Pittsburgh: Heinz History Center

I asked friends for suggestions of things to do in Pittsburgh and the Heinz History Center kept being listed as a must do. Their website boldly states they are America's #1 History Museum--a claim I did not research for its veracity. Though there is a $20 per adult admission  fee, it is part of the Smithsonian collection of museums. Throughout our brief time in Western Pennsylvania people asked if we went to the Heinz, or told us they were there recently. With its neon signs it is hardly a hidden attraction, though everyone talks about it in hushed tones as if letting us in a secret.

The museum is located in the former Chautauqua Lake Ice Building, a magnificently restored industrial building in the part of town locals refer to as The Strip. The building was gutted and replaced with a vibrant six store museum featuring the best of Pittsburgh from Heinz-related history to Mr. Rogers to Franco Harris Sports Museum to a new section on preservation (my favorite part) to the history of Pittsburgh Glass (Don's favorite section) and slavery.

The third floor is dedicated to children's activities, and the sixth is the library and archives, which made them easy areas to skip. I was overwhelmed by how much the museum held. The laugh I held back when we were told we could use our ticket again tomorrow was coming back to me as, oh we might just have to do that. The other note, that we could also use the ticket at the Fort Pitt Museum came in handy later that day.

The first floor is deceptively sparse. The Great Hall has a Heinz truck and a few large vehicles. The back room on Pittsburgh's Hidden History was undergoing a transformation, hence it was closed to the public.

One down, only four more to go! We'll knock this out and head out to the Cathedral for Learning and the Frick Museum so I can cross everything I want to do in Pittsburgh off my list in one day.

You know what they say about best laid plans....I woke up not feeling well. We got a late start looking for breakfast and not starting our trip to the museum until 11:30 am, rather than opening the museum at 10 am. The first floor was quick, but the rest of the museum entranced us.

We took the stairs, which used a hidden space to share some Pittsburgh History. Paraphrasing: step 3: How many rivers are there in Pittsburgh? Step 21: What number did Roberto Clementi wear? etc.

I thought I would breeze through the second floor Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum which continued to the third floor, but I was wrong. I really liked the bright way the museum covered the highlights of the sports history. I did not feel you had to be a sports fan to appreciate it. There was a section on Olympic events not typically thought of as sports, but were at one point, including bridge and marbles. Of course it also touted the successes of the Pittsburgh teams, and mentioned the Penguins hockey team's rivalry with the Philadelphia Flyers as both were expansion teams the same year.

With the sports museum taking two half floors, we were thrown off on how to visit the rest of the museum. The rest of the third floor is the Discovery Place for children. With school groups sharing the space with us, we gave them their privacy. We went up to the fourth floor, a floor we could have spent a couple of hours devouring. Our first stop was an exhibit on the history of Heinz 57. With that large display I thought the museum was named for the company, instead it was after Senator John Heinz a philanthropist and politician. 

We learned the number 57 was added when the
founder started to list all of the products they made and stopped at 57 because he liked the number. Don thought it was because there were 57 ingredients in their trademark ketchup recipe. 

From the center I turned right towards Mister Rogers Neighborhood while Don went left to Glass Shattering Notions. When we do things like that I wonder if it is the difference between me being right-handed and him being left-handed?

I got distracted by the Visible Storage exhibit straight ahead. It called to me. Inside were the secrets to how they maintain their vast collection, including the declaration that only 15% of their collection is on display at any given time. By comparison, I recently heard London's Victoria and Albert Museum has less than one percent on display at any given time. There is a room where they photograph new acquisitions before they are put into storage. This helps them keep a log of what they own, and can use the pictures in publicity.

Outside this exhibit was a collection of 90 paintings by local artist Ron Donoughe. In 2013, Ron set out to paint all 90 of the city's neighborhoods in alphabetical order within one year. The pictures reflect the changes in seasons and other details. Had it been a display of Trenton neighborhoods, Don and I could have spent hours devouring the scenes. As someone new to Pittsburgh, it was a bit overwhelming. I envision a local artist doing something similar in Trenton someday. Someone with far more talent than I possess. 

Pittsburgh is very proud of Mr. Fred Rogers. From everything I have heard, he was just like his television personality: calm, patient, and loving. He was a Presbyterian minister by training who felt his television show was his ministry. For the times he did preach at the local church he wore this stole that was created by his aunt. Hearing the theme song to his television show no matter how cheerful did become grating.

Meanwhile Don was engrossed in the history of Pittsburgh glass, an exhibit I barely glanced at. I know he got a lot out of it because the next day when we were at the Frick Museum and Gardens, he pointed to the tiles in the butler's pantry and said they were made from Pittsburgh glass, something our well-versed docent had not realized.

In the back was an exhibit called from slavery to freedom we both passed through. I suspect there was a Pittsburgh connection, but after visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, we were not expecting to learn anything new, and there was more to learn about the history of Pittsburgh. Reading the brochure at home, I missed its role in the Underground Railroad, a topic I am familiar with given Lawrenceville was also a stop.

Up to the fifth floor. We were reunited as we have a rule of not leaving a place without the other. The Class of Empires exhibit in the center talked about the French and Indian War, something I am not very knowledgeable about, but in which Pittsburgh played a role. 

The rest of the floor had an exhibit called My America: an Illustrated Experience. By this point my cold was kicking in and wearing me out.

Rather than spending an hour and moving the car to our next stop, we spent nearly three hours here, had lunch at Primanti Bros, and returned to the hotel for a brief nap. It was that kind of day.

Back to the second floor and the exhibit Pittsburgh: a Tradition of innovation. Who knew Pittsburgh could claim so many inventions! I know I was supposed to be learning about Pittsburgh, but all I could imagine was what would a similar exhibit in Trenton be like. Trenton's motto (as seen on one of our bridges) is Trenton Makes, the World Takes. Pittsburgh's motto is: Made Here Used Everywhere.

The exhibit was subdivided by century, which further emphasized the historical aspect. Going in there was a sign saying from A to Zombie. I was on a quest to find out how zombies factored in the history of Pittsburgh. Don was in on this, and found the answer in a poster near the exit. 

Overall, the Heinz History Center is an engaging way to spend the day. For parents, it is also an economical activity since children are always free.

For groups with a variety of desired length of time to spend in a museum, it is worth noting each floor has ample seating areas, some overlooking Pittsburgh, others comfortable couches I suspect have supported nappers. I was nearly one of them, even though I love history and normally have a longer museum tolerance than anyone else in my group. The day of seeing Springsteen was not that day for me.