One of the more interesting museums in Poland is the Museum of Emigration in Gdynia. The building itself is also of note, as it is the original facility of the Gdynia Sea Station where Polish trans-Atlantic ships would depart during the immigration waves that left for America in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The displays in the museum itself are a narrative of American plenty, including the stories of several Polish emigrants who were in awe that Americans could eat meat every day. In late 19th century Polish Galicia, that was impossible — Poles could only eat meat on holidays.
In America, you could eat it every day, have your own house, a job, and there would still be leftover money.
This is the simplest explanation as to why millions, from Poland as well, traveled to America between 100 and 150 years ago.
America was a land of opportunity for many Poles in the nineteenth century and beyond. Every person who set foot on the America’s soil, if they were allowed to enter, quickly became a true American.
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