Tiny Alaska and Lily's . . . "palace"

At Pioneer Park in Fairbanks, Alaska, there is a large riverboat-turned-diorama museum. The different sets chronicle the different kinds of towns that have speckled Alaska throughout the ages. I loved the visualisations of what these towns looked like at different times in history, depending on the people group that founded them.

I love dioramas. I fantasized about being a diorama-maker. I mean, who puts together all those tiny trees? Is there a special tree-making machine somewhere? Or does an actual person glue the branches on one by one? And did that person have to be committed to a mental institution after gluing approximately 5 million branches on approximately half a million tiny trees? And is this person’s name Berthelmina?

Poor Berthelmina.

There’s just something fascinating about a world tinier than a doll house. Look at the cute little U.S. Mail building! Look at the cute little pile of logs!

The adorable pile of luggage! The be-hatted folks of yore! The delightful green shirtwaist!

And then you start wondering about the little people themselves–like, who is this woman?

Why is she leaving the hospital alone? Did she just come from visiting an ailing patient? Or is she a kindly young woman in the flower of her youth who goes to read to the moribund, but will shortly be swept off her feet by a rakish logger (who watches her go in and out every day around 2pm, totally besotted) and taken away into the wilderness for a romantic, rustic life trapping animals and loading up a cellar with preserves for the long winter?

I want to load up the cellar with preserves for the long winter!

Anyway, I wandered around, bent over so that I could see the sets at eye-level and really get into things. Look at that cute train! I breathed. And that cute river! And that cute bear!

And this cute little communal grouping of cabins . . . !

Wait a minute . . . Who is this ‘Lily,’ and what exactly is going on here?

Hey . . . this ain’t no quaint grouping of cute little cabins!

8 thoughts on “Tiny Alaska and Lily's . . . "palace"

  1. Joanne

    Poor Berthelmina is right…not only does she have to deal with all of those tiny branches…but her name is Berthelmina. I’m pretty certain her parents had some kind of vendetta against her.

    Also, you won my rice giveaway! WOOT WOOT! I’ll be emailing you to put you in contact with the Mambo Sprouts coordinator!

  2. Megan @ Wanna Be A Country Cleaver

    Oh lumberjack, sweep me off my feet. Oh wait, I am a lumberjack…or a lumberjill, rather. le sigh.
    I just imagine the tiny little goings on about town, what price the storekeep is selling his faire at and what color the shirtwaists are being ordered in by the lovely local women trying to stay up on the latest fashions though hundreds of miles away from what most would consider civilization.

  3. thewritingmom

    I have never personally had the pleasure of making a diorama of any sort – and now I’m a little sad about it. Your post brought me a laugh in my day of doldrums, so thank you!

  4. Veronica

    I just love your sense of humor! Wow, this is so cool. We have something like this at Exploration Place here in Wichita, which shows our city back in the 50s. Pretty cool!

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