The History of the Motts Miniatures Museum TM
The Mott's Miniatures MuseumTM started as the collection of work by The Mott Family. They started in Des Moines, Iowa in 1911. Allegra Mott, then Allegra Mitchell, was just 8 years old and had just purchased her first box of Cracker Jack from the General Store. A few moments later she discovered her first miniature, and fell in love. She
was so enthralled with miniatures that she would trade her cracker jack candy to the other children for their miniature prizes. Within a few years her collection of Cracker Jack miniatures had grown to one and then two entire shoe boxes full. She met and married a local High School athlete DeWitt Mott. It didn't take her long to "infect" him with her love of miniatures and DeWitt soon picked up a carving knife and went to
work making miniatures.
For many years DeWitt carved miniature replicas of actual furniture in their home and in their parents homes to give Allegra something that she could display her tiny Cracker Jack collection. But Allegra soon grew tired of having to constantly dust the little things and asked DeWitt if he could build some sort of cabinet that she could enclose with glass so that she would not have to dust her miniatures
so often. The wheels began to turn in DeWitt's head and instead of building her a simple cabinet, he re-created an actual cabin he had seen near Lake Okoboji, Iowa.
The 1850's "Eastern Cabin" was the first "display" ever created, though at the time the Mott's could hardly know that one day they would exhibit their houses in their own museum. Almost all of the wooden furniture in the Motts Museum was hand-carved by DeWitt Mott, and all with nothing more than a simple pocket knife and a little sandpaper. During the period when most of the exhibits were created, the
Mott family could hardly afford such things as power tools. This is also true of all of the exhibits houses and buildings, all were built by DeWitt Mott and all without power tools. Except for the time when DeWitt attached a sanding pad to Allegra's new Mix-Master so that he could quickly sand the parquet floors in the Miniature Church the family was working on. Unfortunately DeWitt burned out the new kitchen appliance in
short order and had to replace it, before Allegra found out. It was the last time DeWitt tried to make a power tool out of a kitchen appliance.
By the 1940's the Mott's had several miniature displays set up in the living room of their Des Moines, Iowa home. Soon the local PTA's learned of the make-shift museum on display at the Mott home and asked to bring groups of school children by so that they could see and learn about the History of America. These tours were given to any group that asked, no one was turned away. There were times that
Allegra would give tours all afternoon and early evening, and not get her other housework done until past the midnight hour.
The Motts began to gain notoriety in the media, and after speaking with a Time-Life reporter doing a story on them, decided to move to California. They moved to the Farmers Market area of Los Angeles and soon were being featured on live t.v. and in newspapers and magazines. In 1957 the Mott's were approached by Walter Knott from a "little" amusement park down in Orange County. He had recognized the
popularity of the Mott's and invited them to move to his park. The Mott's opened at Knott's Berry Farm in 1958 and were located there for over 34 years. In that time, millions of people annually were given the chance to view the now world famous Mott's Miniatures MuseumTM.
The new owners of Knott's Berry Farm terminated the 34 year contract with the Motts Miniatures in 1992, shortly after several offers to buy the museum by the park were rejected by the Mott family. The museum has been temporarily closed since that time but will re-open again, to the delight of many, in November of 1996.
Pictures of the Motts Miniatures MuseumTM
Museum Operating Information TM
To purchase a souvenir book or any other merchandise from the Motts Miniatures MuseumTM, go to our Mail Order Page.
Our Miniatures & Dollhouse Shop open to the public. Our retail store has not closed!
Mott's Miniatures & Dollhouse ShopTM, P.O. Box 693, Placentia, CA 92871
562-916-3280 Sales Inquiries Only (714) 992-9068 fax Email Us
This page last updated 05-31-97 16:03 hrs pst
