The National Museum of American History is closed to the public while it undergoes “a major architectural transformation.” The planned work will upgrade the building's infrastructure and interior, and will construct a state-of-the-art gallery for the star-spangled banner. It is scheduled to reopen in the summer of 2008.

However, when open, this is another four-floor museum where you can expect to be fascinated for at least three hours (and perhaps an additional hour in the exhaustive gift shop). The exhibit about the first ladies is very popular, especially the section where you can see their inaugural gowns, and the huge Foucault's pendulum never fails to fascinate the visitors. There is so much that kids will enjoy that it is hard to know where to begin. The pop-culture touchstones on view include Archie Bunker's chair, Mr. Spock's phaser, and Dorothy's ruby slippers. There are a number of exhibits on the scientific innovations and technological advances that have made the United States a world leader, such as Thomas Edison's light bulb and Henry Ford's Model T. There are also halls on the historical events and sociological experiences that define our country.

First Floor

If you enter from Constitution Avenue, you will arrive on the first floor, which houses more than fifteen exhibit halls. These exhibits highlight the history and impact of science and technology on modern society.

The Country Store and Post Office

The first hall you will see displays an actual country store and post office that was transported in its entirety from Headsville, West Virginia. The post office continues to operate from within the museum — you can get your postcards stamped “Smithsonian Station.”

The Material World

The purpose of this exhibit is to explain how things are made and how those elements have changed since the beginning of our country. There's a central section on new materials and reusing existing products (such as plywood and plastic) in new ways.

Technological Innovations

The next section of the first floor highlights technological innovations ranging from farm machines (harvesters and tractors) to ships (more than 100 models, including one of the Mayflower). On display is the engine room of a Coast Guard ship from the 1920s. There are also displays dealing with a sailor's life — kids find the re-creation of a 1940s tattoo parlor fascinating — including luxury liners, whaling, and disasters at sea (very popular since the movie Titanic).

A new permanent exhibit was added that highlights developments in transportation and how they influenced American society, from horses to trains to cars and public transportation. Especially fun and insightful pieces of this exhibit include the building of the famous Route 66 and the construction of the New York City subway system, complete with reproductions of the water pipes running beneath the city. There are cars and buses and trains for kids to entertain themselves in and with. For a child who loves cars and trucks, this is a dream come true.

Cars and Trains

The same exhibit wing also includes a hall on the development of the automobile, with more than forty antique cars on display (including the 1913 Model T), as well as the automobile's predecessors, the horse-drawn carriage, and alternate wheeled transportation such as bicycles and motorcycles. A hall on railroad innovations includes the Pacific-type steam locomotive 1401 used between 1926 and 1941, a stagecoach from 1836, and a Seattle cable car from 1888. There are additional exhibit rooms on bridge technology and engine design for power machinery.

Electric Power

The exhibit hall on electricity starts with the work of Benjamin Franklin and traces the development of electrical power through the nineteenth century, ending with the work of Thomas Edison and his light bulb. Other technological innovations highlighted on this floor include the development of the typewriter, the phonograph (with a display of one of Edison's first phonographs, from 1877), clocks, and locks.

The American Industrial Revolution

The exhibit on the American Industrial Revolution is vast, tying together industrial innovations and their effect on the population. It begins with a re-creation of the Crystal Palace, the site of the 1851 World's Fair in London, where American technological innovations were first heralded by Europe, and goes on to examine the impact of machinery and the factory system. On display are the world's oldest operable locomotive, the John Bull, as well as the Colt revolver and another 250 objects.

Science in American Life

This exhibit chronicles scientific innovations over the past 125 years, such as nylon, the atomic bomb, and emerging technologies of bioscience. The hands-on science center is fascinating for children interested in science. Kids can put the four proteins of DNA together in varying patterns to create musical sounds or use a Geiger counter to test for radioactivity.

The Information Age

The final exhibit hall on the first floor is on the Information Age, which begins with the Morse telegraph and continues through the developments of the telephone, early computers, radio, and television. This exhibit is designed to be very interactive and offers visitors opportunities to have their fingerprints taken, decipher a German World War I code, and even produce an evening news program.

Second Floor

The emphasis on the second floor is the political and social history of our country, from the times of the Revolutionary War to the present. The second of two hands-on exhibits is also located on this floor, and visitors can operate machines featured on the floor, from sending a message by telegraph to turning the handle of a cotton gin.

The Star-Spangled Banner

One of the first exhibits you'll find on the second floor is the display of the flag, now restored, that Francis Scott Key saw by “the dawn's early light” was “still there,” flying over Fort McKinley after a battle of the War of 1812. (After that sight, he wrote the poem “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which became the national anthem.) The huge (9 × 10 feet) historic star-spangled banner is displayed under a protective cover.

After the Revolution

This exhibit looks at life in the United States in the 1780s and 1790s through the eyes of Native Americans, Europeans, and African-Americans, both slaves and freedmen, re-creating living spaces and the tools used during those times. It also re-creates the harrowing experience of coming to America on a slave ship.

Presidential Exhibits

As a hint that you are approaching the ever-popular exhibit featuring the first ladies, the next gallery displays a reproduction of the Ceremonial Court of the Cross Hall of the White House at the turn of the century, with original furnishings from Teddy Roosevelt's tenure in the White House. Adjoining galleries display presidential memorabilia, such as Thomas Jefferson's portable writing desk and the toys of the children who grew up in the White House.

The first ladies exhibit centers on the presidential wives of the twentieth century and gives a brief biographical and political background on each one. But it's the inaugural gowns that people really come to look at, especially those of Jackie Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush.

The Suffragist Movement

A nearby exhibit focuses on the role of women in politics from 1890 to 1925, from the middle-class home to the tenement, and also includes some important memorabilia of the suffragist movement, such as Susan B. Anthony's desk.

Exhibits on Migration

This floor also has two exhibits examining the effect of migration on Americans. The first looks at African-American migration from the South to the North in the early part of this century, and the second hall, titled American Encounters, looks at the effect migration had on the western Native American populations.

Third Floor

The third floor features exhibits on the objects and innovations that have had an impact on the country, from coins to firearms. The section on the history of the armed forces features George Washington's field headquarters tent and a Revolutionary War vessel — the gunboat Philadelphia — from 1776, as well as many models of warships from the Revolution to World War I.

There is also a hall on the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II that includes the executive order signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a barracks room from the internment camp, and audio interviews with people who were kept in the camps.

Other galleries present collections of musical instruments, ceramics, textiles (magnificent quilts are on display), money, and medals. There's a permanent exhibit on the life and music of Ella Fitzgerald, with wonderful clips. The third floor also features a dollhouse from the turn of the century that has more than twenty rooms and is infinitely fascinating in both detail and content.

In addition to the previously mentioned pop-culture icons, cases filled to the brim with television memorabilia are on view around the escalators of both the second and third floor. These include Jim Henson's Muppets Elmo and Oscar the Grouch; Fonzie's jacket from Happy Days; and Howdy Doody, the talking, dancing puppet.

Ground Floor

The three restaurants and the gift shop are located on the ground floor. (There's a first-floor gift shop entrance as well.) The gift shop features a ton of fabulous knickknacks and Americana ranging from earrings made out of pennies to bags of old-fashioned candy and replicas of some of the White House china.

There is an old-fashioned ice cream parlor facing the Constitution Avenue entrance that offers a full lunch menu as well as wonderful ice cream desserts. The Palm Court Coffee Bar re-creates a turn-of-the-century restaurant, with wooden screens and ceiling fans, and features coffee and snacks such as brownies and scones. The Main Street Cafe is a large cafeteria with a full array of breakfast and lunch items. All the restaurants close by 4:30 P.M., even in the summer.