The Dundee Township Historical Society Museum will usher in the 2020 season with a presentation on the history of Coca-Cola, and several new exhibits, including one that pays tribute to the suffrage movement.
Doors will open at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 8, at 426 Highland Ave., in West Dundee, with a program hosted by guest speaker Richard Volker.
Employed by the Coca-Cola Co. as a sales manager for 40 years, Volker will talk about the popular soft drink’s creation in 1886 and its continued worldwide popularity. He and his wife, Loretta, have an extensive collection of memorabilia they will share and guests are invited to bring their own Coca-Cola items.
The program is free, but donations are welcome. Refreshments will be served.
A new exhibit will pay tribute to the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage. The fight for the right to vote began with the Temperance Movement in the 1820s and culminated in the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920.
“There were so many amazing women involved in the movement,” said Marge Edwards, president of the Dundee Township Historical Society. “And some fought for years to get the amendment passed and didn’t live to see it happen.”
The exhibit includes a mannequin dressed in the fashion of a suffragette holding a sign, as well as background information on the movement.
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Another display will showcase the former Dundee Opera House, which was built circa-1893 on the south side of Main Street. The second floor welcomed traveling shows, musicals, literary reviews, school plays and graduation ceremonies.
“We decided to turn the porch exhibit into a stage,” Edwards said. “Then we have two rows of seats on the main floor. And next to that is going to be in a dressing room.”
The new Advertising of Yesteryear exhibit is the brainchild of Jack Wendt, a member of the board and co-chair of the museum with wife, Nancy. The display will include posters, newspaper ads and other printed materials on local businesses.
“All of this is from the museum collection,” Wendt said. “About 95% of it’s been in storage, so we went through and found things that were apropos of the topic.”
The items span from 1895 through mid-20th century. A vintage menu from The Town Pump, located at 127 W. Main St., in West Dundee, which is now home to Woodfire Brick Oven Pizza, offers a cheeseburger for 80 cents, and a cheeseburger platter, served with a tossed salad and golden French fries, for $1.50. Patrons could get a plate of spaghetti with homemade meat sauce for $1.60 and top it off with a banana split for $1.10.
The 2020 season also will feature a display called “My Favorite Things,” with items from Historical Society volunteers. Edwards is paying tribute to her father.
“I’m going to have a picture of my dad from World War I and a book, “Hardtack and Bullets,” which tells about Company E from Elgin. He was in Company E and he’s mentioned in the book. It tells about what they went through during World War I. That’s something that’s important to me,” she said.
Wendt’s contribution is a picture of his dog, a Springer Spaniel. With it, he’s including a Royal Doulton figurine of the breed.
The Dundee Township Historical Society Museum is open from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays and Sundays, beginning March 8.
For more information, go to http://dundeetownshiphistorical.org/.
Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.