The year it depicts was sprawling and chaotic, but the "1968" exhibit opening Friday at the Minnesota History Center is clean and focused.
Arranged chronologically by month, the 5,000-square-foot show is bookended by two versions of a quintessentially Minnesotan living room, outfitted in a mishmash of not necessarily complementary styles. The elephant in the January room is a real Vietnam-era helicopter, with accompanying newsreels on a practically paleolithic TV depicting what was dubbed "the first living-room war" because it was televised. By December, the living room has been updated with more "mod" accoutrements and a spaceship model representing the Apollo 8 moon orbit that month.
In between are images, artifacts and multimedia presentations covering one of the 20th century's more fractious years, while also acknowledging that a wide swath of Middle America was watching "Hawaii Five-O" and having July 4th cookouts. Presidential candidate Richard Nixon dubbed this hefty demographic "the silent center," upgrading it to the "silent majority" after he won.
Cultural dichotomies abound: The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" vs. Elvis' first comeback concert; the sex-change farce "Myra Breckenridge" vs. the old-fashioned values of "The Green Berets"; Eldridge Cleaver's radical "Soul on Ice" vs. pristine Peggy Fleming on ice.
Vintage-fashion fans will love the iconic outfits on display, from Twiggy-style minidresses to full fringe and bell-bottom hippie regalia. But there are surprises along the way: for example, how clean-cut, well-dressed young adults outnumber long-haired hippies in a photo taken near the Democratic National Convention.
Curated by the History Center's Brian Horrigan and designed by Earl Gutnik, the exhibit will tour nationally after premiering in St. Paul. Still, Minnesota touches go well beyond the Danish/Mediterranean home furnishings. Native sons Hubert Humphrey and Eugene McCarthy get their due, and among the displays are a Ramsey County voting booth and chairs once used in Hennepin County libraries.
Walking into "The 1968 Exhibit," boomers might suddenly feel like curling up in front of the TV for an episode of "Bonanza." But it's designed to appeal to all ages, not just those wearing rose-colored granny glasses. If you're under 40, you're guaranteed to discover some things you didn't know were retro.
