Happy Boxing Day! In some parts of the world, this is like a second Christmas. Its origins supposedly come from the practice of giving “Christmas boxes” of money or presents to the poor. Unfortunately, we do not have a Boxing Day Museum, but there is a Music Box Museum in...
Here’s a postcard of Ancient Egyptian Art from the British Museum. Enjoy! I apologize again for not posting much on this blog. I promise things will be back to normal soon and I’ll be writing more about some of my favorite museums. “These flat-backed glazed composition amuletic figures of the...
Once upon a time a man from Seattle (who just happened to be a tourist visiting Chicago) told me that only tourists use umbrellas in rainy places. Considering I once lived in one of the rainiest cities in Great Britain, I beg to differ. A good umbrella is key, as...
Even though I’m in the midst of planning an architecture-related summer road trip through Iowa only a dork like me would be excited about, I can’t imagine traveling all the way there just to see an Exotic Dirt Collection. Yep, at the Prairie Museum in Sheldon, Iowa, which is located...
I saw the excellent film Hugo last weekend (also an excellent book, by the way) and the main character’s ability to fix clocks and other mechanisms got me thinking. I began to wonder if there was a museum out there similar to what I saw in the movie. In the...
I know this next story isn’t about a real museum, but I feel a kinship with the crazy collectors out there. Not that I collect, mind you, I’m just crazy. Royalist Margaret Tyler plans to camp out overnight for Prince Willie and Princess Katie’s big wedding day on April 29th,...
The Egged Museum of Passengers Traffic in Holon, Israel “presents more than 60 buses that have been lovingly collected, built and renovated, and which reflect nearly seventy years of public transport in Eretz Israel. A visit…reveals…the history of public transportation, beginning with British Army surplus trucks that were converted into...
Thank you, stshank for taking this photo of a 19th century Nigerian headdress made of antelope skin. It is on display at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris. Not only is it terrifying, but it looks like something a member of the band Slipknot would wear.
Set of sixty miniature heads used in phrenology, Manchester, England, 1831. Science Museum, London Phrenology originated with German physician Franz Joseph Gall with assistance from his colleague, Johann Kaspar Spurzheim. Phrenologists believed that the shape and size of various areas of the brain and skull determined personality. These heads are...
Apparently there’s a blizzard in the Northeast United States, and people are making a big deal about it because I guess it’s not supposed to snow in winter or something. They are calling it Juno. Anyway, while some of you are stuck in your homes watching reruns and eating Doritos,...
