Saturday, March 26, 2011

Out there in TV Land: Rigby, Idaho, birthplace of television and other delights



Rigby's Philo T. Farnsworth invented television, and they want you to know about it.


The smaller the town the bigger the hair, they say.

Ouch!

You should have seen the one that got away.

Alrighty, then.

Of all the atomic-themed quilts out there, I like this one best.

I'm guessing they're father and son.








One of our absolute favorite things to do on road trips is to seek out little museums and historical societies in small towns across this great land of ours and the small eastern Idaho town of Rigby certainly fits this bill grandly. Rigby calls itself "the birthplace of television" because of local resident Philo T. Farnsworth, who imagined the concept of television while plowing potato fields before inventing the vacuum tube television display. A tribute to Farnsworth can be seen at Rigby's Farnsworth TV & Pioneer Museum, a converted former motel that also houses the Jefferson County Historical Society. Inside you'll find all kinds of small town historical gems: photos of big-haired piano-playing ladies and fishermen with their prize catches, local criminology artifacts, books about breastfeeding, and much, much more. Places like this with their "Hey look me over" attitude make driving fun and America great. "All the lovely (sic) people...where do they all come from?" Rigby, that's where.

3 comments:

roadsidewonders said...

An excellent destination and a well-crafted allusion to the Beatles :)

Gunnar and Sherry said...

Thanks Wendy! Now I've got to go wear the face that I keep in a jar by the door.

Amber Von Felts said...

Wow, what an eclectic assortment of items! Its funny what the historical society considered historic! I love that lady with the big hair!