I don’t know if there is a continuous loop of elevator music playing at the Elevator Historical Society’s museum, but there should be. With a view of Manhattan, an island full of skyscrapers that could not exist without the invention of up-and-down travel, the museum in Long Island City (supposedly...
Over a hundred years ago a maniac axed to death Josiah Moore, his wife Sarah, and their six children aged 5 to 12 in their home in southwestern Iowa. The murders were so horrifying that it supposedly took the Titanic sinking, which occurred two months earlier, off the front page...
Aug 17 in 1893 the flamboyant Hollywood sex siren Mae West was born. Known for her witty one-liners (“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough”), the actress/comedienne lives on at the kitschy “Four Ladies of Hollywood” gazebo at the western border of the Hollywood...
After a fire at Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum, London, 1925.
At the Louvre the Egyptian Department contains over 50,000 pieces housed in 20 rooms. That’s a collection some museums would die for. The Great Sphinx of Tanis, from 2000 BC, is considered to be one of the largest sphinxes outside of Egypt. Found in 1825 among the ruins of the...
Continuing yesterday’s post on random antique stores with one in Michigan that I recently visited. Located on the Blue Star Highway near South Haven, Sunset Junque is, like, stepping onto the set of some horror movie. For those who do not know, this little stretch of the old state road...
I work at a historic house museum that was originally built with electricity way back in the 1890s. Electricity was so new at the time that the family had to use their own generator. Although I talk about “light” a lot, I probably can’t compete with the guys who work...
North of Knoxville in Clinton, Tennessee is the Museum of Appalachia, a living history museum that interprets the pioneer and early 20th-century period of the Southern Appalachian region. There is a collection of more than 30 historic buildings rescued from neglect and decay and gathered together, including cabins owned by...
Maybe some of you were upset to hear yesterday’s news of Glenn Frey’s passing but I’m more like Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski in that “I hate the fucking Eagles!” (come on, it’s funny). But I did find it interesting to learn that there is a park in Arizona dedicated to...
Inside the Cafe Chaos in Darmstadt, Germany there is an Automatenmuseum, or a Vending Machine Museum. While eating breakfast at midnight, you can check out machines full of random items like paintbrushes and light bulbs. Most of them still work. Those crazy Germans!
