marking the first enemy vessel seized at sea by the United States Navy since the War of 1812.
Captured by an Anti-submarine task force commanded by Captain Daniel V. Gallery, the subsequent efforts to prevent the U-boat from sinking, the secrets discovered within that helped to change the course of the war, and its eventual preservation in a Midwest City are fascinating and engaging reading.
But experiencing the boat itself (all submarines are called boats) is the thrill. Children immerse themselves in interactive displays that allow them to command their own sub. Fathers admire the torpedoes and guns that bristle from the steel-gray hull. Mothers comment on the claustrophobic confines of the interior.
A tour of U-505 confirms the fact that this was an instrument of war. Little in the way of comfort was provided. The narrow, low passageways are intertwined with tubes, cables, gauges, and an interminable amount of machinery. For 59 members of the crew, a mere 35 bunks were provided, making bunk-rotating a necessity.
In the tiny, efficient little kitchen just big enough for one, a myriad of canned and preserved provisions would be prepared, including tinned meats, desiccated vegetables, and even canned bread. Because every space in the sub was used for storage, including the engine room, everything tended to taste like diesel fuel by the end of the voyage. And let’s not talk about hygiene; it didn’t exist.
Standing below the vast, steely tube designed to sink on command, I couldn’t help but wonder at the resolve of men who willingly went with it. Soon, Kathy reminded me of the time. Just before we exited the gallery, I had to stop and slip my $5 into the solitary Mold-A-Rama standing at the doorway. I left with my tiny, grey version of U-505.
Read More: The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum: Honoring the Legend of the Edmund Fitzgerald
The Great Departure
Walking towards the parking garage, we passed the first streamlined diesel-powered passenger train in the US, the Pioneer Zephyr. Its stainless-steel nose adorned with a red wreath as if it was a diesel-powered Rudolph ready to escort Santa with a little more power.
As we drove away from the huge limestone building with its Ionic columns flanking the main entrance beneath the green-hued copper-clad dome that covers nearly 10 acres of entertaining knowledge, I thought to myself of the irony that a building that was built a decade prior to Henry Ford’s Model T and the Wright Brothers flimsy Wright Flyer should beckon us into its world of discovery well into the 21st century. It was an illuminating thought.
If You Go:
The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry is located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago near the shores of Lake Michigan.
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