Tuesday – Swedish Institute and Mansion

On Tuesday, September 18th we visited the American Swedish Institute and the Turnblad Mansion that is associated with it. How did we decide on these attractions? They were my suggestions arising from a roundabout set of events. About one month before we left for Minneapolis I attended a preview party hosted by my local quilt shop. A preview party is an evening where quilting instructors present samples of quilts, wall hangings, pillows, tote bags and other sewing projects as visual aids to talk about classes for the upcoming quarter – to the accompaniment of lots of goodies like cookies, cakes, fruits, candy, and wine. At this meeting I saw a woman wearing an outfit that I thought was extremely attractive and I asked her where she shopped. "Oh I got this online but I do not remember the website. But here. Take a picture of the label in my top and maybe you can find it. This designer loves color."

So I took that photo and Googled "Gudrun Sjodén" when I went home. I was led to a website for Swedish Women's Clothing, Accessories and Housewares. From there I learned that the American Swedish Institute was hosting an exhibit for the designer that ran Jul 26, 2018 to Oct 28, 2018 titled Gudrun Sjödén — A Colourful Universe. Furthermore, the American Swedish Institute was in Minneapolis only 1.5 miles away from where we would be staying while we were visiting Minneapolis so we added the American Swedish Institute to our local bucket list. We entered the American Swedish Institute, passing under this large poster tethered to the shingled siding, advertising the current exhibit.

Making our way toward the entrance...

... we filed past this tall figure in quite striking garb.

The exhibit room nearest the entrance paid homage to color with bins of fabric "paint" and giant sized "paintbrushes" poised over them.

I enjoyed being immersed in the riotous rainbow.

The mannequins were artfully garbed and I could not help but chuckle at their hairdos, made of creatively arranged paintbrushes. This red head had a side-swept style.

Haven't you seen at least one blonde with at up-swept butch cut style hairdo?

The color drips then continued throughout and I took my traditional picture of all our feet around some of the paint splotches that were splattered on the floor. Whoops, one of us is missing but this time it was not me. My shoes are on the far right, followed clockwise by John, Margaret, Joe, and Sue.

The missing feet are from Frank, off down a hallway, straddling two paint splotches of his own.

A Swedish-decorated mechanical horse is off to one side in the hallway.

The trail of splotches led off to an elevator route to a second floor.

It is not obvious while within the American Swedish Institute, but the modern, sleek-lined museum building is connected to an elaborate French Chateauesque style mansion, the Turnblad Mansion. This juxtaposition is more obvious from the street view. The American Swedish Institute is on the left and the Turnblad Mansion is in the central distance.

The elevator opened up to let its occupants out into a set of rooms within the Turnblad Mansion. Some of these rooms did double duty to continue to display the exhibit of Gudrun Sjoden in such a manner that the transition from museum to mansion was seamless. The crown molding and arched ceiling with elaborate wood detailing reveals that this is a repurposed room from the mansion.

The knitwear and pillows laid out in one of the rooms reflect the Swedish influence of the region.

But what exactly is the Turnblad Masion? A Turnblad Mansion slide show, with photos far better than mine can be found at https://www.asimn.org/historic-turnblad-mansion. Per that site

Newspaperman Swan Turnblad, owner and publisher of Svenska Amerikanska Posten, the largest Swedish language newspaper in the U.S., did what many affluent people did at the turn of the century. He built an imposing residence, which would later come to be known as the Turnblad Mansion or "Castle." It was a way to impress the community and display his wealth.

The mansion took up six lots and Swan Turnblad, his wife Christina, and his daughter Lillian lived there from 1908-1929. The family's frequent trips to Europe inspired the style of the house. The kitchen had elaborate penny tile floors. Here is a kitchen range. Even though wealthy it is reputed that Christina did all her own cooking for their family of three, being dissatisfied with the culinary skills of any of the servants.

Even utilitarian radiators for heat were ornate.

I asked why there was a sink on the floor. It was a mop sink for when the floors were wiped down. More of the floor is visible in this photo.

The Turnblad Mansion houses eleven kakelugnar, or Swedish porcelain tile stoves. Hand-selected and imported by the Turnblads, each stove is different and matches the décor of the room in which it’s located. This is one of them I found particularly pretty and not too garish.

In the dining room, the side banquets were intricately carved. On the table is sample of Gudrun Sjoden's fabric designs, another example of the museum exhibit intertwined with the castle architecture and decor.

Here is some more fabric yardage spread out for display as table covering. It is surprising how the modern patterns can seem at home in the early 1900's rooms.

A sunny sitting room with windows on three sides sports more of the Swedish design textiles.

A set of ceramic ware sits on a small round table on a colorful modern hooked rug. I enjoyed seeing all the patterns and hues but could not help but wonder how this area would have been presented had the Gudrun Sjoden exhibit not been there. It must have been pretty bare and plain.

A huge stained glass window of French origin is at the head of a stairway leading from the great hall.

We had lunch at FIKA within the American Swedish Institute. FIKA is an award-winning café focused on Nordic-inspired cuisine, created with regional ingredients. I had Swedish meatballs at FIKA, which are an iconic Twin Cities' dish.

After lunch we checked out the lower levels of the museum which are mainly meeting rooms and classrooms. But their informal staff eating area was also cheerfully designed and fun to investigate.

Even the entry door had folk art style painting on it.

Before heading home our group cheerfully agreed to stop for me at a nearby quilt store called Glad Creations Quilts. My visit there and purchases can be found in my other blog, DianeLoves2Quilt, at my post dated September 27, 2018. Once back at home base in the evening, we stayed in to enjoy a spaghetti dinner. Then we started to intently assemble a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. I must admit though, that the chandelier suspended above the table cast an array of round shadows from the crystal spheres that added a level of challenge to fitting together the puzzle pieces on that spotted surface.  I guess it was to be a "day of dots" –  from floor paint splotches beneath our feet to table top global globs grazing our fingertips. 

Monday – Minnehaha, Brewery, Model Trains

Monday, September 17th, we set out to visit Minnehaha Falls, a brewery, and a model railroad museum. We initially headed southeast about six miles and ended up east of the northern end of the Chain of Lakes we had been near the previous day where we rode a street car.

Minnehaha Falls

We were in Minnehaha Park.

Minnehaha Park is at the southern end of the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway which, per Wikipedia, is "a linked series of park areas in Minneapolis, Minnesota that takes a roughly circular path through the city." We specifically visited Minnehaha Falls at the tiny pink rectangle at the lower right corner of the following diagram. 

This is the view from the top of the Minnehaha Falls. There is a bridge just above the falls (where I was standing), and trails go down into the gorge on both sides, with another bridge below the falls that can be seen in the center of the photo.

At the top of the falls is a statue of Hiawatha and Minnehaha, erected in 1911. Per a Wikipedia link for Minnehaha she "is a fictional Native American woman documented in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 epic poem The Song of Hiawatha. She is the lover of the titular protagonist Hiawatha and comes to a tragic end. The name, often said to mean laughing water, literally translates to waterfall or rapid water in Dakota [language]."

As we stood in front of the statue, some of us from our group tried to recall the verses from The Song of Hiawatha. Every body readily knew...

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,

A few of us continued...

By the shining Big-Sea-Water,

But only a couple die hards among us could add...

Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,

Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis

I suggested we stand at the top of the falls and ceremoniously recite the poem. I looked it up per a link for the works of the author Longfellow, and had totally forgotten (or maybe I never knew) how excruciatingly long it is. We punted the communal recitation. Although the Song of Hiawatha brought fame to Minnehaha Falls, Longfellow had never visited the falls himself.

Minnehaha Falls are 53 feet high and fed by Minnehaha Creek. We learned that at one point water from the Mississippi River had been diverted to feed the falls. Here is our proof that we were indeed all there – photo taken by a friendly passerby – with the base of the falls in the background. Back row left to right: Frank, Sue, John. Front row left to right: Diane (me), Margaret, Joe.

Frank and I then sat for a photo of the two of us only. Note that Frank is wearing his train shirt, symbolic of where we would be heading later in the day.

Interesting to note is that Minnehaha means laughing water in the Dakota language and when combined with polis, a Greek derivative for city, you get Minnehaha-o-polis. This root combination  is quite a mouthful, and so it was shortened to Minneapolis by removing an hah and an o. Out of curiosity, I queried at several museums what citizens of Minneapolis call themselves. Are they Minneapolisites? Are they Minneapolympians? Are they Minneapolisers? Nobody seemed to know for sure. On the web I found a chat room that claimed Minneapolitans to be the correct term but ya can't believe everythin' you read. The most concise answer, the one I liked best for how to refer to the people from Minneapolis was, "In the winter... cold!"

Surly Brewery
Our next stop was for lunch at the Surly Brewery. Per wikipedia 

The Surly Brewing Company is a Minnesota-based craft brewery with brewing facilities in Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center, noted for well-reviewed beers and primarily canning, rather than bottling. Initially available only in and around the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, it has since begun to expand distribution to include all of Minnesota and several nearby states. Surly has been growing rapidly; it had production of 21,000 barrels in 2012, 28,000 barrels in 2013, and 47,757 barrels in 2015.

There were no public tours the day we were there, but the dining area had excellent food and those who were so inclined could choose from a wide assortment of local beers. Per the magenta signage on the wall behind the bar, the beers fell into the categories of Belgian Style, Hop Forward, Malt Forward, Lager, and Other.  The names amused me. Some examples of the more unique ones were "Naked and Afraid", "Dots & Loops", Furious", "Hell", Rose", and Heat Slayer". Apparently "Furious" was a favorite of Joe's. He ordered it both at the brewery and when we were out at other restaurants. We truly enjoyed our lunch there. From left to right: Sue, John, Margaret, Joe, Frank, and not shown, the phantom photographer, me.

Their wall art near the restrooms was like the metal stamped plating on a truck side or kick plate.

On the outsides of the building were these spigots, spaced periodically. I am not sure quite what they were for, but I could picture some beer lover lying on his back beneath and guzzling a huge quantity of the brew down his gullet wearing a big smile on his face.

As we made out way from the brewery to our next touring location, I spied this on a traffic light. I think the dedicated amber colored signal reminded me of our street car visit the day before.

Twin City Model Railroad Museum

Our next stop in the afternoon on Monday was the Twin City Model Railroad Museum. This was in St. Paul and during our trip, our only venture outside Minneapolis to the other side of the Mississippi.

Upon entering the museum, a long entrance hallway was lined with large posters of train depots. Each of the pictures was more quaint and picturesque than the previous. These are seven of the depots from six counties along rail lines throughout Minnesota. I asked myself "Where are they now?" and what follows are my efforts to find out.

Grand Rapids in Itasca County was built in1903 for the Great Northern line. The building currently houses the Chamber of Commerce and Commonspace, a co-working office area. More information can be found about the depot at foursquare.com/v/great-northern-railway-depot/.

Lake Hubert in Crow Wing County was built in 1918 as a Minnesota and International Freight House & Shelter.  It is now preserved by local and summer residents.

From this link I found this photo.

McGregor in Aitkin County was built in 1916 for the Northern Pacific line. At one point it was converted to an antique shop.

Wayzata in Hennepin County was built in 1906 by the Great Northern Railway. Per Wikipedia it now houses the offices and museum of the Wayzata Historical Society as well as the Wayzata Area Chamber of Commerce.

St. Louis Park in Hennepin County was built in 1887 for Chicago, Milwaukee, St.Paul, and Pacific line. Per Wikipedia, it now serves as a museum for the St. Louis Park Historical Society.

St. Anthony Park – St. Paul in Ramsey County was built in 1888 for the Great Northern line. My efforts to find where this beauty is now were unsuccessful. I even  checked the National Register of Historic Places listings in Ramsey County, Minnesota to no avail.

Owatonna in Steele County, built in 1887 for the Union line, is now preserved as a railway museum. A Minnesotan named Jerry Waldrop bought it for $1 in 1992, dismantled it piece by piece and rebuilt it in his driveway in a suburb. There is an interesting article published in April 17, 2016 titled Finding Minnesota: Owatonna’s Old Train Depot. Bear with the ads because there is also two minute video worth viewing.

The counties for these depots were scattered along rail lines throughout the state. This is an overview of the county locations. Minneapolis is in Hennepin County. Notice how many of the rails go through Minneapolis.

Finally, I am about to go into the museum proper which contains the model train layouts. Immediately upon entering the large, expansive room, I come upon an extremely detailed LEGO display with trains running through  it.

For those Marvel Comic fans – among whom are my son-in-law Jeremy, his daughter Autumn, and his son Isaiah – this display would be a real attraction.  Three year old Isaiah can name and point out many, many of the Marvel heroes. In researching this I learned there are many Many MANY of those characters. My daughter  Robin has to keep herself apprised in order to keep up with her kids ( and hubby)! Here are several of those heroic icons lined up for inspection in front of the Hall of Justice.

More my speed, this robotic LEGO figurine of Mickey Mouse made me smile.

A side view of the display shows a snow covered village with trains passing through tunnels and tracks at several levels.

A closeup along a side ramp details a fire engine with fireman on board.

In another display area (non-LEGO) was a sequence showing a firetruck leaving to attend a fire. Be sure to look carefully through the arched widow on the right to see a fireman sliding down the pole.

There was a carved wooden locomotive and tender that was very impressive in its size and details. I did not measure, but it was between three and four feet long.

The miniature layouts stretched far into the recess of the building. If you peer carefully you can  barely make out the figures of Frank and John in the far distance.

This device was a fun hands on (and feet on) experience. By standing on the base and pulling up the pump handle at the left you could then depress it and force air into the authentic train whistles mounted at the right end of the base. The room resounded with the sound of an engine that almost made you believe a train was coming on through.

We finished our evening with a dinner at home base that was a combination of grocery store salad and leftovers from other nights eating out. We were content to sit home, talk, and play a few games of Sequence.