A Trip to Tinkertown

Only one and a half more weeks of radiation therapy and I am done with my cancer treatments. Looking forward to getting out of Albuquerque and heading northwest for the summer in Idaho and Montana before heading to Rapid City for a 55 year class reunion for Ron over Labor Day Week. Can’t believe it has been that long since both of us graduated. Where did the years go.

This past Saturday, we finally got to make our trip to the Tinkertown Museum located in Cedar Crest which is on the east side of the Sandia Mountains which overlook Albuquerque. I had brought my children here many years ago and have wanted to return for some time.

The late Ross Ward started carving miniature wood figures when in junior high continuing this into adulthood. He was captivated by the tiny villages, farms and circuses created by the “spare time carvers.” His first carvings in 1962 were figures for the turn of the century general store which still resides in the museum. In the 1960’s and 70’s, Ward’s figures were originally part of a traveling exhibit going to county fairs and carnivals. In 1983 they became a permanent exhibit around a cabin in the mountains where he built winding walls with discarded bottles, rocks and cement.

Guess Who?

Today the museum is 24 rooms of miniature displays, signs, devices and antiques which Ward incorporated into the museum. For a quarter you can have Grand Mother Esmeralda issue you a fortune promising travel and riches or listen to Otto play the accordion playing music of yesterday. The displays are so numerous that it is hard to take it all in.

 I was captivated by the display of Emmett Kelly, the clown whom I remember so well from my childhood.

I also had vivid recollections of the circus exhibit from our previous visit many years ago.

 Other exhibits include a collection of bride and groom tops for bridal cakes dating back to the 1800’s, dolls from many countries and the U.S., an old sail boat that traveled 80,000 miles over a ten year period, and an elaborate doll house which Ward had been commissioned to build for a collector. It has now been donated to the Museum as a permanent exhibit.

Outside the Museum we wandered around finding an old Medicine Wagon, a harness shop, and an old wagon.

If you are ever in the area, this is definitely a place to stop.

 We stopped at the Burger Boy on Highway 14 in Tijeras on our way home. According to a recent newspaper article, the restaurant has been around for the past 33 years and is locally owned. The article touted it as having won national recognition for the Best Burger in New Mexico. All in all a nice outing and a relaxing day.