Youngsters Are Invited to Touch Exhibits at the Discovery Center

Youngsters visiting the new Discovery Center at the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park often find it more exciting than a store where they are cautioned by their parents not to handle the merchandise. Here, they are invited to pick up everything in sight.

If they wish to place their hands in a lion’s mouth or pull a polar bear’s ear, it’s permissible. The animals don’t mind. They’re stuffed.

Girls and boys can handle and examine furs, feathers, scales and quills. There is skeletal material from a variety of animals. They will learn the basic difference between mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and other invertebrates. “The World Within” offers youngsters the opportunity to utilize a variety of scientific equipment.

Discovery boxes, made possible by a grant from the Mattel Foundation, contain a number of specimens related to natural science, archeological, anthropological and historical themes.

To wander through the various halls in the Natural History Museum can be a daylong project. Some visitors never quite complete their tour. They return. Besides, exhibits are constantly changing.

In the foyer, there is a skull of a Tyrannosaurus rex, king of the dinosaurs. It is such an excellent specimen that there is a waiting list of museums that have ordered copies. There are four habitat halls showing animals in their natural settings, including African, American and exotic mammals.

With the bicentennial celebration of the signing of the U.S. Constitution taking place in September, the American History Hall is an appropriate place for a youngster to visit. The exhibits trace the country’s past from the Revolution to 1914. There is a replica of a colonial kitchen, a suit once worn by Thomas Jefferson, Civil War artifacts, and, somehow, they found room to include an 1889 streetcar.

For lovers of vintage cars, the museum has a shiny collection of automobiles from the early 1900s to the present. Among the vehicles in this hall--which resembles a dealer’s showroom--is a Ford 1909 Model T, a 1915 Stutz racer and the classic luxury car of all time, a 1932 Duesenberg. The museum has also restored a 1948 Helm’s bakery truck. This is pure nostalgia for those who remember when a fleet of Helm’s drivers sallied forth from the Culver City bakery every morning to cruise through the city’s residential districts tooting their familiar whistles.

For a lunch break, there is a cafeteria on the premises and there are three gift shops.

The Natural History Museum is at 900 Exposition Park. Hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Mondays. Admission is $3 for adults; $1.50 for students 12-17 with I.D. and seniors; 75 cents for children 5-12; and free to those younger than 5. Parking is available in a lot on Menlo Avenue, one block east of Vermont Avenue for $1, $5 during Coliseum events. Museum security office: (213) 744-3414.