The New Canaan Museum & Historical Society’s new exhibition TALKING SHOP explores New Canaan’s long and rich retail history. It highlights many of the stores in New Canaan from the 19th century to the mid-1970s. The exhibition features the independent and family owned shops that have been the backbone of this community for generations.

The show shares the stories of these local shops through photographs, ephemera and artifacts. Stores such as Silliman’s Hardware that closed its doors in 1981 after 114 years of business and had everything from a tractor to a toaster, and the Whitney Shop, which opened after World War II, and at first sold vegetables and teapots.

This fascinating exhibition is curated by Patricia Funt Oxman, antique dealer, former New Canaan shop owner and Governor on the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society’s Board.

The opening reception will be on January 16 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. The reception and exhibition are free to members ($5.00 all others.) The show runs through April 18.

The New Canaan Museum & Historical Society, 13 Oenoke Ridge, New Canaan CT 06840. (203) 966-1776 www.nchistory.org.