Posts Tagged With: tribal museum

Pocatello, Idaho October 3

Readers of this blog know that we can do some unusual things that don’t excite the average traveler. Today was a good example of that. We visited the Museum Of Clean in Pocatello Idaho. This is a museum spanning four floors and 75,000 ft.². It was begun by a gentleman who started a cleaning company and went on to be a motivational speaker and author. He was born and raised in eastern Idaho.

Once again, we did not know fully what to expect when walking into this place. We left over two and one half hours later overwhelmed and probably still had not seen everything. They say in their promotional brochures, it’s not meant to be a clean museum, but a museum about clean. Our visit started with one whole floor devoted to vacuum cleaners. Evidently someone else’s collection was purchased by this museum, causing the extraordinary number and variety of vacuums to be on display.

Hand operated vacuums began in 1860 and electrical ones around the turn of the century. Familiar names from the past are spotlighted plus companies never heard of by anyone but the most vacuum crazed individual. The walls have copies of written advertisements, most, of course, depicting how their vacuum will make a woman’s life easier. Some of the designs of these vacuums were simply weird.

The mop totem pole

Vacuums are not the only items on display. A video on how to clean windows. Cleaning golf clubs. Cartoon humor about cleaning. Devices for dusting. Sponges, polishes, and floor cleaners. Money laundering. Early dental cleaning and, of course, toilet cleaning. One whole room is devoted to artwork. Even a section on chimney sweeps from England. Did you know before little kids were stuck down chimneys to clean them that the chimney sweep business would put a white goose on a rope and toss it down the chimney, and as the goose flaps its wings to get back up, it cleaned the chimney?

In addition, to being overwhelmed by the items displayed on these four floors, we were frequently delighted by the written descriptions of the items. Many clearly reflected a satirical bent.

As we were leaving, we talked with the son-in-law of the founder. He asked our opinion and advice about their addition of a section devoted to cleaning up the environment. We shared our thoughts with him, now we will have to return to see how this new section turns out.

Display showing the closeness of the Shoshone and Bannock languages

Fifteen miles north of the Museum Of Clean is the museum for the Shoshone Bannock Indian tribe. These were two tribes that were relatively close in language and traditions, who were forced together due to the decimation of their peoples. They now inhabit the Fort Hall Reservation which partially surrounds the city of Pocatello. Their museum focused on their history and some examples of their craft work.

Ed and Chris, Pocatello ID Oct. 3