Welcome to the Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum Blog! Have you ever been to our museum? We are located in Rockford, Illinois, just 90 miles west of Chicago. The actual museum is a Victorian mansion that looks like a Swiss chalet. The furniture in the house is original to the family and we also have their artwork, clothes, letter, and diaries. Our museum is affiliated with the Rockford Park District and we have been a museum since 1943. We hope this Blog helps you understand the history of the museum and keeps you up-to-date on our upcoming events. If you have any questions or feedback, email me: steve@tinkercottage.com or call 815-964-2424. Thank you and have a great day!
Dr. H.H. Holmes “Killer” Book Signing at Tinker!
Posted January 26, 2012 by tinkercottagemuseumCategories: Uncategorized
Gov. Quinn Visits The Museum!
Posted January 26, 2012 by tinkercottagemuseumCategories: Media, Museum grounds, Television
Gov. Quinn in the Tinker library
We had a visit from Illinois Gov. Quinn on January 17th to announce a grant to help build an Amtrak station across from the museum. We will once again have trains running from Chicago to Rockford. There has not been a passenger train between the two cities since the 1970′s.
We thank everyone that came out to the press conference!
Buy A Calendar With Tinker Inside!
Posted December 30, 2011 by tinkercottagemuseumCategories: ghost tours, grounds, Museum grounds, paranormal event
My friends at Phantasmagoria Photography have created a new calendar! Tinker Swiss Cottage is inside (April)! Click HERE to take a peek and hopefully buy the calendar. Thank you!
Cindy Karnitz was on the Morning Blend!
Posted December 30, 2011 by tinkercottagemuseumCategories: Education, Family, grounds, History, Media, Museum grounds, Television
Our Executive Director of Administration, Cindy Karnitz, was on a local news show called ‘The Morning Blend.’ She was also on WTVO a few days later. We are becoming quite popular!
Happy Holidays from the Museum Staff and Board!
Posted December 23, 2011 by tinkercottagemuseumCategories: Christmas, Family, History, Museum grounds
Hello Everyone!
We would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
May 2012 be a prosperous year for you and your family, and we hope to see you here at the museum at one of our numerous events!
2012 will be the “Year of the Book” at the museum, and we will share some of the great events that we have coming up soon!
Be safe!
Railroad Lecture at the Museum!
Posted December 23, 2011 by tinkercottagemuseumCategories: Education, grounds, History, lecture, Museum grounds, railroad
We are pleased to announce that the museum is having a special lecture on the local railroads by Dr. Simon Cordery of Monmouth College in Illinois.
The lecture will be held at the museums Visitor Center on Saturday, January 14, 2012 from 2-3 PM.
Tickets are on sale now!
The price is $5 for non-members and $3 for museum members. If you would like more information on the event, give us a call at 815-964-2424 or email me @ steve@tinkercottage.com.
Thank you for your support of the museum!
Decorated For Christmas!
Posted December 23, 2011 by tinkercottagemuseumCategories: Christmas, grounds, History, Museum grounds, Victorian Christmas
Hello Everyone!
The museum is beautifully decorated for Christmas! Come out and see the museum before we close for general admission tours in January and February!
We are open the last week from Tuesday Dec. 27th through Friday, December 30th, with guided tours at 1 PM and 3 PM!
We will open again for general admission tours on Thursday, March 1, 2012!
We hope to see you soon!
Tonight-The Society for Anomalous Studies
Posted October 28, 2011 by tinkercottagemuseumCategories: Education, ghost tours, History, mourning customs, Museum grounds, paranormal event
Hello Everyone,
This evening, so close to Halloween, we have special guests, The Society For Anomalous Studies. Here is a little bit about them: “The Society for Anomalous Studies is a cooperative of experienced paranormal researchers who have come together to conduct well structured and objective investigations into claims of ghosts and hauntings, psychical and parapsychological experiences, Ufology and Cryptozoology. The SAS’s mission is to seek out truths and facts as they are revealed through data collected following a scientific methodology.
Members of the SAS bring years of practical field and research experience to the table as well as professional diversity. The SAS is fortunate to have members who have military, aviation, electronic and engineering, computer programming, laboratory, writing, music, business, social work and education skills and experience. We feel this combination of research experience and professional skills puts the SAS in a good position to not only assist clients who may have had an anomalous experience but also make meaningful contributions to all these unique fields of study.
Covering both Wisconsin and Illinois, the society will consider serious investigation requests as well as offer free phone and e-mail consultations worldwide.”
It should be a great evening! Thank you to everyone for supporting our paranormal evenings!
Ghost Head Soup & Dale Kaczmarek at Tinker!
Posted October 19, 2011 by tinkercottagemuseumCategories: Education, ghost tours, grounds, History, Museum grounds, paranormal event
Dale Kaczmarek
This Friday, those who have an RSVP (sorry we are full) will get to meet the paranormal team Ghost Head Soup and paranormal guru Dale Kaczmarek of the Ghost Research Society. Ghost Head Soup is a group of dedicated local paranormal professionals that has done a lot of pioneering research in the field, but they also like to have fun. Dale Kaczmarek has been a paranormal researcher before it was “cool” in the 1970′s. Dale is an author who gives numerous presentations across the country to help budding paranormal researchers. Basically, Dale has forgotten more about paranormal research than many people know combined. We are glad and honored to have both Ghost Head Soup and Dale Kaczmarek at our museum. Since our paranormal tours have become popular (they filled up fast), we have added two more dates on Friday November 11th at 7 p.m. and Friday, December 16th at 7 p.m. The cost is $15 per person. If you want to make sure that you are on the list, give us a call at 815-964-2424 or email me @ steve@tinkercottage.com. Hope to see you then!
Ghost Head Soup
Paranormal Evening With TnT Paranormal Investigators!
Posted October 11, 2011 by tinkercottagemuseumCategories: Education, ghost tours, grounds, History, Museum grounds, paranormal event
Greenwood Cemetery
Hello Everyone,
We will have another great paranormal tour this Friday, October 14, 2011. Our special guest’s will be TnT Paranormal Investigators. They will give one of their great presentations, showing audio and video evidence they have captured in the past. I will play some evidence that has been captured at the museum, then we will have a rare night tour of the museum. The tour will begin at 7 pm, and we will be finished between 9:30-10 pm. The cost is $15 per person, which is very reasonable. The tour begins at the museum’s visitor center. You can RSVP by calling 815-964-2424 or email me at steve@tinkercottage.com. Please RSVP before all of the seats are filled! Thank you!
