The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum, Gatlinburg, Tennessee - click image to view more
Regardless of your feelings toward any given subject matter, there’s likely someone out there who is fascinated by it.
So much so that they’ve channeled their obsession into a brick-and-mortar museum. You can do an internet search for “museum of _______” and probably find an example of someone who is, or was, curating a collection around that theme. Bananas, hammers, parasites, lunchboxes, funeral carriages… These are just a tiny handful of topics that people have been interested in enough to declare them worthy of a shrine. Here are a few that might just make you want to plan your next vacation around them:
- Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum (Yokohama, Japan): Here in the states, ramen is usually associated with poor college students and their staple meal of choice. In Japan, it’s as common as the hamburger and revered enough to have ramen masters that perfect the creation of the noodle like an art.
- Hair Museum (Avanos, Turkey): Collecting hair is a wee creepy in my book, but I think it’s the fact that these specimens are displayed hanging from the walls of a cave ups that feeling times ten.
- Butter Museum (Cork, Ireland): This would be my dog’s museum visit of choice, given his affinity for licking butter stick wrappers. Learn all about how this culinary staple is one of Ireland’s top contributions.
- Vacuum Cleaner Museum (St. James, Missouri): One of the greatest inventions for domestic housekeeping has a home in the Midwest. Find out how people cleaned their floors before electricity and then pick up your very own contraption at the factory outlet.
- The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets (Delhi, India): While the first thought of this museum is one of giggles, there’s actually a deeper purpose behind it. Not only does it showcase unique loos, it also serves to educate about the history and manufacture of the device and address the importance of well-functioning sanitation systems in the world.
What other museums of oddity do you recommend?
