Horatio Colony Museum

Elite '09

184

313

Scott B.

Somerville, MA

6/9/2008

More than 5 years at Keene State College, and well over a thousand neglectful walks past this old gem, and I never even stopped to think about what could be inside.

We rang the bell, and shortly thereafter a thin older lady in a bohemian top and long flowing skirt answered the door.  She brought us in, and requested we deposit our coffees on the floor by the front door (although she kept her coffee mug in hand throughout the entire museum).

Room after room, she led us through the story of the Colony family, and the generations of community influence that have come through the house's front door.  The rooms held cross-generational antiques and oddities, from normal fixtures like rugs and dishes, to an overwhelming collection doorstops, representations of foreign dieties, and thousands of small animal statuettes.

Here are some of the top facts that I learned at the Horatio Colony Museum:

1.  Canopy beds were created to contain heat in the winter in bedrooms without fireplaces

2.  Graphophones not only played cylindrical wax "disks," but one can also record his/her own music on some blank wax

3.  The "bun" hairstyle of old Victorian England was inspired by the traditional hairstyle of Japanese Geishas

4.  The entire faces of some paintings can follow you around a room.

There's more, but this review would take forever.  

The tour is free... it's a half hour... and it's pretty neat... so check it out.

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