MOUNT FOREST – The Mount Forest Museum and Archives is bringing back Saturday night through its new exhibit.
It’s Saturday Night in Mount Forest! opens June 8.
“This exhibit is about a sense of belonging,” managing director Kate Rowley told the Advertiser during a private tour of the exhibit.
“The themes are fairly universal.”
Each corner of the exhibit boasts a recreation of the most legendary haunts and hangouts of downtown Mount Forest from 1950 to 1975, “when Saturday night was king.”
One corner is The Checker Inn – with its sundae glasses and checkerboard floors.
Another is Ted’s, a First World War veteran’s hot dog stand famous for a secret relish recipe, and where the town congregated during the Second World War to hear the latest from Europe.
“Your night either started or ended at Ted’s,” said Rowley.
That universal element Rowley mentions comes from the iconic nature of the decades highlighted by the exhibit. Regardless of one’s age now, life in the 50s, 60s and 70s is instantly recognizable through the music, cars, fashion and politics.
Further, the themes of coming-of-age in a small town, cutting loose on a weekend, and causing trouble with your friends are evident throughout the exhibit’s staged tableaux.
Retouched photographs covering the walls feature teenagers on dates and the local band’s after-party. The jukebox hums in the background.
There is nostalgia for locals who found themselves cruising the main drag with a dollar in their pocket (a sum that would allow you a cover fee, meal, pint and jukebox selection).
For younger visitors who may only recognize the decades by the Mad Men hairstyles and glass Coke bottles – which make an appearance in the exhibit – there’s still a sense of familiarity; three best friends pose in a selfie-style photo booth, their shelves filled with trendy artists on once-again popular vinyl.
For the volunteer curators at the Museum and Archives, the exhibit comes down to the details. Rowley explains their group of weekend scouters scour antique shops and basements of friendly neighbours to source local, genuine pieces for the displays.
The perfect scarf, an intact cigarette tin, a diner’s napkin dispenser, the Kent Hotel’s branded matchbook; every piece is carefully curated to transport visitors back in time.
This exhibit focuses on Mount Forest, but it offers historic points of interest of other small towns: the salt shaker on the terry cloth-covered table in the hotel bar, for example, is an identifier for every small town tavern.
Asked how one begins creating such intricate exhibits each year, central designer Darlene Wright said officials begin with textiles and continue adding piece by piece over three months.
“Why do we do that?” the two curators ponder aloud among their dressed mannequins.
Maybe it sets the focus on the ones who actually wore hoop skirts and psychedelic patterned attire, because overall, the exhibit is about the people who lived for Saturday night in Mount Forest.
“The anecdotes, the stories; they bring it alive,” said Rowley.
The exhibit opens June 8 and runs through the summer and fall. There is an opening night reception from 6 to 9pm open to the public.
The Museum And Archives is open every Wednesday from 1 to 5pm and for private tours. For more information call 519-323-4755 or email archive@mfheritage.ca.