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Tinkertown Museum
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6 reviews for Tinkertown Museum
Tinkertown...a quaint little museum. Located on the east side of the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque, it is charming, interesting and a bargain. At $3.00 a head you get to see a man's dream, dedication and hard work come to life. It was fascinating. If you take your time, you'll see Wonder Woman and the Seven Dwarfs hanging out in a small secluded waterfall, along with a few nuns and aliens. It is an eclectic place to say the least.
It would be quite easy to stay there for hours and investigate every nook and cranny but if you did that, there wouldn't be much to look at the next time you went. In all, it was a totally neat adventure. Let me know if you are ever out this way, I'd love to show it to you!
"I did all of this while you were watching TV". No kidding. Just amazing. I'm at a loss for words. Can't wait to see my photos. Just incredible.
The Tinkertown Museum is a monument to collecting, craftsmanship and imagination! Museums such as this one are born of an intense love of something, be it history, activity or the fear that if these treasures are not saved by you, then by who?
I'm a fan of the eclectic, the weird, the freakish. This is just my kind of museum. I felt a connection to the world that these items inhabited and it was a world unlike my own. Not overcrowded, there was a reverent hush in the air despite the jovial calliopiesque tunes tumbling from these irreverent creations.
Curiosity aroused, I left with more questions than answers. Highly Recommended!
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When I was planning my month-long slow drive across the United States, I found Tinkertown in the book "Roadside America." Incidentally, the Roadside America site, http://roadsideamerica..., is actually better than the book, since it provides interactive maps and more up-to-date information on the silly, ridiculous roadside attractions of the U.S.
Along with the World's Largest Ball of Twine (in Kansas,) Tinkertown was the highlight of my entire month-long slow drive. Artist Ross Ward spent 40 years building mechanized dioramas and models. Eventually, his collection got to be large enough to open a museum outside of Albuquerque. Walking through Tinkertown, you stop to push buttons to activate the animation in the dioramas. Some of them are coin operated. My personal favorite was called "Boot Hill," where God and Satan fight over the soul of a dead gunslinger.
Tinkertown is a truly eccentric, one-of-a-kind attraction. If you happen to find yourself driving across the desert in New Mexico, don't miss it.
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A must-see if you are driving through the area on Route 66 or Interstate 40. Road Trip USA says "the Dalai Lama loved it and so will you."
Only $3 admission per person. Take the time to read the signs on the little buildings.
This is more about a state of mind that just a museum.
The Creator developed the museum as a side-light to his job painting at circuses and carnivals with the motto "I did all this while you were watching TV".
His widow, Carla, spent a year in college on a ship going around the world, lived for 7 years off the grid in northern NM throwing pots, is a champion hunter-jumper and a doll.
Carla's dad lived for a time in the cottage at Tinkertown, then met his next wife at a campground in Why, AZ and they jump flights all over the world at the age of mid-80's; he hitch hiked to Belize when he was 17.
Carla's brother sailed the Theodora R, which is berthed at Tinkertown (I kid you not), around the world for 10 years and now lives on an out island in the Bahamas during the winter.
Nothing is traditional at Tinkertown, except maybe the Tinkergeek.
Florence in the gift shop moved from the busy East Coast to Pie Town, NM at the age of 14...ask her about it.
And then there's the star of the operation, Radar, the Town's Mayor.
If you want to change your life...or just have a great day...go to Tinkertown!