The People's Story Museum

I had a delight visiting The People’s Story Museum. While I had a good experience visiting the Museum of Edinburgh (which was across the street), I found this one far more engaging. Let’s break down why. There were several places where wax figures were presented to depict the daily lives of Edinburgh. I really liked the second floor, which featured different depictions of the labor class mobilizing to secure more rights. In particular, I was interested in how socialism gathered a strong foothold among the working class before it led to the formation of the Labor party in the early 1900s. If there one critique I can provide, it’s that several of the informational boards have a ton of text on them. So it can get very crowded trying to look at pictures, key quotes, and informational text. I understand that space is limited so I wonder if there can be one board on top and another on the bottom. Personally, I find that there is a lot of things left unsaid by the exhibits when it comes to working class rights and fighting for more rights during the 19th and 20th century. I believe a more cohesive overview or organization will have crystallized the experience even more

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I absolutely love the People’s Story Museum. This was my third time visiting, don’t ask me why, but I just find everything there so interesting. And to the person who commented about “left-wing propaganda”, the museum is simply explaining the socialist and other social movements that shaped Edinburgh’s history. It’s amazing to learn about the city through the lives and experiences of its past inhabitants. I do have to admit that today, for the first time, I was completely alone on the second and third floor while it was raining outside, and the combination of the darkness, gloomy weather, and those mannequins scared me a little. I definitely wouldn’t want to be the person who has to check everything before closing time! Jokes apart, this is a museum you really shouldn’t miss while visiting the city.

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The museum is a bit tired looking (if that is possible for a museum!), but it's free, it's very central and in a lovely old building (attractive from the outside at least). One gets the impression that the museum had it's hayday 20 years ago. There is no particular order to the exhibits, which is odd. However, if you are in the area, it's worth passing a bit of time. The staff are welcoming.

· via Google

Like many of the museums in Edinburgh this one is free to enjoy. It's mostly covers the subjects of work and employment over the years of people living in and around Edinburgh. There are alot of displays and stories regarding life and experiences as Edinburgh grew. If you like history this will be a rewarding experience, and should that you about 30 minutes to and hour to go through. There are stairs as there are three levels of displays. Great place to go if it's raining.

· via Google