Apparently it’s Museum Week, which has something to do with hundreds of cultural institutions from around the world engaging the public with hashtags or something. How fun! (sarcasm) Unfortunately I’m not an important cultural institution (at least not yet) but I do write about museums on this blog so I...
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!
The killing of Muammar Gaddafi/Kadafi/Qaddafi/Khadafy in Libya had me wondering if there were any dictator museums out there. Sure enough there is one. In the capital city of Santiago you can relive the dictatorship of Chilean General Augusto Pinochet at the Museo Presidente Pinochet where his uniform, sabres, books, knives...
We have covered a lot of random collections on the blog over the years. White’s Metal Detectors Collection in Oregon comes to mind, so does the Porter Thermometer Museum in Massachusetts. I could go on. But I won’t. Instead I have another odd assortment of items to add to the...
Typically this blog shares unusual museums and attractions (and sometimes exhibits) with its readers but what about a weird item? An extraordinary sculpture, known as ‘Palace of Pills’, located in the History of Medicine gallery at London's Science Museum was made for a campaign run by the East London Health...
A VALENTINE HEART (VEINS AND ARTERIES INCLUDED) CHOCOLATE HEARTS, RED ROSES AND TEDDY BEAR EXTRA At the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago visitors could walk through a giant replica of the human heart to watch its principal parts work as they do in one’s own body and actually...
