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1. The Barbed Wire Museum
The Barbed Wire Museum in McLean, Texas, comes complete with a reading list for those who want to know more about the history of this apparently fascinating fencing. Also known as the “Devil’s Rope,” it came into being by way of a mutated coffee bean grinder (which made the barbs) and a hand-cranked grindstone device (that twisted the wires together) … just like Mama used to make, right?
2. The Frank and Jane Cement Brick Museum
The Frank and Jane Cement Brick Museum in New York holds archives of, well, a sundry of bricks, photos of which are available online. There appears to be a great deal of interesting history involved with brick collecting. For instance, as the site tells us, “Perhaps the most famous of the [message] bricks are the “DON’T SPIT ON THE SIDEWALK” warnings emblazoned on bricks produced in Kansas as part of Dr. Samuel J. Crumbine’s early 20th Century campaign to limit the spread of tuberculosis.”
3. The Washington Banana Museum
The Washington Banana Museum is full of fun banana factoids about our potassium-filled pals such as, “an average American eats 26 pounds of bananas every year - that’s about 150 bananas!” Also, bananas were introduced to the American public at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, the same expo that introduced the telephone. Bananas are still used to impersonate telephones in certain brands of comedy, so perhaps this connection is not so arbitrary …
4. The Fan Museum
As a Southerner, I can appreciate the purpose and artistry of the personal fan, a help from the heat I still use on occasion. From Greenwich, London, the Fan Museum highlights some of the fan’s most beautiful designs, and proves they can be used as more than a sweat swatter. Though as my fourth-grade teacher Mrs. McCutcheon always used to remind us, “Horses sweat, gentlemen perspire, and ladies merely feel the heat.”
5. Museum of Questionable Medical Devices
My favorite, the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices from St. Paul, Minnesota, makes me shiver. You can find many (in)famous bloodletting devices, violet ray generators, the truly creepy Battle Creek Vibratory Chair used the early 1900s, and the Foot Operated Breast Enlarger (pictured above).
6. The Museum of Bad Art
Founded in 1993, The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) in Boston is “a community-based, private institution dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition and celebration of bad art in all its forms and in all its glory.” The art featured on the site is not of the middle-school drivel variety; rather, the pieces seem to be the product of people such as myself who think that if they light candles and play Mozart loudly, the talent will come. It doesn’t, but the results are fun.
7. Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast and Museum
For those intrigued by the macabre children’s rhyme “Lizzie Borden took an axe/Gave her mother 40 whacks/ When she saw what she had done/ Gave her father 41,” a visitation to the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast and Museum in Fall River, Massachusetts, may be in order. Here on display at the scene of the crime are the skulls of her parents, as well as the rusted murder weapon (used in evidence for the Victorian trial at which Lizzie was ultimately acquitted). On a personal note, I would not recommend anyone buy the Hatchet Earrings on sale in the gift shop for Mother’s Day. Just saying.
8. Burlingame Museum of PEZ Memorabilia
On the West Coast lies the Burlingame Museum of PEZ Memorabilia, home of the World’s Largest PEZ dispenser and a whole bunch more. Most everyone is familiar with PEZ, a pretty ubiquitous pop culture touchstone, but did you know that PEZ was originally marketed as an adult mint for people trying to quit smoking? If you can’t get enough PEZ, you can sign up for the site’s monthly newsletter.
What are some odd museums you’ve been to or stumbled upon online?
Allison Keene is our newest intern. (Well, she’s tied.) You can read more about her right here.
My all time favorite is the “Garden of Eden” in Lucas Kansas. They also have a website although I haven’t checked it out.
posted by Brad on 1-8-2008 at 6:41 pm
Interesting. I enjoy visiting small town/country museums. Have you visited this one?
Buggy Shop Museum, Senoia, GA
A nostalgic collection of items circa 1890-1930. Six Generations of a Family and a Town Growing Together.
There’s an image at eyefetch.com.
posted by jdl on 1-8-2008 at 7:19 pm
i really enjoy the banana museum. woohoo, philadelphia — the place where bananas were introduced to the american public. ah, the history here.
posted by Twin on 1-8-2008 at 8:22 pm
My mother and I took a little girls trip. I picked out the restaurant one night, and once we got there we learned of the rich history of the place: first bordello west of the Mississippi. Man do I know how to pick em’. And I would totally go the the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices.
posted by Katie B. on 1-8-2008 at 9:13 pm
Two museums that I love are the Mustard Museum in Mt. Horeb, WI and the Spam museum (the lunchmeat, not the junk email) in Austin, MN. The mustard museum is quite small, but the Spam museum is really a blast. I was pleasantly surprised.
posted by Sarah U on 1-8-2008 at 9:50 pm
Blackfoot, Idaho has a potato museum. My grandparents live not far from there, so we went to it once on our way up there. It was pretty interesting. Plus, if you’re from out of state you get a free baked potato!
posted by Janel on 1-8-2008 at 11:04 pm
I strongly support the Public Health initiative to prevent the spread of TB, but I have to wonder if Dr. Crumbine has backed up his campaign with a cohort study of people who walk on spit covered sidewalks and whether or not it correlates with a higher relative risk.
posted by Austin on 1-8-2008 at 11:18 pm
Looks like it’s the CLement museum, not the Cement museum.
posted by Lorie on 1-9-2008 at 7:13 am
Cool article! I love the MOBA. My town has a Museum of Water Fuel, but I’ve never checked it out because A) it’s in an old abandoned warehouse, B) the sign is made of Christmas lights, and C) we couldn’t possibly be more landlocked as far as locales go.
posted by Roger on 1-9-2008 at 7:52 am
One of the strangest museums that I visited was the Mercer museum, the “Tools of the Nation-Maker” museum in Bucks County, PA. Mercer constructed the museum entirely from reinforced poured concrete in 1916 to house his collection of mechanical tools and utensils. The reason he used concrete was so that it was fireproof. The weirdest part of the collection was a gallows.
posted by Bill Reichart on 1-9-2008 at 8:25 am
Not far from where I live, there is a museum called “Lee’s Legendary Marbles”. It’s run by a cute old man.
My home county’s museum is very small and contains a strange assortment of items. Most prominent among the strange is the appendix of our county’s first medical doctor, floating in a canning jar. Now that would be an interesting museum–”Organs of Nebraska Pioneers”. Ew. It was pretty sweet when we visited in 3rd grade though.
posted by kate on 1-9-2008 at 8:50 am
There is a Museum of Air Sick bags online. I would look it up, but I am at work and it is just not work explaining to IT security.
posted by Witty Nickname on 1-9-2008 at 8:59 am
the international vinegar museum, represent!
vinegarman.com
posted by shelly on 1-9-2008 at 9:09 am
Graceland Too in Hollysprings, MS.
Open 24/7, it’s a large pink mansion FILLED with Elvis memorabilia.
It’s insane and awesome!
posted by Juliet on 1-9-2008 at 9:11 am
My tiny Illinois town has the “Gridley Telephone Museum.” Although I’m sure there is plenty of history to warrant a telephone museum, there are 1300 people in Gridley, and it’s not near any major metro areas or even major highways.
I seriously don’t think anyone has ever gone inside the place. I hope the guy is getting a good tax write-off.
posted by Bre on 1-9-2008 at 1:08 pm
That reminds me of (while not a museum, persay) the World’s Smallest Police Station in Lanark Village, Florida. It’s just a telephone booth.
I wonder if there is a collected volume of odd museums? If not I think Mental_Floss should pay me to find them and write it ;)
posted by Allison on 1-9-2008 at 1:15 pm
Another fascinating museum, which can be “visited” online, is the Museum Of Funeral Customs, which is dedicated to mortuary/embalming practices. Complete will a recreated circa-1920’s embalming room (with original, not reproduction, embalming equipment!). It’s full of hearses, mourning clothing and other fun(?) things. It’s located in Springfield, Illinois.
posted by Jason on 1-9-2008 at 1:16 pm
The Mutter Museum!!!!
It’s on the campus of the Philadelphia College of Physicians right plop in the middle of the city. It’s just a mish mash of medical deformities. LOTS of babies in jars. VERY VERY cool.
posted by Jessica on 1-9-2008 at 1:20 pm
The most offbeat museum is The International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum in Chattanooga, TN.
A large buiding dedicated to tow-trucks and the people who drive them.
I especially like that it’s “International”, and the “Hall of Fame” was just wierd…Large nicely framed pictures of various tow truck operators. I wonder who votes them in?
posted by Mell on 1-9-2008 at 4:13 pm
There’s also the World Brick Museum in Kyoto, Japan. To quote the description from the city’s English-language tourism site, “This museum was constructed in 1903 as the old Maizuru Naval Forces Arsenal Torpedo Warehouse. It is Japan’s oldest extant steel structure brick building. In the exhibit room are presented the history of bricks and materials relating to brick buildings from countries around the world, including the four great civilizations of the world.”
I adore museums (odd ones included) but this sounds as though it could be the dullest experience ever.
posted by Coeli on 1-9-2008 at 4:18 pm
The JELL-O Museum in LeRoy New York!
The gift shop, along the requisite mini-spoons and thimbles, sells shot glasses…hmm, whatever for?…and JELL-O molds that are brain-shaped. Sick!
posted by AMR on 1-9-2008 at 5:56 pm
The pez museum is the best! I live near SF and try to go a couple times a year. I collect pez. If youre ever in San Francisco, I suggest visiting. Even if youre not a collector, it’s a unique place to visit.
posted by Pezgurl on 1-10-2008 at 8:11 am
“. . . A) it’s in an old abandoned warehouse, B) the sign is made of Christmas lights, and C) we couldn’t possibly be more landlocked . . .”
Oh, Roger, that’s the kind of museum you have to go to as soon as possible!
posted by kittymama on 1-10-2008 at 9:22 am
I got 2… The first is not really “odd”, but not common either… The Museum of Sex in New York… Its actually quite fascinating.
and number 2… The Ramen Museum in Japan.
“Japan is a country filled with ramen fans, ramen connoisseurs, and certifiable ramen maniacs, and now the city of Yokohama has opened an entire museum devoted to the ubiquitous Chinese noodle. More than just an ordinary museum, it’s also part historical theme park and part hyper-specialized restaurant mall.”
posted by Will on 1-10-2008 at 3:57 pm
I was not surprised to see a Barbed Wire Museum, I was just suprised to learn that there is more than one! Check out the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum in LaCrosse, KS.
posted by Jeff on 1-14-2008 at 9:21 am
I really want to go the museum to questionable medical devices.
posted by Vicky on 2-6-2008 at 6:05 pm
Suprised Philadelphia’s Mutter Museum didn’t make it
posted by Catherine Morland on 2-10-2008 at 2:56 pm
You know, I’ve actually BEEN there, and it’s about as creepy as they come (the woman who turned into SOAP?), but since it’s more of a collection of oddities rather than dedicated to one SPECIFIC oddity, I left it off. but, having said that, it’s definitely worth visiting!
posted by InternAllison on 2-10-2008 at 5:06 pm
dont forget the Leprosy museum in Bergen, Norway. Has actual jars of leper skin, as well as examples of rotted joints.
posted by arm and a leg on 3-19-2008 at 11:29 pm