Walking Down Memory Lane
By Shim Hyun-chul
Staff Reporter
Fond memories of Korean life in the 1960s and '70s can be relived in a corner of the National Folk Museum, Samcheong-dong, Seoul.
"A Street to the Past: Experiencing Mom and Pop's Childhood," spanning over 1,900 square meters, is located in the museum's east wing.
It has revived a turn-of-the-20th-century electric tram and added a 1960-70s-style barber shop, photo studio, record store, coffee house and boutique.
The barber shop features chairs and tools that were actually used for over 50 years until 2007. The photo studio is most popular as it allows visitors to try on old school uniforms and take photos. The Pony, the first domestically produced car, is parked outside and retro music resonates from the record shop, heightening the experience of a bygone era.
Park Hyun-sun, 49, said he was surprised by the striking reconstruction of the past. "I became especially nostalgic when a pop song I used to listen to started playing from the record shop," he said. His 15-year-old daughter, Han-sol, said it was "amazing to see things I've seen through period dramas on television."
Choi, 77, who visited the museum with her granddaughter, said that the '60s and '70s were "poor but rich with love."
"I used to meet my friends in Yaksok Dabang, and seeing the tram reminds me how I used to go around Jongno and Donam-dong. Even though I feel nostalgic I'm so used to modern life that I probably wouldn't go back if I had the choice," she said.
Admission to "A Street to the Past" is free of charge until the end of the year.
