"I feel sorry for the guy who made that investment," said 10-year-old Molly Lo Re.
After touring only a fraction of the museum's exhibits, the kids got to work two shifts in the factory, trying their hands at both skilled and unskilled positions. They got paid at the end of each shift, not in money, but in tokens, just as the cannery workers did. Then they were invited into the company store which, then and now, is the only place where the tokens are accepted.
Their faces glowed with delight as they clinked the tokens in their pockets and surveyed the toys, china and candy that they planned to buy. But their faces fell as Cane, playing Mr. Hughes, the proprietor, passed a can around the room and made them pay for utilities, housing, clothing and food instead.
"I felt robbed," said 9-year-old Will Witkop after he went bankrupt paying for essentials.
While no one got to buy any luxury goods, the kids didn't leave empty-handed. Each child got to take home one of the handmade cardboard cans of marble oysters with their school's name on it that they helped create in the cannery. The kids also got free passes to come back to the museum with their families, trips that will undoubtedly be very different from this structured school program.
Moore, the teacher who organized our field trip, figures that she's visited the museum at least 20 times. "Every time I go there I still learn something new," she says. "It's a nice mix of historical facts and background along with hands-on activities that makes the whole experience full-on fun and worth every penny."
Her fourth-grade students heartily agreed.
THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF INDUSTRY -- 1415 Key Hwy., Baltimore. 410-727-4808. www.thebmi.org. Monday through Saturday 10 to 4 and Sundays 11 to 4. $10 adults, $6 children and seniors. The museum offers hands-on activities for visitors on weekends. Saturday and Sunday, the museum hosts Slime Time, where visitors will get a chance to create glue-based concoctions. On April 2 and 3, visitors are invited to an Invention Convention, where they can try to create a new culinary treat out of different foods, design a building made with recycled materials, build a better paper glider and explore old machines such as toasters and computers.
