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Strolling Along Memory Lane By Julie Turner-Crawford
Jerry Tanksley welcomes all who come to view his unique collection
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After taking early retirement, Jerry Tanksley decided he needed something to do, but he wanted it to be different. A collector of antiques, oddities and everything in between, Jerry decided to share his collection with the world. He created his own little town and the Memory Lane Museum. “Everyone who comes here says they can’t believe what’s here,” Jerry, who is not only the owner of the collection, but the “tour guide, the mayor, the sheriff, the judge and everything else” in Memory Lane at his property on Highway 62 East in Berryville, Ark., said. “I had been collecting stuff and just throwing it in my garage,” Jerry said. “It will blow your mind when you go through his old joint. I could talk to you for 10 years and not tell you what all I got. I was born poor, raised poor and just started collecting things, working on things, and made something out of this world.” A construction worker by trade, Jerry has built 10 buildings to house his massive memorabilia collection, dating back to the 1930s. Toys, household items, industrial machines, signs, gas pumps, soda coolers, moonshine stills, movie memorabilia, an old peanut and popcorn machine from about 1906 and even a machine that x-rays feet can be found at Memory Lane Museum. “I just started building,” Jerrys said. “I thought I was kind of getting carried away, but I just kept building and building. It’s not the best museum in the world, but it’s just a different museum. I just enjoy doing it, and God has blessed me and helped me find this stuff. I enjoy shooting the breeze with folks too; I like to joke and cut up with them.” Jerry’s first building was a replica of an
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old service station, followed by a Post Office, barbershop, a jailhouse, a bank and Granny’s House. “I put all original stuff in everything,” Jerry said of his buildings. “Granny’s House was a house that was built in the 1930s that belonged to a doctor in town. I bought it and moved down here and set it on my property.” In addition to his buildings, Jerry has converted seven rooms of his home into areas for visitors to see. There are themed bedrooms, such as the Route 66 bedroom with Harley Davidson neon signs and quilt handmade by his sister, a 7-Up and a Coke-Cola bedroom, as well as early Coke machines and other memorabilia in his dining room. Among the treasures at the museum is a fully operational 1955 Ronald McDonald merry-go-round that visitors are welcome to try out. “Kids can play on it,” Jerry said. “I put kids on there and they love it.” A 1953 Ronald McDonald figure stands next to the ride, and Jerry said he also other McDonald’s items he has not added yet. The Berryville School District donated its old basketball scoreboard to Memory Lane. Jerry has created an indoor football area in honor of his grandson Jaden Tanksley and the Berryville Bobcats. “They were just going to throw it away,” Jerry said, adding that building holds many other Bobcat memorabilia items. The doors of the building also are painted Berryville’s school colors, purple and gold. “I put indoor/outdoor carpet in there to make it look grassy, and it is something out of this world. My grandson loves it because it’s something his grandpa built for him.” FEBRUARY 14, 2022
