Field House

2019-Dec-10

The Field House Museum is a small and important touchstone in American culture. Come for the history and leave with a wind-up toy or book of poetry for your home collection.

This is the childhood home of Eugene Field.  Ultimately remembered for his children’s poetry, Eugene Field was first a journalist who wrote about music; then he pretty much invented the personal opinion column.  Eugene’s father, Roswell Field, was the lawyer who developed the legal strategy to free Harriet and Dred Scott from slavery. This attempt was denied by the Supreme Court, precipitating the Civil War and projecting Abraham Lincoln into the White House.  During the Great Depression, the children of Saint Louis saved the Field House from disrepair by collecting over $2000 in pennies, dimes and nickels.

Check the internet for hours and admission fees; as a special tip, the holidays are a particularly nice time to go, because the house is decorated with goose-feather Christmas trees.  It’s also fun to pick up a new wind-up toy for the holidays.  Expect the visit to last about one hour. Warn the kids that this is a “do not touch” museum but the gift shop will let you play with the wind-up toys as you choose one to buy at the end of your field trip.

Begin your journey in the free parking lot behind the museum. If the Cardinals are playing, expect the museum to be busy.  Enter the museum, pay the admission fee and inquire about a guided tour. There will be a fee.

The guides are attentive and very knowledgeable and the tour is short and interesting. Visit the smoking parlor, the ladies tea room and the upstairs bedrooms. Delight in the personal items, the house appointments and the toy collection.  See if you can find the teddy bear with real bear fur.

After the tour, explore the changing exhibit in the new wing of the museum, designed by an expert in green building. Eugene Field loved to collect toys, so expect toys to be a focus in many of the changing exhibits.

Finish up your field trip in the gift shop by playing with the wind-up toys.  Inspect the books for sale which include famous poems by Eugene Field such as “Wynken, Blynken and Nod,” “Little Boy Blue,” and “The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat.”  The books with Maxfield Parrish illustrations are particularly nice.  Return home and read a new poem from old Saint Louis before bedtime.

Here’s the link to the Field House Museum: Field House Museum & Toy Collection