I wish I lived closer, because I would really like to see this exhibit, Suburbia, at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul. The “American Dream” — it’s a complicated thing. And the suburbs — yes, a complicated part of the complicated American Dream.
Photo viewing tip: Click the photos, and they should double in size on desktop screens — they are terrific!
From the press release:
Pink flamingos and a manicured lawn: the American Dream realized?
‘Suburbia’ exhibit at the Minnesota History CenterIn 1950, approximately 70 percent of people in the Twin Cities metro lived in Minneapolis and St. Paul. By 2010, that figure had dropped to 20 percent. This dramatic shift from cities to suburbs took hold across the country and is seen by many historians as one of the most important events in U.S. history.
What drew people to the suburbs in the first place? Did reality reflect the dream of suburban living? And what does suburbia look like today? Visitors can explore these concepts, plus take in the changing styles of home building and interior design, in the new exhibit, “Suburbia,” Oct. 10, 2015 to March 20, 2016, at the Minnesota History Center, St. Paul.
Through firsthand accounts, immersive settings, multimedia interactives and vibrant displays, visitors can explore the lives of the people who moved to the suburbs, those who were excluded, and all the people in between.
“In 1959, the average age of marriage was 19,” said Ellen Miller, exhibit developer. “Today, millennials are delaying the age of marriage and opting to live in the urban core. By looking back at suburban America, we hope to spark conversations about how the ideal of the ‘American Dream’ is changing.”
This exhibit is presented in three immersive settings: Building Suburbia, Living in Suburbia, and Shopping in suburbia. Throughout the exhibit, guests are invited to look back and reflect on the successes and failures of Suburbia and what’s in store for the future.
Suburbia Intro
As you enter the exhibit, a large floor map of the Twin Cities showcases the area’s suburbs.
Building Suburbia
Walk through a house under construction to learn about the post war building boom and the hope of realizing the “American Dream.” Explore the changing economic and policy factors that helped increase rates of home ownership, the army of builders who filled the demands for new, modern housing, and the conditions that resulted in racial groups being left out of the dream. Learn about the Smith family who moved from Rondo to Maplewood where, despite encountering racial discrimination, they built their “dream home.”Living in Suburbia
Enter a model ranch-style home [we sure hope there’s a pink bathroom!] where the baby boom generation grew up amid ideals of suburban domesticity and the nuclear family. See how the home reflected changes in family size, gender roles and sexual mores. Look back at how cocktails, cigarettes and cards were once fashionable, but now are considered vice. Meet Betty Bach, Mrs. Minnesota 1958, through TV clips, hear about the ideal housewife — and get her donut recipe!
Shopping in Suburbia
Be transported to Southdale Shopping Center when it opened in 1956 as a revolutionary model that was copied around the nation. Designed by Victor Gruen, learn how the architecture of the enclosed mall and massive sea of parking, radically changed consumer practices, preferences and expectations across the nation. Climb inside a 1956 Chevrolet Townsman station wagon and explore how suburban growth catered to drivers with expanded freeways, parking lots, shopping centers, drive-in restaurants and movie theaters.Suburbia Today
Consider how the suburbs have changed today. With millennials marrying and establishing families, will they stay in the urban core, or follow the trend of previous generations and opt for the greener pastures of the suburbs?
Mega thanks to reader Sharon for tipping us to this fascinating-sounding exhibit.
Link love:
- You can read more about this exhibition on the Minnesota Historical Society’s website.
linoleummy says
This really sounds like a great exhibit, you Minnesotans are lucky to be close enough to see it & thank you for telling us more about it. Lots of interesting and eye-opening comments here too.
Jacki says
My folks bought a house in what was then called Cedar Grove MN (now Eagan) back in 1957. It was a newer suburb of Minneapolis back then and it was near the airport where Dad worked. I have pictures of the house when it stood on a barren corner lot. The neighborhood is now full of big trees and cute mid century homes. We moved to AZ in 1965. I would love to see this exhibit.
Rick says
I went to this last week (visiting MN). Retro cool! Got quite a few pics. They even had the GE wall hung refrigerator; on the wall as part of the display. Goes on til the 10th of March 2016.
Rick says
need to add; there’s also a permanent exhibit on the same floor as ‘Suburbia’ called Minnesota’s Greatest Generation. Of interest to those here, there is a ‘revolving ’50s looking’ kitchen attached to a living room with an aluminum tree & presents (opened) of the era.
SebsPortland says
As someone who was raised in Philadelphia proper, & went to college in Manhattan, I find it offensive when people insult city education & dwelling. City kids are more independent, more liberal, more multi-cultural than suburbanites, & more likely to befriend people of other ethnicities or races. I’m 35 — so I am a few years older than a millennial — but I don’t see many people my age rushing to the suburbs. In fact none of the friends I was raised with left when they had kids. They maintain small but lovely homes in Philly, Brooklyn, Queens, Miami, & Portland.
Amy Anderson says
You *must* come to Minnesota! After visiting our fabulous history center, you can dine at Psycho Suzie’s Motor Lodge, http://psychosuzis.com/, (tiki heaven) and then grab dessert at Betty Danger’s Country Club, http://bettydangers.com/. Both are just across the river from the salvage warehouse where I found my Youngstown kitchen cabinets (http://www.bauerbrotherssalvage.com/. We got it all!
Virginia says
I don’t think anyone has to worry about young people permanently abandoning suburbia for the city — from my perch, suburbia is alive and well! It’s just ridiculously expensive, at least where I live, so people who already own homes are hanging onto them right now. But our two newest neighbors are a young couple who previously lived in a San Francisco studio, and a family with a preschooler. Having raised our own kids on this street, it’s nice to see younger folks moving in.
GlenEllyn says
I’m very interested in visiting this exhibit and luckily, I still live close enough to go.
I spent my middle and late childhood in the Twin Cities area, and yes, our family shopped at Southdale. As a matter of fact, we lived in Woodland Hills (mentioned in one of the picture captions), a subdivision in the western/southwestern Minneapolis suburb of Minnetonka, for about four years. Ecklund & Swedlund homebuilders were very well known back then (mid-1960s). Lovely area, appropriately named, but rather pricey these days.
On another note, there is a new book out by architectural historian Larry Millett called “Minnesota Modern.” It is described as “the definitive book on the midcentury era in Minnesota, including residential, public and commercial designs.” (credit to Amy Goetzman, MinnPost, 11/13/15). You can read about it here:
https://www.minnpost.com/books/2015/11/larry-millett-makes-case-saving-midcentury-architecture
It sounds like an interesting read for mid-century fans.
Sixteventies says
As a 20-something, I must say it is sad that most of my generation is flocking to the urban parts of the country, to “explore” and look “polished.” They like the celebrity feel of things it seems. I’ve enjoyed suburbia since I was in junior high and don’t plan on living anywhere else. I wish this exhibit was closer to where I lived!
MJ Valdes says
My uncle grew up in the Rondo neighborhood in the teens and 20’s; he said that it was a rough but unbelievably tight community, and many families never recovered from being displaced by the highway project.
Joe Felice says
As member of a family who “lived the dream,” not once, but in 2 new homes, each one further out from downtown Denver, I’d love to see this exhibit. But I must say, I don’t think the involvement of the exodus to the suburbs was at all complicated. There was rampant prosperity following WWII, and developers were building like there was no tomorrow. Here in Denver, that meant homes for “military” families. The country’s largest air-force base and second-largest army hospital were here, and bustling, as the Cold War was in full swing. Also being built were shopping centers. (We didn’t call them “malls” yet.) and new schools, both of which only served to ignite further the desire of many to get on board. The schools easily made the inner-city schools look totally inadequate, and always underlying that was the fear that the negroes were taking over. I hate to admit it, but there was a lot of racism back then, not in Denver (or most other northern cities, I suspect), but there was always that phobia in the back of people’s minds. You simply did not see any blacks in the new-fangled communities or schools. What was pre-eminent in people’s minds was the possibility of a nuclear attack, and so most homes were built with basements that could double as fallout shelters. Since the automobile was becoming more prominent, the new homes with garages were more appealing, along with lots of parking and wider streets with “Hollywood” curbs. People were also enjoying more leisure time, and needed fenced yards for family and pets. It seemed like, all of a sudden, everyone had a lawn mower and didn’t mind using it. Saturday mornings were nothing but a whir of small combustion Briggs-and-Stratton engines. This was also the time when kids did “chores,” and women began to go to work, if only part time and as “secretaries.” But the important thing was that people were together in families and were genuinely happy. These are the things I remember. We can certainly contrast this with our lives today, and yes, it has become most fashionable to loathe the ‘burbs and return to the city center. Families with young children buy an older home in the city, then tear it down (Here, we call it “scraping.”) and build the home they wish they had in the suburbs. They have convinced themselves they are “gentrifying” the neighborhood. Of course, here in the Denver area, if it is more-than-30 years old, it deserves to be torn down and replaced, from stadiums and public buildings all the way down to houses. This, to me, is sad, as it takes with it the “soul” of the city. Denver is fortunate to have so-many old buildings, many of which have been well kept and do not merit destruction simply because of age. I can only image what goes on in cities that are 400 years old, although it would be interesting to learn.
And remember, even Lucy and Ricky left the city for “greener” pastures. It was, at the time, “the American way.”