America 250 Semiquincentennial Bible Celebration

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Today on Celebrate the Bible:

At one time in America, family vacations by automobile were very popular. You could find quite a few roadside attractions centered around the life of Christ.

I focus my Celebrate the Bible collection on two attractions. One is the Prince of Peace museum in Gettysburg, PA. The other is the Prince of Peace memorial in Silver Springs, Florida.

Both of these attractions contained hand-crafted dioramas created by artist Paul Cunningham. In case you weren’t aware, a diorama is a three-dimensional scene. It has three-dimensional models of people and objects. These can include houses, trees, cars, or just about anything seen with one’s own eyes in the real world.

These dioramas made by Paul Cunningham would depict the life of Christ. And each scene, as it were, was taken from the Holy Bible.

I’m going to show several photos of dioramas in this episode. I have two sources in my collection that I can show here. If you are listening to this as a podcast, and would like to see these photos, please go to celebratethebible250.com. If it’s no longer on the front page, simply type “Prince of Peace” into the search box. You can find the search box at the bottom of the page.

The first photograph is from an entire set. The set was kindly sent to me, along with a lovely letter, from Jacksonville attorney Cecilia Bryant. She called me in 2015 to inquire about my collection. She is an advocate for Florida history and daughter of former Florida Governor Farris Bryant.

The Prince of Peace dioramas in Silver Springs, Florida were housed within small chapels, scattered throughout a garden setting.

The second set of photos will be from my own 3D Lenticular collection. You will not see them in 3D on your screens at home. These were shot by a famous lenticular artist / technician, Victor Anderson.

These Lentographs (as they’re referred to) were shot at the Prince of Peace Museum in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. They were also shot at the Prince of Peace Memorial in Silver Springs, Florida.

The Lentograph technology utilizes a camera with two or more lenses. If two lenses are used, the method sends the right image to the right eye, and the left image to the left eye, via a lenticular lens placed over the 3-D photograph. This gives the viewer a sense of actually being there again.

I have a collection of these Paul Cunningham 3-D lentographs in my Celebrate the Bible collection. It is one of the largest collections of 3-D Christian imaging science and technology. It might even be the largest in the world today.

There are scores of postcards commemorating both of these establishments. Yet, each postcard has only a standard 2-dimensional photograph of the dioramas. With the lenticulars, the 3D dioramas live on, being as close to the “real thing” as one can get.

The Price of Peace in Florida and Pennsylvania both closed in the 1970’s. The Florida location is now a water park. The Pennsylvania location is still the same building in Gettysburg. Inside, I believe you can see a large diorama of the Gettysburg battlefield. There is also a gift shop.

Not many people take the time to stop at what were once referred to as roadside attractions. That’s a shame. But, the pendulum swings to and fro, and you never know what the future holds. If we wait long enough, roadside attractions will be something new again.

So, until we meet again, and for celebratethebible250, this is Francis Douglas.

If you would like me to give a presentation, at your church, school, gallery, or organization, let me know. I will also provide tabletop displays.

The topic I cover is the History of the Christian Holy Bible in America.

Your group will not only learn about it. They will also see, on show, pages from the most significant Bibles in American history.

In a sense, I bring the road side attraction of Celebrate the Bible to you!

See my contact information below to inquire. We’ll then set a date and discuss which items you would be interested in for a showcase.

I will be available for Southern New Jersey, Southeastern Pennsylvania, and Northern Delaware.

CONTACT (for presentation inquiries only please):

Available for Southern New Jersey, Southeastern Pennsylvania, and Northern Delaware.