The Hop Museum, Version 1
Posted on May 27, 2008
Filed Under Museums & tours |
Posted by Daria
I hate to kick a man or a museum when it’s down, but the American Hop Museum in Toppenish is really a sad place. It’s a small repository that obviously lacks funds for upkeep. The introductory video is out of date, as are the exhibits. It’s dirty and dusty. Bags of ancient dried hops sit around, all signs of fragrance long gone. The signage is mostly uninformative, and some of the signs have misspelled words. Some of the displays are broken; pictures hang askew. Display cases give you no information about the items within them. The “colonial brewing” exhibit is stuck behind the large-screen video monitor in the room where you watch the introductory video.
The best thing about the museum is the murals painted on the outside of the building. Toppenish calls itself the “City of Murals,” and these depict families of hop pickers out in the fields. The panels also discuss hops and the hop growing industry. They’re more informative than most of what’s inside.
The museum does have a few interesting pieces of equipment, but doesn’t provide much insight into how they actually worked. My favorite thing, other than the murals, was the display of stencils for hop bags. And the video did provide a decent overview of the industry.
It didn’t help that a local rock station was blaring on the stereo; I think two songs aired in between all the commercials, and “Dude Looks Like a Lady” isn’t really in keeping with the spirit of a historical museum.
Admission was $3 per adult and $2 for students. The gift shop has some nice items.
If any museum programs in Washington are looking for a case study project, this would be a prime opportunity.
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4 Responses to “The Hop Museum, Version 1”
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I don’t think I’ll add this to my bucket list.
Nancy
If you had done a little research you would have known that the hop industry has been in a state of depress prices for over 10 years.
There are families that have grown hops for several generations that are out of the business. It is a worldwide market and our government does not subsidize hop growers as governments do in other countries.
The museum is supported by fund raisers and donations.It has never requested or received any federal or state grants.
Your posting has not helped our situation, but it is right to express your opinion. But I guess the lack of financial support is no excuse. Do you have any suggestions to help us rather then to criticize us?
I have a full time job, but I do as much volunteer work at the museum that I can.
In your opinion what Hop Museum in the United States will surpass the one in Toppenish?
The museum staff continually receives positive feed back from the museum’s visitors and the museum has many repeat visitors who bring in other family members or friends. They say hop museum is a hidden treasure, which offers information and displays that are unique and informative.
Obviously you were having a bad day, when you visited the hop museum.
I don’t know what date you visited the museum, however, before the season begins on May 1st, the museum is dusted, vacuumed, mopped and the display cases are cleaned inside and out. The Museum is vacuumed, dusted and cleaned weekly. The bags of ancient dried hops are from last year’s crop. The appearance and lack of fragrance is inherent to un-refrigerated hops that were harvested 7 months ago. Fresh green fragrant hops are not available year round; the museum must rely on the annual harvest which takes place in September each year. There are no broken displays, perhaps you didn’t know what you were looking at? Therefore, you should have asked questions rather than writing a scathing posting on the internet.
Although the introductory video is over 10 years old, it is representative of the modern horticultural practices utilized by the hop industry today.
The back ground music is just that “background”. I will admit the music is not from the late 1800’s, however, to claim that it was blaring is not realistic.
The museum receives no outside funding and everything from the building to the displays was from or by hop growers (present or past) or industry associates. The museum is a continual work in progress, as time & money permits.
Hi, sorry not to have responded more quickly. I also wrote about the museum here.
I appreciate that you receive no outside funding, and certainly would like to see the industry support you better, but the fact is I saw this museum when it was newer and in good repair, so spotting the difference is easy.