Northern Delaware Museums and Spas
Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum and Hagley Musem
The Massage Center and Women In Motion Health Club and Day Spa
Dateline: 01/10/98
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map courtesy of Hagley Museum
What do museums and spas have to do with each other? I find them both quite relaxing, and I enjoy visiting them. In fact, a weekend combining the two would make a wonderful vacation. So, for the next two weeks, I will be showcasing some of the outstanding museums and spas in northern Delaware and nearby Pennsylvania. This article features two museums found in the Wilmington area, the Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum and Hagley Museum and Library. The next article features another Wilmington museum, the Delaware Art Museum. In the third article, we'll visit two museums (one is actually a garden) in nearby Pennsylvania, The Brandywine River Museum and Longwood Gardens. At the end of the articles, you'll find a list of links to spas in the area. Go to the museums to stimulate your mind and refresh your spirit. Go to the spas to soothe your body. I hope you'll find the time to visit them all.
Northern Delaware Museums
Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum
Miniature Satsuma pottery, intricate hand painted artistry that
was made in the 18th
and 19th Centuries in Japan. Satsuma was banned after the
discovery that the artisans
lost their sight from the small scale fine art work.
photos courtesy of Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum
The Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum is a nonprofit museum of antique and contemporary European and American dollhouses, miniatures, sample furniture, dolls, toys, trains, boats, and planes from the 18th to 20th centuries. This collection of over 100 dollhouses and rooms, antiques as well as the newly crafted miniatures made by talented artisans serves as a visual documented piece of history. A visitor not only sees the furniture and accessories of today but those enjoyed by our ancestors of yesterday.
Facade and Interior of Lines House which has plumbing with
running water.
The museum features Bliss, Maërklin, Hubley, Ives, A.C. Gilbert, Schoenhut, McLoughlin and many others well known in the field of toy making. The importance and preservation of these early playthings affords collectors and visitors an artful insight into our past.The Nuremberg kitchens and many shops and dollhouses along with the period toys enhance our reminiscence of earlier times.
Moritz Gottschalk (1880) Made for English Market
A 700 piece collection of miniature vases was recently donated to the Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum which features items from more than 18 nations, including pieces of Satusma pottery, an intricate hand painted artistry that was made in the 18th and 19th Centuries in Japan. The pieces range in size from 1/2" to 5" high. Original Pieces of Faberge, Tifany, Galle and 2600 year old Roman pottery and glass are also included. It is interesting to note that this Satsuma was crafted only in Japan and subsequently it was banned after the discovery that the artisans lost their sight from the small scale fine art work. The miniature vases are currently on display at the Hagley Museum which is adjacent to the Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum.
Roman and Greek bottles and pottery from 600 B.C.
Notice the iridescent texture on the glass.
In 1996, the Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum held an "Antique Dollhouse Exhibit" at the Living Design Center in Tokyo, Japan.
Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum hold special events throughout the year such as doll appraisals, special shows and exhibits, and fund-raisers.
Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum
P.O. Box 4053
Route 141
Wilmington, Delaware 19807
(302) 427-TOYS (8697)
Fax (302) 427-8654
E-mail
Hagley Museum
photos courtesy of Hagley Museum
Located on 235 picturesque acres along the Brandywine River, Hagley Museum is the birthsite of the DuPont Company. Among industrial ruins and restorations, today's park-like museum depicts home and work life in a nineteenth-century industrial community. Visitors ride along the Brandywine River to tour the first du Pont family home in America, Eleutherian Mills, built by E. I. du Pont in 1803. Situated on the crest of a hill, it affords a commanding view of the Brandywine River, with a dam which fed water to the original millrace. This charming Georgian-style residence is furnished with antiques and memorabilia of the five generations of du Ponts associated with the home. Adjoining it is the restored French-style garden created by E. I. du Pont, an avid botanist.
Visitors can also participate in a mid-nineteenth-century school day, see period machines powered by water and steam in action again, the first office of the DuPont Company, and a barn filled with antique vehicles including an early nineteenth-century Conestoga Wagon. The intricacies of making gunpowder, DuPont's original product, is discussed. Watch the energy of the Brandywine River's falling water turn a sixteen-ton iron wheel to mix the ingredients of gunpowder, a key step in the production process.
The research library was founded by Pierre S. du Pont (1870-1954) as the Longwood Library in 1953. Eight years later it merged with the Hagley Museum and moved to the site of the original DuPont Company powder works near Wilmington, Delaware. The library houses an important collection of books, pamphlets, trade catalogs, manuscripts, photographs, ephemera, and audiovisual materials documenting the history of American business and technology. Hagley's main strength is in the Middle Atlantic region, but the scope of collecting includes business organizations and companies with national and international impact. Scholarly seminars and conferences are conducted by Hagley's Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society. The center also issues grants for long and short-term research at the library. The Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society organizes and administers Hagley's interactions with the world of scholarship.
Hagley holds many events throughout the year such as Christmas at Eleutherian Mills, Winter Life at Hagley, Powder Keg Kids Workshop, Storybook Garden Party, and Fireworks at Hagley.
Hagley's museum store contains many interesting items including books, cards, videos, and ornaments. It even provides a personal shopping service.
Contact Hagley for tour and current exhibit information.
Hagley Museum
P.O. Box 3630
298 Buck Road East
Wilmington, DE 19807-0630
Phone: (302) 658-2400
Fax: (302) 658-2230
While in the area, you may wish to visit some of the other Wilmington and Brandywine Valley museums and attractions:
Bellevue State Park
Brandywine Battlefield Park
Brandywine River Museum
Chester County Historical Society
Delaware Art Museum
Delaware History Museum
Delaware Symphony Orchestra
Fort Delaware State Park
George Read II House & Gardens
Grand Opera House
Hagley Museum & Library
Kalmar Nyckel Tall Ship
Longwood Gardens
Old Town Hall
Rockwood Museum
Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library
Spas
After a visiting all these museums, you may find yourself a bit tired. What better than a relaxing massage to reenergize you for the night ahead? (Yes, Wilmington does have a night life...but that's another feature). The following are the retreats my husband and I go to for massage:
My husband recommends The Massage Center (302-761-9095) located in Wilmington, DE. The Massage Center offers Swedish massage, Pfrimmer deep muscle therapy, neuromuscular therapy, reflexology, pregnancy massage, and salt glow treatments to both men and women.
My favorite is Women In Motion Health Club and Day Spa (302-737-3652) located in Newark, DE. It is exclusively for women and offers massage, reflexology, reiki, facial, backcial, hypnosis, manicure, pedicure, body wrap, body waxing, personal trainer, and more. Read more about it in my Guide Review.
map courtesy of Perry-Castañeda Library Map
Collection
University of Texas at Austin
