Ever wondered where longstanding museum exhibits go when their time ends?
Thanks to the Frazier History Museum, the incredibly popular “Spirits of the Bluegrass: Prohibition and Kentucky” exhibit will live on for at least two more years when it’s reopened this month at the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History in Bardstown, Ky.
The goodness and smartness of this idea is hard to exaggerate. The Getz gets too little love attention despite its location at the center of Bourbon Country. This shot in the arm will serve it well by raising the museum’s profile among visitors and give even more people good reasons to visit Bardstown.
To the details supplied in a news release:
“On May 19 Spirits of the Bluegrass: Prohibition and Kentucky, one of the most popular exhibitions in the Frazier’s 14-year history, will re-open at the Getz Museum in Bardstown, marking the first time ever that a Frazier original has hit the road as a traveling exhibition. The acquisition has inspired the Getz to renovate its own permanent collection, adopting a rotating cast of displays to help freshen up the experience for visitors. …
“Featuring two full bars and a lighted stage, the Frazier’s Prohibition and Kentucky exhibit, which ran from fall 2016 to winter 2018, explored the unintended consequences of Prohibition by tracing the rise of the temperance movement, bootleggers, speakeasies and flappers during the 1920s and ‘30s. But given the size of the venue, the new exhibit will be a slightly scaled down and — no pun intended! — distilled version of the original. …
“A lineup of artifacts organized chronologically will tell the story of the temperance movement, followed by Prohibition in 1920 and its repeal in 1933. A new point of focus will be Prohibition’s impact on the city of Bardstown, where a black market for moonshine replaced the shuttered liquor distilleries. …
“Prohibition and Kentucky will open to the public on Saturday, May 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and remain open at the Getz Museum for a period of two or three years. …
“On June 14, National Bourbon Day, the Getz will host a ceremonial ribbon-cutting to officially kick off the exhibit and celebrate the holiday. As a nod to the culture of the Prohibition era, the Getz will have a 1920s jazz band play while teetotalers and partiers voice their preferences.
“The Oscar Getz Museum opened in 1984 … and is located in Spalding Hall, an antebellum brick building that served as a hospital during the Civil War. …
“At the insistence of the Getz family, admission to the museum remains free of charge.
The Frazier’s new partnership with the Getz reflects its burgeoning commitment to Bourbon tourism. On August 25 the Frazier Museum will be launching two Bourbon-themed projects of its own: the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® Welcome Center and Spirit of Kentucky exhibition. …
“The Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History is open year-round, six or seven days a week (closed on Mondays during the winter) with attendance thriving during the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in September. Whisky Magazine has named the Getz as a “Whiskey Visitor Attraction of the Year.” Guided tours are available upon request.”
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