They (led by Bob Dylan) say “the times, they are a-changin’,” with America in a permanent state of flux.
That was certainly true in 1923. World War I, also known as “the war to end all wars,” had been over for five years, but with no way back to the idyllic horse-and-buggy past. Thanks to the 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, women were voting, wearing pants and, gasp, smoking in public. Prohibition had recently been made the law of the land, creating a nation of scofflaws. Women young and old polished their social graces with Emily Post’s “Etiquette,” first published in 1922 (and still in print some 20 editions later), surely a guide for the troubling future seen dimly on the eastern horizon.
Oregon may have been stuck in the mud that year, but stern local souls were determined to rise above the muck to create a cleaner, more prosperous future. In Brownsville, the ladies in banker Harry Thompson’s Italianate mansion attempted to carry on as if all was well, planning a gathering for Howard Carter, that distinguished archaeologist who had just blown the dust off King Tut’s faraway Egyptian tomb.
The Linn County Historical Museum’s “Carriage Me Back” returns visitors – after a three-year pandemic-induced hiatus (not to be confused with the 1918 influenza pandemic) – to that halcyon period in Brownsville on a horse-drawn carriage tour through the city, with stops at the historic Moyer House, on Saturday and Sunday, May 6-7, in an entertaining, history-based docudrama flavored with artistic license.
The rides begin at 10 a.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for children under 12. An entire carriage – which holds 20 people – can be reserved for $225.
For reservations or more information, contact the museum at (541) 466-3390.