Ever wish you had grown up in a different generation or could relive your childhood? “Growing Up in Connecticut” at the Connecticut Historical Society transports viewers back through four generations in an effort to “promote cross generational understanding and conversation.”
Ben Gammell, lead exhibit developer at CHS, says the staff asked people around the state what it was like for them growing up.
“We asked people for objects, for stories, we interviewed people. It’s a real mix of things,” he says.
The exhibit, which runs through Oct. 15, highlights how the Silent Generation (born in 1928-1945), baby boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980) and millennials (1981-1996) spent much of their time growing up.
It features such items as over-the-shoe metal roller skates, clothing, toys, comic books, old-school technology, such as a typewriter and a Commodore 64 computer, yearbook photos and even a prom dress.
The various clothing seems to be the popular item on display, like the waitress uniform contributed from somebody who had a job at Friendly’s as a teenager.
People “remember, ‘Oh yeah I wore that style,’ because styles change so much,” says Gammell.
The museum has re-created a basement with a ColecoVision, a home video-game console first released in 1982, that guests can play with, a lava lamp, bean bag chairs and posters from such popular artists as Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Queen and The Beatles.
Throughout the exhibit are iPads with interviews from community members about topics such as funny memories they had, 9/11, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and World War II.
“People talk about the heroes in their life or big national events that they really remember when they were a kid,” says Gammell, “different things that made impressions on people when they were younger.”
Guests are encouraged to interact with the exhibit by leaving their stories and experiences using sticky notes placed around the rooms. There is also an online gallery that people can contribute to with their favorite childhood memories, chs.org/growing-up-in-connecticut
GROWING UP IN CONNECTICUT runs through Oct. 15 at the Connecticut Historical Society, 1 Elizabeth St., Hartford. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission is free for CHS members and children under 5; $8 for adults, $6 seniors $6 and $4 youth (6 to17) for nonmembers. On-site parking is free. CHS.org.
