Birthplace of D&D Celebrated by Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum
The long history of RPGs in America is weirdly localized in the midwest–and in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, you can now visit the birthplace of D&D.
Dungeons & Dragons’ long history is shrouded in myth and nostalgia, borne straight out of the late 70’s and the height of the 80’s. But now, a couple of dedicated fans have worked to preserve some of that history by commemorating the game’s birthplace. According to Kenosha News, one of the co-founders of the embattled company formerly known as TSR, yes THAT TSR, Justin LaNasa–who has since distanced himself from Stephen Dinehart, the alleged person running neo-TSR’s social media–and curator Jeff Leason have opened up the Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
The museum is located in the same place TSR opened the doors on their first stored and is home to all sorts of memorabilia from the company’s earliest days. The Kenosha News reports that many former staff, now luminaries of the hobby in their own right, have donated many of the rare boxed sets, books, merchandise, and artwork you can see on display below.
This marks the latest, newest effort to commemorate the founding of TSR and Dungeons & Dragons. As early as 2013, two other fans, Jim and Debbie Hunton launched an Indiegogo campaign with the aim of a D&D Museum, but did not meet their funding goal of $150,000. And throughout 2020 Geneva Lake Museum has had their own TSR exhibit, titled A Legacy of Imagination: The Creation of a Culture.
This latest museum is different from either of those, which continues building owner LaNasa’s trend of getting involved with multiple similar things and all of them related to TSR. LaNasa, asked the city to rezone an apartment at the location for the museum, and with the request granted, the museum’s curator Leason was able to set up shop.
Leason, who worked for TSR in the glory days, highlighted some of the rarer items on display, including a boxed set of game (an estimated value of about $10,000), as well as a full set of Strategic Review, the precursor to Dragon Magazine.
“They are pretty darn rare. A high school buddy found them in a box and said, ‘Hey do you want them?,’ and he gave them to me. Sometimes it’s not what you know but who you know.”
Leason also explained the museum’s plan to rotate out the items on display on a regular basis, owing to the museum’s size:
“This is such a small museum. It’s almost like a mu and not a seum, because it’s so small. So we will rotate stuff.”
Additionally the museum and store plan to host gaming session in there, with a schedule that will be forthcoming once things settle in. Anyone can purchase a membership in the museum, which can range from $150 up to $1500 for a lifetime membership, which includes admission and discounts, so long as you don’t cheat:
“If you’re caught cheating and you paid a $1,500 membership, you are banned from here for life. Even though you paid $1,500 for a membership, your membership card will be cut up in front of you, and you will never be let in here again.”
There are bigger plans for the museum. Leason told the Kenosha news that he would like to get Gary Gygax’ name on the town’s welcome signs as well as establishing a memorial in one of the local parks where the founder of D&D used to skip school. There are even plans to host a convention in 2022.
