Spiffy Museum Of History Is A Holiday Hit

People thronged to the newly reopened National Museum of American History, while the number of visitors to the National Air and Space Museum fell during the four-day holiday weekend, which traditionally is one of the busiest museum-going times of the year.

The revamped Museum of American History attracted more than 85,800 people during Thanksgiving weekend, a big boost over the 29,800 people who came during the same period in 2005, before the museum closed for renovation. In 2004, more than 52,800 people attended over the four days.

"There were a few traffic jams in the popular-culture area, where people were lining up to see the ["Wizard of Oz"] ruby slippers and Kermit the Frog," said Brent D. Glass, the museum's director. "And also in the Star-Spangled Banner gallery, the room with the Gettysburg Address and in the American Presidency exhibit." Glass said the museum had historic characters -- who entertained the visitors waiting in line -- to bring "more animation" to the hallways.

"The numbers were about what we expected," Glass said. "What really pleased me was that the architecture seemed to work. People distributed themselves around the museum and were able to also find the older exhibits."

On the other end of the Mall, the Air and Space Museum lost nearly 18,000 people over the long weekend from the previous year. This year, it attracted about 97,400 people, compared with 115,700 in 2007.

The National Gallery of Art, which is not part of the Smithsonian but shares the prominent real estate, drew just as many visitors as the Air and Space Museum. The gallery attracted about 97,400 in four days. Its Friday crowd of about 38,200 declined from last year, when 45,000 came through its doors.

Overall, the Smithsonian museums reported yesterday about 451,300 visitors, from Thursday morning to Sunday night. That is a substantial increase from 356,300 visitors in 2007, when the American History museum was still shuttered for its $85 million renovation.

The National Museum of Natural History continued to pack in the crowds that have come since the opening of the Sant Ocean Hall in late September. Over the weekend, Natural History had more than 122,00 visitors, compared with about 100,00 in 2007.

"Traditionally Thanksgiving is a great weekend for attractions throughout the region," said Victoria Isley, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Destination DC, which promotes tourism in Washington. "Many families are entertaining guests from out of town."

And Friday is usually a bonanza day for attendance: American History had about 29,200 visitors last Friday, compared with about 27,800 the same day in 2004. In 2005 -- before the museum closed for a renovation that includes new exhibits, improved ways to navigate around the museum and a grand space with an atrium -- it had a dismal showing with 12,600 visitors the day after Thanksgiving.