Branson, Missouri's Best Museums
Exhibits Celebrating the Year 1957 and Recreating the Titanic
Both of Branson's most interesting museums offer a staggering array of authentic items.
57 Heaven Museum
This museum, inside the Dick Clark American Bandstand Theater building—where, incidentally, you will absolutely want to stop for a burger and a malted at the Grill—is owner Glenn Patch’s reverent shrine to the 1950s. He has spent the past 45 years restoring old cars, and in 14 years has managed to collect every 1957 convertible ever made.
Every. Last. One.
Each has been restored to mint condition, with the original factory colors. The only three Chevy El Moroccos left in the world are here; so is the actual car driven by Fireball Roberts at the 1957 Daytona 500, and even Barry Goldwater’s car. There’s a Dual Ghia worth about $350,000 today.
Patch has set up a drive-in screen that shows movies from 1957, and everywhere there are authentic ads from the 1950s, as well as original packaging for toys, cigarettes and candy from the era (Pall Malls, Camels, and Lucky Strikes all looked exactly the same in the 1950s as they do today—why spend on packaging when you can spend on...oh, never mind).
The all-pink GE kitchen setup is a standout, and even folks like me who are car-blind and don’t drive will be delighted by the high-shine, nail polish colors of the cars. A walk through the museum, and the much-touted 1950s optimism about the future is almost a palpable force.
The Titanic Museum
Thisis likewise an astonishing collection of recovered and restored items. I’m sure we’ve all been to a Titanic museum somewhere before—there’s one in Myrtle Beach, for example—but this is absolutely the last word in memorabilia, with 400 artifacts from the wreck itself as well as James Cameron’s reconstruction of the shattered hulk on display.
And these aren’t just artifacts presented in a vacuum: You become part of the experience upon arrival, when you’re handed your boarding pass. That’s right, for your time on the Titanic, you are one of the actual passengers.
The museum takes you through every level of the ship—reconstructions of the boiler room, the Marconi wireless telegraph room, the bridge complete with starry night outside, the staterooms from all three classes (notes from the time show that even the third-class passengers were expected to be treated with civility), actual menus, postcards, even someone’s evening purse.
The history of many of the passengers, famous and not, and audio and visual presentations make it a captivating experience. There are trivia questions throughout: How many eggs were onboard?
You can stand on three sloping inclines that represent the sinking ship at various points; listen to audio recordings of the actual dialogue of passengers on a reproduced lifeboat; and hold your finger in 28 degrees, the water temperature on that infamous night, while timing yourself (the longest any passenger survived was 20-some minutes, well beyond normal).
Most breathtaking of all—a complete reproduction of the grand staircase from the Titanic. Somewhat sadly, you learn at the end of the tour from a giant wall inscribed with the names of all passengers whether “you” survived the night.
First-class passenger Lillian Mae Thorpe Minahan of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, did indeed survive.
New for Summer 2009 in Branson
1957 Dual Ghia convertible
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