What happens when you run out of ideas for a new exhibit? The Newberry came up with the perfect answer by asking what happens when you search your collection for a certain word, in their case ”wheels”.

They came up with enough material to line a couple walls and inspire this column.

Among the highlights they found are photos from the Chicago Railroad Fair of 1949, which Walt Disney attended, and which, it is said, was one of the inspirations for Disneyland.

There also are pictures from a roller derby (which I watched religiously in my youth); a wheel of fortune (not The Wheel of Fortune); the original Chicago Ferris Wheel (not Ferret Wheel, which you can buy online at friendlyferret.com); and more.

I don’t need to fill two walls, only half a page, so, lacking any originality, I decided I would search for “wheel’ among my past blogs. This, as it turned out, was smarter than looking for the plural, like they did, as it opens up the world of compound words.

I’ve mentioned my limited wheelhouse when it comes to Jeopardy categories; a wheelchair, when discussing Bette Midler’s alter ego Delores Delagoa; a wheeled emergency stretcher, when reporting on an incident at a concert; and a wheelbarrow, when recounting working in the park.

And, lastly, I recalled that a Newberry speaker (see how I got back to them) cited Nutcracker choreographer Christopher Wheeldon.