National Museum of American History

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These potted plants by the National Museum of American History's Mall entrance make me think of upside-down ice cream cones.	In the exhibit of many watercolors of first ladies in their inauguration dresses, I was more intrigued by the faces. The artist chose to make certain first ladies severe, certain formal, certain elegant, etc. I wonder how she decided who is portrayed how.	A good strategy for kitchen organization in the exhibit on Julia Child.	Skinner bombs: what a funky idea.
Thomas Jefferson created his own version of the Bible by selecting passages he thought important and educational. It demonstrates devotion and commitment to a philosophy, and is both a nice hobby and an intellectual exercise.	Indeed, he created his version of the Bible by cutting out verses from other Bibles (and pasting them into his book).	Next time you see a large object in a museum, you should wonder how it got there. At top, the museum hoists a revolutionary-era gunboat into the museum. At bottom, it brings in a locomotive to illustrate an exhibit.	In the exhibit on money, I noted there used to be 50-dollar coins! And this was back in the nineteenth century. Imagine how much it'd be worth now. Artificially brightened.
Look at how the size of bills (and to some extent coins) shrunk over time. Artificially brightened.	Some of the items in the case of extremely rare coins. The top row is worth reading. Artificially brightened.	A high-relief coin. Artificially brightened.	It's amazing to think that, of a man-made object of which four hundred thousand existed in 1933, less than twenty survive.