Where: Durham Museum, 801 S. 10th St.
When: Saturday through May 2; 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays
Admission: Free with regular admission: $7 for adults; $6 for those age 62 and older; and $5 for children ages 3 to 12
Information: www.durhammuseum.org and 444-5071
The family vacation is the classic bonding experience.
The van, truck or sedan used for those trips almost becomes a member of the family.
That's why a special temporary exhibit on American vacations at the Durham Museum is quite an eye-catcher.
It features vintage pedal cars that look like vehicles that families have known and loved. And the buffed and polished kiddie cars are staged in dioramas made to look like they're visiting the Grand Canyon, Kennedy Space Center, Golden Gate Bridge and other classic vacation destinations. There's even a Carhenge diorama assembled with weathered pedal cars.
The exhibit features about 30 pedal cars, plus some pedal trucks and airplanes, on loan from the Museum of American Speed in Lincoln.
Bill “Speedy” Smith collected the cars and has donated them to the Lincoln museum.
Smith, 80, founded Speedway Motors with his wife, Joyce, in 1952. Car racing and mechanical innovation have been at the forefront of his life for decades, and the museum is known for his collection of racing engines. But he's also spent the last four decades collecting more than 1,000 pedal cars — children's toys intended for sidewalk play.
“A pedal car, to me, shows a lot of artistic design: the paint schemes, the tires, the amenities,” Smith said. “They would have headlights, tail lights, brakes ... an oil can and a grease gun. I admired the talent it took to design them, to manufacture them.”
In the 1920s, '30s and '40s, when men were happy to earn 7 cents to 10 cents an hour in an automotive plant, these pedal cars sold for $5 to $20, Smith said.
“Buying a kid a car like that would have been quite an expenditure.”
Among the pedal cars on display are those representing a 1950s Chevy Bel Air, 1950 Jeep, 1948 Pontiac wagon and 1955 Cadillac.
Smith said automakers didn't make the pedal cars — toy makers and metal shops did — but the auto companies were happy to see their cars copied.
“It was advertising,” Smith said. “So they'll come back when they're adults. We're creatures of habit.”
Contact the writer:
444-1052, jane.palmer@owh.com
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