Got in a few more Franklin Institute cards today. These appear to be from the 60s. I found these interesting as you contrast what the place looks like today.
This is the Ben Franklin Memorial, otherwise known as the lobby of the Franklin Institute. The interesting part here is the closed doors behind the memorial; today those doors lead into the Atrium where you get your snacks and tickets. The Atrium was an addition that was added as part of the Futures Center in the early 1990s.
Its rare to get a pic facing the entrance of the room from the back. Its interesting here that the Wright Bros flyer takes center stage, and otherwise the room looks fairly empty compared to what it has today. The Aviation room has a lot of great hands on displays, although I do wish some of them were updated a bit.
Not sure if I had this one or not already, but this represented the nations interest in the Space Race back in the 60s. I wonder if they took down the pendulum temporarily for this? The Futures Center had a similar Space Shuttle display that you could walk through.
And the Baldwin 60000. Im torn on the train room; on one hand I think its great and shows past technology. On the other I wish it did more to show off the science of the trains. Since this beast is likely too heavy and cost-prohibitive to scrap, it would be cool to contrast it with modern technology on the other side of the room, showing either a Diesel or modern electric commuter train, and compare the two.
There were plans to revamp the train room announced not too long ago, but I fear those plans were likely put on hold now due to the Pandemic. Frankly I’m really comcerned for places like the Franklin Institute, which have been shuttered for nearly 4 months at this point.
If you have a membership (I do), and are able to support them by renewing, even in these crazy times, please do so!