The exhibit, Going to Town: Stroll Kalispell in 1941, remembers the city’s Golden Jubilee, which marked Kalispell’s 50th birthday (1891-1941). The downtown area served as the commercial hub for Northwest Montana, drawing residents from the Flathead Valley and beyond to shop, socialize, and stroll Kalispell’s downtown streets. Shoppers could find everything from essential goods to high-fashion apparel. Nine automobile dealerships offered 14 different makes of cars. Multiple department stores, restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, beauty and barber shops, and drugstores lined Main Street.
Visitors will see artifacts including a glass-globed “visible” Husky gas pump, a re-creation of the Mae West sandwich served by the Kalispell Cafe, beauty shop equipment, and period fashions. A grouping of items purchased from the Kalispell Sears Roebuck Order-Only Store alongside the original catalogue advertisements occupy a corner of the exhibit. Also on display: a rare 1938 Western Field rifle—one of 189 made by Mossberg and sold under the Montgomery Ward brand.
Photos of 1941 storefronts in Kalispell along with vintage ads (as shown by one of the volunteer curators, Nancy Hart, above) offer insight into our area’s economy and consumer trends.
An interactive kids’ area features period automobiles.
Visitors are encouraged to wear 1940s period attire, and car owners of the 1941 vintage or earlier are welcome to park in front of, or streets around, the museum for extra ambiance.
Details:
Going to Town: Stroll Kalispell in 1941
free exhibit-opening reception: 5 to 6:30 p.m. July 1
Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell, 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org
Regular museum hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. most Saturdays from June through August