Just the other day, I was looking up some information about Tennessee Williams on Wikipedia and found a remarkable and exciting anecdote in the 'Education' section of his biography. "Williams was seven years old in 1918 when his father was promoted to a job at the home office of the International Shoe Company in St. Louis." If you're thinking, 'Wow, Lauren, you're really behind the times, of course Williams drew from his personal experience to write The Glass Menagerie... it's said to be semi-autobiographical,' then you've gone down the wrong lane. I was excited by the actual name of the company his father worked for: the International Shoe Company.
See the thing is, I grew up in central Illinois, so St. Louis has always been a nice little day trip to go see exciting/cultural/historical things in the city, and in 2005, I went to the CITY Museum for the first time with a group of friends. WOW! It's possibly the most fun you'll ever have in any 'museum' in the world. And... it's an old shoe factory. The old factory building of the International She Company, in fact. The very "warehouse" Tennessee refers to in the play that caused Tom such misery (or Missouri?) is now a destination for exploration and excitement. I've told numerous people about it and pretty much whenever I've been in the area, I've brought out-of-town friends to explore it with me. I've been three or four times myself and it seems like there's more to explore every time.
As far as I recall, there's no signifier letting folks know that such a big figure in American literature and theatre once worked there in its warehouse days. However, after some searching, I found a blog mentioning it as well as a news release from the St. Louis Convention & Visitor's Commission listing sights in St. Louis connected with Tennessee Williams for this year's celebration of the 100th year of his birth. While Tom says, "You think I'm crazy about the warehouse?," I'd argue that most people are crazy about the 'warehouse' these days with its current incarnation as a funhouse of history and adventure. From the caves to the slides (made from old shoe chutes!), CITY Museum has so much to explore - both inside the building and out - so I highly recommend the trip when you're anywhere within five hours of it. It boggles the mind to think that such joy comes from a place that caused Tennessee Williams to have a nervous breakdown.
I've posted a slideshow below to give you a sense of what there is available to experience at the CITY Museum. There aren't all that many pictures in the slideshow, but if you Google 'City Museum Pictures' you're sure to see more. Enjoy!
And if you've been to CITY Museum, please tell us your stories! What's your favorite element of it? Or, if you have questions, ask away! As always, I encourage you to check out the immediate theatre project blog, too. Since this in a co-production, we're co-blogging!
As far as I recall, there's no signifier letting folks know that such a big figure in American literature and theatre once worked there in its warehouse days. However, after some searching, I found a blog mentioning it as well as a news release from the St. Louis Convention & Visitor's Commission listing sights in St. Louis connected with Tennessee Williams for this year's celebration of the 100th year of his birth. While Tom says, "You think I'm crazy about the warehouse?," I'd argue that most people are crazy about the 'warehouse' these days with its current incarnation as a funhouse of history and adventure. From the caves to the slides (made from old shoe chutes!), CITY Museum has so much to explore - both inside the building and out - so I highly recommend the trip when you're anywhere within five hours of it. It boggles the mind to think that such joy comes from a place that caused Tennessee Williams to have a nervous breakdown.
I've posted a slideshow below to give you a sense of what there is available to experience at the CITY Museum. There aren't all that many pictures in the slideshow, but if you Google 'City Museum Pictures' you're sure to see more. Enjoy!
And if you've been to CITY Museum, please tell us your stories! What's your favorite element of it? Or, if you have questions, ask away! As always, I encourage you to check out the immediate theatre project blog, too. Since this in a co-production, we're co-blogging!
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