When I worked at the Dallas Historical Society in the mid-1970's one of
the popular feautures of the building that housed the Society was a
group of eight miniature scenes from the history of the Republic of
Texas. These were essentially miniature stage sets, about three feet
wide, two feet high, and eighteen inches deep, with painted backdrops
and carved wooden human figures in dramatic poses. Some showed the
interiors of buildings and others were exterior scenes. We (the staff)
always called them "dioramas" and when we took them out in the
interest of modernization the public demanded to know what had
happened to "the dioramas", so I think that the use of the word was not
restricted to the museum profession. It would be interesting to know the
history of this method of teaching history - I suspect that it goes back to
the 18th Century, at least, and it may pre-date animal habitat groups. I
seem to recall seeing some wax historical miniature dioramas in a Danish
castle about thirty years ago, but I can't dredge up the name of the place
or the exact scenes represented. Too many dead brain cells. I hope this
information (and speculation) will be helpful. -Lonn Taylor, National
Museum of American History ([log in to unmask])