Calling all Space Cadets: a new exhibit at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) features vintage space-inspired toys on loan from the Space Museum in Bonne Terre, Missouri. Here’s a sampling of what you’ll see if you stop by STL Terminal 1, plus a fun video from ‘Living St. Louis’ all about the museum and its creator.
All images courtesy STL Airport.
It will be a while until you can visit a United Polaris lounge and order the specialty cocktail that comes with a little cut-out of a paper airplane.
But you can use your at-home time to make your own paper airplanes.
Reno-Tahoe International Airport’s (RNO) Kindness Takes Flight Home Edition has this handy downloadable paper airplane design that includes numbered instructions.
The Fold ‘n Fly site offers a database of paper airplane designs, with instructions and videos, that can be searched by difficulty and type, i.e. acrobatic, time aloft, etc.
My favorite is the one that is designed to fly like a bee.
And, once you’ve made your paper airplane, you might want to download instructions for making a paper airplane launcher, courtesy of Scientific American.
And let’s take a moment to celebrate the fact that since 2017 the paper airplane has been a soaring member of the National Toy Hall of Fame housed at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.
Here’s part of the Strong’s ode to the paper airplane:
“… The success of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk in 1903 fostered renewed hope of powered flight and no doubt contributed to the purported invention, in 1909, of the paper airplane. The principles that make an airplane fly are the same that govern paper versions. Paper’s high strength and density make it similar, scale-wise, to the materials used to construct airplanes...
…Play with paper airplanes is far from formulaic and constrained. Where some toys require financial investment, paper airplanes start with a simple sheet of paper, coupled with dexterity, to produce a toy with infinite aeronautical possibilities. “
Your next seatmate may be a … giant plush toy from an iconic toy shop.
Just in time for holiday shopping, a 300-square-foot FAO Schwarz pop-up shop has opened in Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The shop is FAO Schwarz’s first-ever travel retail store and it will only be at the airport through December 31, 2017.
The pop-up shop will sell a holiday collection that includes classic items, ranging from oversized plush animals to vintage toys and the infamous floor piano.
A great selection of 20th century dolls and toys, including cast metal figures, wind-ups, electric trains and action figures from the (yet to open) Austin Toy Museum are on display in the east and west food courts at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
There’s a Kewpie doll from 1925, a Lionel streamlined steam locomotive with tender from the 1940s and a set of dolls from the “The Simpsons” circa 1991.
Batman and Robin are here and so are G.I. Joe, Spock and Barbie.
“20th Century Toys” is on display through August 4, 2015 in post-security pylon showcases on the concourse between Gates 7-11.
(All photos courtesy of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport)
7-foot-tall K’NEX exhibit at PHL Airport. Photo by Rick McMullin, Philadelphia International Airport
Fans of the K’NEX Brand building systems will be delighted to see this giant K’NEX structure that will be on display at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), post-security in Terminal A-West, through October, 2014
According to PHL play experts, a team of six designers and engineers worked together for almost 170 hours to create this 7-foot-high structure using more than 48,000 K’NEX parts.
There’s also a new exhibit at San Francisco International Airport organized by the SFO Museum and the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco that features seventy-five contemporary artworks created by some of Korea’s most respected artists.
Translated Vases 2014 by Yeesookyung. Ceramic shards, epoxy, 24k gold leaf. Courtesy SFO Museum
Look for Dual Natures in Ceramics in Terminal 3, Boarding Area F from Saturday, May 17, 2014 through Sunday, February 22, 2015.
In the meantime, here’s a link to an on-line selection of items from the exhibition.