Wooden Nickels? #ThrowbackTuesday!

Wooden Nickels? #ThrowbackTuesday - Contributed by Wesley Paulson, NCTM Treasurer

Vintage wooden nickel formerly sold in the NCTM Museum Store. The graphic at the top of the image is from a 1983 brochure.

May, 2020

I was surprised when a friend at church presented me with this wooden nickel on Sunday. The wooden nickel was one of many typical souvenirs sold in the Museum Store when the Trolley Museum opened in October 1969. Other souvenirs at the time included back scratchers, a foot long book of matches, bumper stickers, plates, and decals.

Over the years the store slowly evolved from a typical souvenir gift shop to a museum store with a large selection of books. The nickels and back scratchers are long gone from the store but we still have plenty of those plates!


The wooden nickel gained popularity as a souvenir at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. Soon after the nickels could be found in souvenir shops across the country.


The price of the Trolley Museum nickels in the 1970s? Twenty-five cents.

-Wesley Paulson

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Do you have a vintage Trolley Museum souvenir? Send us a picture!