Kansas City has the Chiefs and good barbeque, which I expected …

… but it’s also a good museum city. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has an impressive collection, but the National Museum of Toys and Miniatures was an unexpected pleasure. Tiny furniture, reproductions of famous paintings, an architecture classroom, a jewelry store, French salons, even tiny dollhouses: it is a cornucopia of myopia.

The toys were amazing for different reasons: kids’ (or their parents’) historical ideas of fun, plus gender roles and morals on display. The Game of the Telegraph Boy, for example, teaches its players how to advance from messenger boy to company president through integrity, diligence, and affability; but show laziness or intemperance, and it’s a demotion for you. Plus historical artifacts, toys I had as a kid, and toys I’m glad I didn’t have as a kid.

Next: St. Louis.