Polar Bear 3 Educational Diorama
Circa 1967
11”H x 20.5 L x 11.75”D
Unknown artist
Masonite, glass, plaster, wax, glitter, ink on paper

In the middle of the 20th century, the AMNH began producing miniature traveling dioramas that were loaned out to schools in the region. This effort was part of a long tradition of the Museum’s Education Department to lend instructional material, specimens, and artifacts for classroom use, along with educational literature and lesson plans teachers could use as a basis for instruction/discussion.

The circulation of collections to schools was a robust effort at the Museum for most of the 20th century. At one time this lending included sets of lantern slides and scripts for projection in educational settings and simple glass fronted boxed with mounted, taxidermied specimens inside. Earlier distribution efforts featured dedicated delivery vehicles that brought loans of specimens and artifacts directly to schools.

Miniature dioramas and specimen display cases ranged in size and included models of dioramas such at this diorama of polar bears. Produced by the Education Department, this sturdy model diorama was of a novel design. The heavy wood outer box protected the contents and glass panels. The front slid up and out for viewing and the top panel slid off to allow light to illuminate the diorama landscape. An essay on polar bears—replete with bibliography—was mounted on the inside of the front cover. The text includes a reference to the Museum’s Polar Bear Diorama in the Hall of Ocean Life, which opened in 1967. Though the composition of the actual diorama and miniature dioramas were similar but not identical.

This was not the first time the Museum displayed a diorama of polar bears.