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Museum’s End Means a Fresh Start for Marx Toy Artifacts

Marx Toy Museum closes Thursday

MOUNDSVILLE — Although the Marx Toy Museum’s run in Moundsville will soon come to an end, curator Francis Turner believes the change will be a fresh start for the site’s beloved artifacts of playtimes past.

The museum, which Turner began with his personal toy collection in 2001, will open its doors to the public for the last time from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday. Turner’s mission began in 1998, when he purchased a 1950s  grocery store building on Second Street and spent the next two years remodeling the building.

In 2011, Turner  registered the museum as a nonprofit organization complete with a board of directors. Later in the year, the Marx Toy Museum took over operation of The Official Marx Toy Museum of Glen Dale.

Following the public closing of the museum, Turner plans to have the toys displayed in various museums throughout the country. He added five unnamed museums have shown interest in the toys.

“You could say we’re closing down, but I look at it as expanding,” Turner said. “One of the museums that we talked to, they have 1,000 people a day. So if our toys are there for 90 days, 90,000 people will see it. It would take 90,000 people 30 years to see it in Moundsville.”

Mickey Massey, a part-time employee at the museum, has many fond memories of the place.

“When I taught at Glen Dale Elementary, I would bring my school kids here for a school trip, and when I retired I was interested in being an extra employee,” Massey said. “This will be a big loss. With the factory being in Glen Dale a mile and a half up the road, everyone has a story about a Marx toy, whether they had one, their parents had one or there was one in their grandma’s attic.”

Michael Burk, a bus tour guide for the museum, said the facility kept childhood memories alive for many locals during its run in town.

“As the sign says, it’s provided a walk down memory lane,” Burk said. “They’ve inspired so many visions and memories with the toys they provided for us. The toys we used to have are now treasures.”

Adreanne Rodgers of Cambridge visited the museum Friday. She said she wanted to stop before it closes.

“It’s absolutely fabulous to me that one person could collect all these toys,” Rodgers said. “I’m a toy collector, so I really appreciated the experience.”

The Marx Toy Museum will permanently close at 5 p.m. Thursday. It will be closed today.

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