The second Microcosm room contains a wealth of interesting historical items that would be found in the district around Ivinghoe and Pitstone. One hundred years ago Ivinghoe was a town of about 1000 people while Pitstone was a small farming community of about 400.
Ivinghoe had a market every week mostly devoted to selling straw plait to Luton dealers in the hat trade. The wages for this mostly women's work had supplemented and sometimes even bettered those earned by the agricultural labourers in the area. Some lace was also still worked. Both industries were fast being replaced by cheap foreign imports in 1900. One of the display cabinets is devoted to lace/lace making and straw plait.
Other exhibits include :- Domestic items, toys, a collection of old bottles and many items donated to the museum by local residents and restored by the museum volunteers