Automatons are always a bit creepy, so one can only guess why Laffing Sal was such a popular attraction at funhouses, boardwalks, amusement parks and fairs across the United States during the Great Depression and World War II. Originally mass-produced by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, this mechanical monster terrorized small...
Speaking of sex, I also just learned that Modica, Sicily has the Museo Tommaso Campailla or the Syphilis Museum. Wow! A whole museum devoted to a sexually transmitted disease? Well, not really. Tommaso Campailla was like the 18th century doctor of venereal diseases. The treatment of his patients (usually prostitutes)...
August 6, 1928 is Andy Warhol’s birthday. He would have been 86 years old if he was still living life and stuff. Probably his most famous “artwork” (if you can call it that…I’m not much of a fan of pop art, to be honest) is Campbell’s Soup Cans. I’m sure...
We’ve covered Clown Museums before here at This Belongs In A Museum. Not a surprise the Guinness World Record for “Largest Clown Collection” belongs to Ortys Clownmuseum in Germany. Then there’s the Klown Doll Museum in Nebraska of all places. And let’s not forget John Wayne Gacy’s clown paintings at...
Even though there are probably better teapot collections in more conventional places (Europe comes to mind), this one deserves a mention as it is one of the most random. The Teapot Museum in Trenton, Tennessee holds the world’s largest collection of Veilleuse-Theieres porcelain dating from 1750 to 1860. A gynecologist...
So I guess January 20th was National Granola Day (as well as Arbor Day for Jewish People and Coffee Break Day). Granola (or granula) is a recent invention of the 19th century to define whole grain foods crumbled and baked until crispy. It was created in a sanitarium. Good to...
Considering everyone is freaking out over Instagram selling people’s crappy cat photos without payment, I can’t think of a better time for us to visit Amsterdam’s Katten Kabinet. Yes, these furry egomaniacs get even more attention with their own museum full of sculptures, paintings and other random cat shit (not...
I have good news! In 2013 ABBA Museum in Stockholm opened to the public. I think just about everyone loves them, whether you’re like a character in Muriel’s Wedding dressing up in some outlandish costume or one of those music snobs who tells everyone you only listen to the most...
Let me preface this next post by saying smoking kills. I mean, there’s a 100% chance you’ll still die even if you don’t light up a cigarette now and again, but don’t cough up a lung while doing it. But I guess I shouldn’t tell that to our next crazy...
I just learned that there is a Sex Machines Museum in the world. For the sexually unadventurous, a mechanical erotic appliance is defined as a device that is used “to bring pleasure and allow extraordinary and unusual positions during intercourse”. Or something like that. So next time you’re in Prague...
Labor Day weekend in America means everyone gets to travel to their weekend homes and favorite vacation spots to enjoy one “last” bit of summer, well, except for me. I stay home because I am too poor to have a weekend home or take a vacation. But unlike me, artist...
Sorry Gary Lewis & the Playboys, but not everybody loves a clown. Yet apparently someone else besides Gary likes them because there are several clowns museums in existence. We’ve covered them here on the blog before; the Klown Doll Museum in Nebraska, Ortys Clownmuseum in Germany, and Grampa Jerry’s Clown...
