Category: USA

American Gothic

Eldon IA

Grant Wood painted American Gothic in 1930, depicting a Midwestern farmer and his wife or daughter standing in front of their Carpenter Gothic style home. It is one of the most famous American paintings of the 20th century and is frequently referenced in popular culture.
The house is located in Eldon Iowa, and is available for…
…reenactors!
The subjects of the painting many years later.
American Gothic is considered the most parodied painting in the world.
Grant Wood, the artist
Wood also painted Paul Revere’s Ride.

Pella Iowa

Pella Iowa is a beautiful little town founded by immigrants from Holland, so the town has a distinctive Dutch feel.
Downtown storefronts.
Pella hosts a Tulip Time festival the first week of May every year. The town is full of tulips everywhere. Unfortunately, we were about 4 weeks late.
The Klokkenspel. Five times a day there is a musical show featuring wooden figures depicting aspects of life in Pella. There is a show in the front (street) side, and then another one in the rear.
Minister baptizing an infant.
Scenes on the back side.
Pella Opera House.
More Dutch style architecture.
Vermeer Mill, part of the Pella Historical Village.
Wooden shoes.
Pella was settled in 1847 when 800 Hollanders arrived. With winter approaching, they realized they would not be able to construct wood houses fast enough so they constructed sod houses such as this one.
Sod house interior
Wood worker’s cart
Wood worker’s shop
Bakkerij – Dutch Bakery
Cookie cutting machine
Wood cookie molds
Heritage Hall – Costumes from the Netherlands various provinces, early 19th to mid-20th century. In this scene, The Pantry, the man is wearing a Protestant costume from the village of South Beveland in the province of Zeeland.
Kitchen – costumes from the village of Volendam in North Holland.
The costumes from Volendam are the most recognizable costume of the Netherlands.
The Marken costume is one of the most colorful in the Netherlands. The people of Marken believed the color red was a symbol of health so they included it in many aspects of their attire.
The most noticeable aspect of the Bunschoten-Spakenburg costume is the kraplap, heavily starched to keep its shape, covering the entire top part of the body.
(Left) Gelderland women’s Sunday costumes were black wool or cotton, including the long sleeved bodice and pleated skirt.
(Right) Because Urk was an isolated village, its costume remained largely unchanged for nearly 400 years. Urk women wore silky, brightly colored brocade over a black bodice.
Dining Room – the woman is wearing a Protestant costume from the village of South Beveland in Zeeland. Protestant costumes were less ornate than Catholic, and the hats were oval rather than rectangular.
Flags of the 12 provinces of the Netherlands.
Gigantic street organ – it still works!
Puppet show theater
Some puppets
Typical Viersen bedroom
Viersen kitchen
Viersen parlor
Ulrich’s Meat Market
Dutch Klompen (wooden shoes)
Log cabin, possibly built by settlers prior to the arrival of the Dutch settlers in 1847. This cabin was discovered under the siding of a farm storage building and moved to this location in 1968.
Interior of the log cabin
Wyatt Earp’s childhood home, now a part of the Pella Historical Village.

John Wayne’s Birthplace

Winterset IA

John Wayne was born in this house in 1907. His birth name was Marion Robert Morrison. He weighed 13 pounds at birth.
His nickname “Duke” was from his family’s Airedale Duke.
Sculpture outside the museum.
Scenes from some of John Wayne’s movies.
John Wayne by Andy Warhol.
Props and costumes from several of his movies. This is from Fort Apache.
The Horse Soldiers
John Wayne’s favorite place was Monument Valley
The Shootist
Military movies, including The Green Berets.
John Wayne tribute guns.
Comic books about the “Greatest Cowboy of them All”
John Wayne’s leisure clothes.
John Wayne’s 1972 Pontiac Grand Safari
John Wayne’s personal black book, turned to the page with Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s information.

Chef Boyardee

Omaha NE

This is a sculpture of Chef Boyardee. Chef Boyardee is currently a division of Conagra, which is based in Omaha. Boyardee’s real name is Chef Hector Boiardi, who came over to America from Italy in 1914, and became a huge success.