Open-air Museum

Open-air Museum

Living museums, also known as living farm museums and living history museums, are a special type of open-air museum where costumed interpreters portray period life in an earlier era. The interpreters act as if they are really living in a different time and place, such as the Colonial era, and perform everyday household tasks, crafts and businesses. The goal is to demonstrate older lifestyles to modern audiences. Household tasks might include cooking on an open hearth, churning butter, spinning wool and weaving, and farming without modern equipment. Many living museums feature traditional craftsmen at work, such as a blacksmith, cooper, potter, miller, sawmill worker, printer, doctor and general store keeper.