Museums of all kinds have always fascinated me. Indeed, I’ve often referred to Interesting Thing of the Day as a virtual museum of interesting things. But our collection here is nothing if not diverse. I’m equally attracted to museums that go deep instead of broad, places that obsess over just one highly specific subject matter—and bonus points if it’s an odd subject.
Back in 2006, I wrote a post on SenseList called “32 Weirdly Specific Museums.” When I revisited that list just now, thinking I’d turn it into an article here, I was delighted to find that just one of those museums—the Cockroach Hall of Fame in Plano, Texas—was no longer in existence. (Many of the websites for these museums look as though they haven’t seen much love since long before 2006, but I suppose that’s part of their charm.) I also found many more weirdly specific museums that didn’t make my 2006 list, and although I’m sure I could go on forever, I chose to stop at the completely arbitrary number of 43. By the way, these are all brick-and-mortar museums; there are many more that exist only on the web.
- Automata:
- (1) Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum (Farmington Hills, Michigan)
- (2) Musée Mécanique (San Francisco, California)—see also our article about it
- Bakelite: (3) Bakelite Museum (Williton, Somerset, England)—see also our article about it
- Bananas: (4) The Washington Banana Museum (Auburn, Washington)
- Barbed Wire:
- (5) Devil’s Rope Museum (McLean, Texas)
- (6) Kansas Barbed Wire Museum (Lacrosse, Kansas)
- Beer Advertising: (7) The Beer Advertising Museum (Breda, The Netherlands)
- Beer Cans: (8) Beer Can Museum (East Taunton, Massachusetts)
- Bricks:
- (9) Frank and Jane Clement Brick Museum (Orchard Park, New York)
- (10) Haverstraw Brick Museum (Haverstraw, New York)
- (11) World Brick Museum (Maizuru City, Japan)
- Cheese:
- (12) Cheese Museum of the Netherlands (Het Hollands Kaasmuseum, Alkmaar, Netherlands)
- (13) Cuba Cheese Museum (Cuba, New York)
- Dermatological Casts (wax): (14) Le Musée des Moulages (Paris, France)
- Lunchboxes: (15) Lunchbox Museum (Columbus, Georgia)
- Corkscrews: (16) The Corkscrew Museum (Le Musée du Tire-Bouchon, Ménerbes, France)
- Fans:
- (17) The Fan Museum (Greenwich, London, England)
- (18) Hand Fan Museum (Healdsburg, California)
- Funeral Carriages: (19) Cementiris de Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain)
- Hats:
- (20) The Hat Museum (Portland, Oregon)
- (21) Hat Works (Stockport, Cheshire, England)
- Lawnmowers: (22) British Lawnmower Museum (Southport, Lancashire, England)
- Lingerie: (23) Frederick’s of Hollywood Lingerie Museum (Los Angeles, California)
- Medical Paraphernalia:
- (24) Glore Psychiatric Museum (St. Joseph, Missouri)
- (25) The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices (St. Paul, Minnesota)
- (26) The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum (New Orleans, Louisiana)
- Parasites: (27) Meguro Parasitological Museum (Tokyo, Japan)
- Pencils: (28) The Cumberland Pencil Museum (Keswick, Cumbria, England)
- Pens: (29) The Pen Museum (Birmingham, Englahd)
- Pez Dispensers: (30) Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia (Burlingame, California)
- Phalluses: (31) The Icelandic Phallological Museum (Reykjavik, Iceland)
- Rice:
- (32) Muzium Padi (Rice Museum, Kedah, Malaysia)
- (33) Rice Museum (Georgetown, South Carolina)
- Salt and Pepper Shakers: (34) The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum (Gatlinburg, Tennessee)
- Shoes:
- (35) The Bata Shoe Museum (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
- (36) Deutsches Ledermuseum (German Leather Museum/Shoe Museum, Offenbach, Germany)
- (37) Giant Shoe Museum (Seattle, Washington)
- (38) Museo del Calzado (Museum of Shoes, Elda, Spain)
- (39) The Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine Shoe Museum (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- Spinning Tops and Yo-Yos: (40) Spinning Top & Yo-Yo Museum (Burlington, Wisconsin)
- Toilets: (41) Sulabh International Museum of Toilets (New Delhi, India)
- Ventriloquism: (42) Vent Haven Museum (Fort Mitchell, Kentucky)
- Water: (43) New York Museum of Water (New York, New York)
Note: This is an updated version of “32 Weirdly Specific Museums,” which originally appeared on SenseList on September 18, 2006.
