Mansfield Museum launches free pop up 1950's exhibition to celebrate Platinum Jubilee

The set is a snapshot of a living room during Her Majesty's coronation in 1953, with staff at the museum wanting the exhibition to be an interactive experience with board games, newspapers, furniture, and magazines from the 1950s. The living room features a retro television and homely interior of the decade.

Beginning with a two-day stint at the museum in Leeming Street last weekend, it will visit Ladybrook Community Centre (William Kaye Hall) tomorrow (Thursday, June 2, from 1pm to 4pm; Warsop Methodist Church, on Friday, June 3, from 11am to 3pm; Oak Tree Lane Tesco on Saturday, June 4, from 9am to 7pm; and Trowell Court on Bellamy Road, Mansfield, on Sunday, June 5, from 12pm to 5pm.

Jodie Henshaw, Museum Curator at Mansfield Museum said: “We applied for some funding for a Jubilee event, as we wanted to do something different. We are also very aware that there are people who can't always get to things, so we wanted to do something that could travel around the area.”

Thanks to National Lottery players, the museum was awarded funding to bring this 1950’s replica to the community. Some venues will also have food and children's crafting activities.

The museum team have worked closely with theatre designer Sam Pine on the pop-up exhibition over the last three months. The staff have been leafleting the sites where the exhibition will visit.

Jodie added: “All the sites across the community have said that there's a buzz and excitement around it.”

The launch of the 1950’s pop-up Living Room has been well-received by visitors, as young resident Oliver, (pictured reading the newspaper) said: "It is really cosy! I like the room."

Oliver's family also said how impressed they are with the detail of the set and felt it was an interesting way for people to experience history.

Mansfield Museum's Gallery Assistant, Tony Green said: "People can feel part of history here, you can sit down and actively look around. The set has been designed as an interactive exhibition. You can come in, touch everything, read old newspapers - take pictures. It is great!"

The museum also plans to launch '70 voices' in line with the Jubilee – a project which aims to collate an audio time capsule of public opinion, interviewing 70 diverse residents from across the community about their lives and thoughts on Her Majesty's reign. The hope is to capture public opinion and life in Mansfield in 2022 to be studied in years to come.

Will you be visiting the exhibition?