as 10,000 pieces inspired by humanity 's adventures in space . `` Everything started with a toy ray gun Peter and I bought at a flea market in Brimfield , Massachusetts 20 years ago for $ 10 , '' John Kleeman said . `` We have never lost the excitement of that first find and since then we have continued our quest for cultural artifacts which tell the back story of the Space Age -- how ordinary folk like us experienced the magic , adventure and meaning of human space exploration . '' Weekend trips to markets and auctions became more frequent and over time the collection grew to include more cumbersome items including a 40-foot promotional trailer based on the design of `` Terra IV , '' a battle cruiser in the 1950s U.S. television series , `` Space Patrol . '' `` They had a movie theatre inside so 40 people could sit inside it and watch a rocket launch , '' John 's son Peter explained . `` We had to adjust the doors to the barn to fit it , but it 's in our barn now . '' As the barn became more crowded ,
LONDON , England -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- They are domestic relics of a bygone era when space travel was new and exciting and the world was buzzing with optimism about what could be . This Coney Island playground climbing frame is one of the larger items clogging the Kleeman family 's barn . NASA 's Apollo 11 moon landing 40 years ago reinvigorated demand for space-inspired mementoes that was stirring well before the start of the Space Age in the 1950s . Shops offered everything from rocket-shaped lamps , to skateboards , biscuit tins and toys emblazoned with stars and futuristic astronauts . Such was the excitement surrounding the momentous moon landing in 1969 that some were moved to create their own memorabilia in needlepoint and tin . See memorabilia of 1969 moon landing '' Many early examples of space-inspired design , both professional and homemade , can now be found in a 100ft hay barn at the Kleeman family home in the U.S. state of Connecticut . They 're not on display -- yet -- but the family hopes to soon show the world what they call the '' Space Age Museum , '' a collection of as many