Our roving West Coast reporter Ricky Resurreccion (aka TK-74259, Golden Gate Garrison) reports back from the opening of ‘Toys Through Time: From Machine Age to Space Age’ at the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum.
One cold December evening in the charming town of Petaluma, north of San Francisco, three stormtroopers stood just outside of the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum. Members of the Golden Gate Garrison of the 501st Legion waved to passing cars, greeted guests at the door, and paused often for photos. Inside, warm lights and low conversation filled the historic space as visitors gathered for the opening of a new exhibit. Toys Through Time: From Machine Age to Space Age had officially arrived.
The exhibition explores how play has reflected and helped shape our changing world for more than a century. Antique mechanical toys from a Petaluma collector are displayed alongside vintage Star Wars toys from Rancho Obi-Wan, tracing a journey from clockwork ingenuity to cinematic imagination and showing how curiosity and creativity have propelled generations from gears to galaxies.
Museum board vice chair Pete Vilmur, who also serves as a senior writer with Lucasfilm Public Relations, shared how the exhibit first came together.
“The idea for the exhibit really came from our executive director, Stacey Atchley,” Vilmur said. “She wanted a toy-themed exhibit for the holidays and knew there were two highly respected toy collections here in Petaluma, including Rancho Obi-Wan. From there, it all came together very naturally.”
“The goal was to appeal to multiple generations of museum guests,” he said. “By pairing antique mechanical toys with newer pieces, you can see how both reflect a shared spirit of innovation when it comes to play.”
The exhibit’s Space Age chapter features vintage Star Wars toys from Rancho Obi-Wan, the Petaluma based nonprofit museum and archive that houses the world’s largest Star Wars memorabilia collection, as certified by Guinness World Records.
“Pete reached out to us in summer, and we were happy to say yes,” said Rancho Obi Wan founder Steve Sansweet. “We love Petaluma and try to do whatever we can to support the community.
Anne and I walked through Rancho Obi-Wan (Anne Neumann, president of Rancho Obi-Wan) looking for items that would display well, with an emphasis on vintage and prequel era toys and a good mix of action figures, vehicles, and dolls.”
For Sansweet, the enduring appeal of Star Wars toys fits naturally within a broader history of play and imagination.
“Just as the Star Wars universe is infinite, with new planets and new stories, the toys are infinite as well,” he said. “For older fans, there is a sense of nostalgia. For younger ones who came to Star Wars through television and streaming series, there are enough toys to make up their own stories for A Thousand and One Nights.”
Under the museum dome, the largest free standing leaded glass structure in Northern California, the exhibition feels quietly expansive. Grounded in the ingenuity of the Mechanical Age and always reaching upward, the toys seem to invite visitors to look beyond the glass, past the sky, and into galaxies far, far away.
Toys Through Time: From Machine Age to Space Age runs through February 1st. For Star Wars fans, history lovers, or anyone seeking a throughfall winter outing, it is well worth a visit. If you find yourself in Petaluma before the exhibit closes, step inside the museum and take the journey.