Changing Exhibits

Current Exhibit

The Civil Air Patrol and the Air Force Junior ROTC
Continues through October 2008

The exhibit is comprised of memorabilia and artifacts from the Civil Air Patrol, as well as the Air Force Junior ROTC Program. Formed days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941,the Civil Air Patrol is an aviation -oriented, civilian organization and is the official auxiliary of the United States Air Force. The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps trains high school students to be officers in the military. There is a local program at Dieruff High School in Allentown, which was one of the first programs in the nation in 1966. The exhibit continues through the spring and summer, 2008.

2008 Holiday Exhibits
Friday, November 28 through Saturday, January 3, 2009

Pip's Winter Wonderland

A fantasy winter wonderland has been created by Artistic Director and Museum Curator, Joshua A. Fink. "Winter Wonderland" is patterned after the "Fantasyland " display around the Pip the Mouse stage when it was set up inside the Hess's Department Store on Hamilton Street years ago. Included in the "Winter Wonderland" are antique mechanical toys and a Swiss chalet house from the Hess's display.

This year Geoffrey the Giraffe will make his first appearance. Geoffrey was rescued from Hess's by the Allentown Preservation League. He has recently been donated to the Museum and restored to his former glory. Geoffrey will be joined by other plush animals, characters and children's toys reminiscent of his original friends at Hess's. Also this year, "Thomas the Tank Engine" Train will join "The Polar Express" Train as they run through the "Wonderland," recalling the days of Hess's fabulous train layouts and displays.

Giant Hess's Toy Soldiers

The Museum entrance is again guarded by two toy soldiers who announce the 2008 Holiday Season at the Museum to all those who pass by. These 21-foot guardians once decorated the front of Hess's department stores around the Lehigh Valley. Ever popular with visitors and residents, the soldiers are on loan from the City of Allentown.

Pennsylvania German Putz

This Christmas village is reminiscent of holiday displays that the Pennsylvania Germans built, starting in the mid-nineteenth century. The displays were most often erected underneath the Christmas tree and included a nativity scene depicting Christ’s birth. This Christmas putz features 19 buildings from Lehigh County"s past and present. The buildings, including such famous landmarks as Trout Hall, the Old Courthouse, and Zion"s Reformed Church, are built to scale and surrounded by a train and a trolley. The putz, a holiday tradition at the Museum, was originally built in 1977. It is built each year by volunteers from the Lehigh County Senior Citizens Center.

Pennsylvania German Christmas Tree

This Christmas tree is decorated in the style of the Pennsylvania Germans in the Lehigh Valley in the mid-nineteenth century. The tree features handmade items such as cookies, pretzels, cranberry and popcorn garlands, as well as natural items such like nuts and cinnamon sticks. The tree is decorated each year by Ann Wertman and Joe Zeller of New Tripoli.

Permanent Exhibits

• Allentown's own liberty bell, cast in 1769 and rung to call the townspeople to hear the reading of the Declaration of Independence.


• A Fiber-optics map showing key revolutionary war troop movements and the route of the wagon train taking the bells from Philadelphia to Allentown.


• Revolutionary War era artifacts


• A Civil War Exhibit celebrating the "First Defenders"


• The new General Harry C. Trexler Portraits of Freedom Center.