Wouldn't You Know..?

You're not going to believe it, but today, of all scheduled days for the museum, was the day they decided to close!!! No, there was no notice on the website of the closure. If there had been we wouldn't have gone on the long ride to the museum. But, we made the best of the day and instead of touring the Montclair Museum, we stopped at the Morris Museum in Morristown on the way home. To our pleasant surprise, it was well worth the detour. We viewed a collection of student work on exhibit and some other less exciting art work. The exhibit which made the whole trip worthwhile was the exhibit of antique, automaton instruments. We call them music boxes today. At 2:00pm every day, there is a live presentation which we were in time for. Jere demonstrated several of the machines and explained how they work. We saw Hurly Burlies, animated dolls, and beautiful cabinets from which came lively music of all sorts. The exhibit was previously owned by a man named Guinness. ( Have a pint, anyone?) The Morris Museum acquired the collection and even built a "wing" in which to display the items. What genius! Who thought of designs such as these? Anyone who likes music and the history of musical instruments would love this display by the museum. I highly recommend taking a visit at 2pm one day. You won't be disappointed.