One of the first “American Pickers:” Henry Mercer

This weekend we drove to Doylestown, PA and entered a museum unlike any I've ever seen before:  The Mercer Museum.  Not only is the building majestic, but the collection of over 30,000 items is interesting and displayed in a very intriguing way.  It ranges from hand tools and hair combs to a whale boat and Conestoga wagon.  Small rooms show items that relate to various tasks like cooking, sewing, and printing.   One of my favorites was the room filled with old musical instruments.  Historian and Archeologist Henry Mercer collected these "everyday" items so we wouldn't forget about them after the Industrial Revolution.  Mercer apparently was picking through discarded items and going to flea markets well before it became popular enough to be the topic of television shows like "American Pickers."  If you take your family to see his collection, you'll be glad he took the time to collect this stuff and share it with us. It won't take you long to drive to Doylestown, PA, which is a lovely community with a main street full of cafes and shops.  Oh, and as an added bonus, you and your children can play in a room full of old-time toys.  It will be a chance for you to prove to your kids that they don't need videogames to have fun.