The History Club’s trip to the Strong National Museum of
Play and Nick Tahou’s in Rochester on November 14th was a fun filled
experience. The museum was full of not only interactive exhibits for young
children, but also informative, and nostalgic exhibits about the history of all
types of toys, card and board games, and video games from a wide range of
topics and decades. As one who does not play video games it was neat seeing and
gaining more information on the development of video games, from the first
Nintendo sets, to the more modern Play Station and Wii devices, as well as
learning more about the culture of the arcade. Many in the group commented on
the wide variety of games and toys presented at the museum and how it made us
all feel nostalgic for the games we played as children.
Overall,
the layout of the museum was very causal and well done. The various floors were
dedicated to different topics, as some sections were dedicated to the history
of the comic book, and another dedicated to Nintendo and its founding. Our trip
coincided with Sci-Fi Day at the museum, so there were various Star Wars
characters, such as Storm Troopers and Darth Vader, available for pictures, as
well as tables set out selling Star Wars merchandise. The floor that was
dedicated to the history of both board and electronic games had a full scale
arcade where tokens could be purchased to play old school video games, like
Pac-Man, and pinball. There were other games, like Jenga, paper football and
Battleship, for visitors to interact with. Each exhibit also was accompanied by
a small section dedicated to books and other literature dedicated to the topic
being which could be read at the time or checked out to read at home. The
museums layout made it very efficient for a group of our size, and interest to
maximize the time spent exploring the museum in the short amount of time we had
there.
Our
final destination before heading back to campus was a visit to the historic
Nick Tahou’s, originator of the garbage plate and a Rochester specialty. The
garbage plate is a messy concoction of meat, normally hamburgers or hotdogs,
macaroni salad and home fries smothered in mustard, onions and meat sauce. In keeping with the nature of the History
Club it was enjoyable to go to a place that is such an historic and culinary
staple in Rochester cuisine. For most in the group, it was their first ever
garbage plate and their first time ever visiting the city of Rochester.
Reflecting on the trip the entire group was satisfied with the experience of
visiting the Strong Museum and Nick Tahou’s and was looking forward to further
excursions with the History Club.
Group shot outside of Nick Tahou's
Carter Bunce enjoying the exhibit on the history of Nintendo
History is happening all around us!
Nick Tahou's, birthplace of the
garbage plate
Mmmm, looks good!
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