Art forgery is a real menace museums have to contend with. Every now and then, a museum ends up with a fake artifact that can end up being on display for a number of years before they realize it is a fake. For the forgers, the high price tags attached to these fakes are often enough incentives to keep creating forgeries.

Forgers often go to extreme lengths to fool museums into buying their work. Some fakes are so good that historians and archaeologists have a hard time telling them apart from the real thing. Many museums have fallen victim to forgers, including the famous Louvre, which exhibited a fake artwork for several years without realizing it.

10 The Three Etruscan Warriors

In 1933, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (aka the Met) in New York City added three new pieces of art to its exhibition. They were the sculptures of three warriors from the ancient Etruscan civilization. The seller, an art dealer named Pietro Stettiner, claimed the sculptures were made in the fifth century BC.

Italian archaeologists were the first to raise concerns that the statues could be forgeries. However, the museum curators refused to heed the warning because they believed they had gotten the artworks at a bargain and did not want to lose them to another museum.

Other archaeologists later noted that the statues had unusual shapes and sizes for artworks created at their time. The body parts were also sculpted at unequal proportions, and the entire collection had little damage. The museum only discovered the truth in 1960, when archaeologist Joseph V. Noble recreated sample statues using the same techniques as the Etruscans and determined that the statues in the Met could not have been made by them.

Investigations revealed that Stettiner was part of a larger group of forgers that had conspired to create the statues. The team copied the sculptures from collections held by several museums, including the Met itself. One of the warriors was copied from a picture of a Greek statue in a book from the Berlin Museum.

The head of another warrior was copied from the drawing on a real Etruscan vase held by the Met. The sculptures also had unequal body parts because they were too big for the studio, forcing the forgers to reduce the size of some parts. One of the sculptures was also missing an arm because the forgers couldn’t decide on a pose for said arm.^[1]

9 The Persian Mummy

In 2000, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan almost engaged in a diplomatic row over the mummy and coffin of an unidentified 2,600-year-old princess. The mummy, often referred to as the Persian Mummy, was discovered when Pakistani police officers raided a home in Kharan after receiving a tip-off that the owner was illegally trying to sell antiquities.

The owner was Sardar Wali Reeki, who was trying to sell the mummy to an unidentified buyer for £35 million. Reeki claimed he had found the mummy and coffin after an earthquake. Iran soon claimed ownership of the mummy, considering that Reeki’s village was right at its border. The Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan at the time, later joined the fray to contest ownership of the mummy.

The mummy was sent to Pakistan’s National Museum and put on display. However, several archaeologists discovered that several parts of the coffin were too modern. On top of that, there was no evidence that any of the tribes in Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan ever mummified their dead. Further analysis revealed that the mummy was actually the remains of a 21-year-old woman who may well have been a murder victim. It was sent to a morgue, and police arrested Reeki and his family.^[2]

8 Dead Sea Scroll Fragments

The Dead Sea Scrolls are a group of handwritten scrolls containing Jewish religious text. They were written in the rough vicinity of 2,000 years ago and are among the oldest recorded writings of Hebrew biblical passages. Most of the scrolls and fragments are stored at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, while a few are in the hands of private collectors and museums.

This includes the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, which had five fragments of the scrolls on display. However, that changed in 2018, when the fragments were revealed to be forgeries. The ruse was discovered after the museum sent the fragments to Germany for analysis.

The museum sent the scrolls for examination after experts raised the alarm that they may have been fakes. These concerns were first raised months before the museum opened in November 2017. Speculators claim that the museum spent millions of dollars to acquire the fake scroll fragments. However, that remains unconfirmed, considering that the museum is not talking.^[3]

7 Several Artworks At The Brooklyn Museum

In 1932, the Brooklyn Museum received 926 works of art from the estate of Colonel Michael Friedsam, who had died a year earlier. The artworks were a mix of paintings, jewelry, woodworks, and pottery from ancient Rome, the Chinese Qing dynasty, and the Renaissance.

Colonel Friedsam gifted the museum the art on the condition that they received permission from his estate before selling or decommissioning any of it. That condition became a problem decades later, when the museum discovered that 229 of the artworks were forgeries.

The Brooklyn Museum could not decommission the art because the last of Colonel Friedsam’s descendants died half a century ago. The museum cannot throw them away, either, because the Association of American Museums has strict rules guiding the storage and disposal of art by member museums.

In 2010, the Brooklyn museum approached a court to allow it to decommission these forgeries. According to the petition submitted to the court, the museum would spend an initial $403,000 to furnish a warehouse to store the artifacts if the court refused its request. Then it would spend another $286,000 per year on rent and workers to care for the artworks.^[4]

6 The Henlein Pocket Watch

Peter Henlein was a locksmith and inventor who lived in Germany between 1485 and 1542. We might not know him, but we all know and use his invention: the watch. Henlein invented the watch when he replaced the heavy weights used in clocks with a lighter mainspring, which allowed him make smaller clocks. Clocks were made by locksmiths and blacksmiths at the time.

One of Henlein’s supposed early creations has been held at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Germany since 1897. The pocket watch resembles a small tin and fits in the palm of one’s hand. However, it became the center of a controversy soon after it was added to the museum’s collection.

Several historians claimed the so-called Henlein watch was a forgery and not an original. This was even though the signature in the inside back cover of the watch proclaimed it to have been made by Peter Henlein in 1510. A 1930 report stated that the signature was added years after the watch was supposedly built.

The experts reached their conclusion after determining that the signature went over—instead of under—the scratch marks inside the back cover. More recent tests revealed that most parts of the watch were manufactured in the 19th century, indicating it could be a forgery. However, other experts suggest the parts were made during an attempt to repair the watch.^[5]

5 Almost Everything At San Francisco’s Mexican Museum

In 2012, the Mexican Museum in San Francisco achieved affiliate status with the Smithsonian Institution. The status allows the museum to borrow and loan artworks from over 200 partner museums and institutions with the affiliate status. However, the Smithsonian requires member museums to authenticate their collections before they can start loaning or borrowing artworks.

In 2017, the Mexican Museum discovered that only 83 of the first 2,000 artworks it evaluated were authentic. This was troubling, considering that the museum has 16,000 artworks in its collection. Experts estimate that half of the museum’s inventory is fake.

Some of the forgeries were deliberately created to be passed off as original, while others were originally intended as decorations. Some weren’t even linked to Mexican culture at all. The huge amount of forgeries is not surprising, considering that the museum received most of its collections from donors and hadn’t bothered to confirm their authenticity.^[6]

4 The Amarna Princess

In 2003, the Bolton, Manchester, city council decided to acquire some new artworks for their local museum. They settled for a supposedly 3,300-year-old statue called the Amarma Princess, which depicts a relative of Pharaoh Tutankhamun of ancient Egypt.

The sellers of the statue claimed it was excavated from an Egyptian site. This claim was backed by the British Museum, which found no signs of foul play after examining the statue. Satisfied, the Bolton city council paid £440,000 for the statue, which went on display at the museum.

A few years later, the Bolton Museum discovered that the British Museum was wrong. The statue was a forgery, the handiwork of Shaun Greenhalgh, an infamous forger who made fake artworks which he sold to museums as originals. In a twist of irony, Greenhalgh lived in Bolton and had created the sculpture there.

His parents, George and Olive Greenhalgh, acted as his salespeople and sold the forgeries to the museums. In 2007, Shaun was sentenced to four years and eight months in jail for his crime. His parents received suspended jail terms for their part.^[7]

3 A Golden Crown At The Louvre

In the 1800s, two men contacted goldsmith Israel Rouchomovsky in today’s Odessa, Ukraine, to commission a Greek-styled gold crown as a gift for an archaeologist friend. In truth, the men had no archaeologist friend and only wanted to sell the crown as an original artwork from ancient Greece.

Schapschelle Hochmann, the more cunning of the duo, claimed the crown was a gift from a Greek king to the king of Scythia sometime in the third century BC. Several British and Austrian museums turned down offers to purchase the crown. However, Hochmann found luck when the Louvre purchased it for 200,000 francs.

Some archaeologists raised concerns that the crown could be fake soon after it went on exhibition at the Louvre. However, no one listened to them because they weren’t French. The Louvre considered their statements an act of jealously since they probably wanted the crown for their own museums.

The archaeologists were proven right in 1903, when a man named Lifschitz, a friend who had seen Rouchomovsky make the crown, informed Rouchomovsky that his work was being exhibited as an original at the Louvre. Rouchomovsky traveled to France with a reproduction to prove he really made the crown.

The revelation was bad news for the Louvre and good news for Rouchomovsky, who hit instant fame. A century later, the Israel Museum borrowed the crown from the Louvre and exhibited it as an original artwork of Rouchomovsky.^[8]

2 Over Half Of The Paintings At Etienne Terrus Museum

The Etienne Terrus Museum is a little-known museum in Elne, France. It belongs to the city of Elne and exhibits the works of Etienne Terrus, a French artist who was born in Elne in 1857. In 2018, the museum added 80 new paintings to its collection. However, things quickly went south when an historian contracted to help arrange the new paintings discovered that around 60 percent of the entire museum’s collection were forgeries.

The historian had no difficulty in determining the artworks to be fakes. His gloved hand wiped the signature off one painting in a single stroke. Several paintings also contained buildings that had not been built at the time Terrus was alive.

Further analysis revealed that 82 of the 140 paintings held at the museum were forgeries.^[9] The city council had purchased most of the paintings between 1990 and 2010. The forgeries were moved to the local police station while police opened an investigation.

1 Everything At The Museum Of Art Fakes

The Museum of Art Fakes is a real museum dedicated to art forgeries. Located in Vienna, Austria, the museum only collects fake artifacts and artworks. Parts of its collections includes pages from a diary supposedly owned by Adolf Hitler. In truth, the diary was forged by one Konrad Kujau.

The museum categorizes its collections into forgeries intended to mimic the style of a more famous artist, forgeries intended to be sold as previously undiscovered artwork of a famous artist, and forgeries intended to be passed off as originals of already famous artworks.

The museum includes a category for artworks it considers replicas. Replicas are made by artists after the death of the original artist. They were often labeled and sold as such, never having been claimed to be originals.

The Museum of Art Fakes also dedicates some exhibition space to infamous forgers like Tom Keating, who created over 2,000 fake artworks during his lifetime. Keating deliberately made errors in his art so that they could be revealed as fake long after he had been paid. He called these deliberate errors “time-bombs.”

The museum also exhibits the work of Edgar Mrugalla, who created over 3,500 fake pieces of art which he sold as originals. Mrugalla’s career as a forger ended after he received a two-year sentence for art forgery. He was only released on the condition that he take on a new career that required him to help authorities reveal fake artworks.^[10]

Museums are vast places. Some have archives consisting of several warehouses, so it’s not inconceivable to think that some items get lost in storage. But despite their worth, rare and unique artifacts also regularly fall through the cracks. From sounds not heard in 18,000 years to a UFO that was “Britain’s Roswell,” here are unique slices of museum history that were thankfully recovered.

Related: Top 10 Ancient Finds That Will Surprise You Today

10 A Noseless Alexander the Great

In 2019, archaeologists were taking stock at a warehouse belonging to the Archaeological Museum of Veroia in Greece. At one point, they noticed a marble statue half-hidden underneath other items. Sure, the nose was missing, but the face was immediately recognizable—this was Alexander the Great.

The stunning bust had been forgotten in the dark depths of the warehouse for years. Initially discovered in the ruins of a Greek village, the absent nose wasn’t the only damage. Sometime during the 18th and 19th centuries, the head was used as building material on a wall. This covered it with splotches of mortar. At the time of discovery, researchers somehow also missed the fact that the statue depicted the most famous king of Macedonia.

A new assessment determined that the artwork was created in the second century BC, roughly 200 years after Alexander the Great died. The 2,100-year-old statue was eventually cleaned and put on display at the Museum of Royal Tombs of Aigai in Vergina.^[1]

9 A Freakishly Big Sea Monster

In 2023, a researcher examined fossil drawers at the Abingdon County Hall Museum in the United Kingdom when he found a massive vertebra. This chance discovery led to three more vertebrae, all of which had been excavated in Oxfordshire and dated back 152 million years.

But this was no ordinary Jurassic creature. After scanning the fossils, it became clear that the spine bits belonged to a fearsome marine animal called a pliosaur. Looking like a cross between a crocodile and a turtle, they had paddle-like flippers and fanged jaws. Scary fact: those jaws could deliver a bite more powerful than a Tyrannosaurus rex.

This group of apex predators came in different species and sizes. This was the biggest one ever discovered, measuring 32 feet to 47 feet (9.8m to 14.4m) long, making it one of the largest—and scariest—carnivores to ever live in the sea.^[2]

8 A Bizarre Charles Dickens Story

Charles Dickens was a celebrated novelist, but the story in question is not one that he invented. Instead, it starts with a letter he penned on Christmas Eve, 1869. Dickens was distressed because the Great Western Railway Company had not yet delivered his Christmas turkey. The letter demanded to know where the bird was, and eventually, he learned that it had been destroyed in a freak fire.

We might never have known about this incident had it not been for another letter that was rediscovered at the National Railway Museum, where it lay forgotten for decades. In it, Dickens accepted the railway company’s apology and also mentioned that he was treating the whole thing in “good humor.”

Dickens might not have been so forgiving had he known two things. This was his last Christmas turkey (he died a few months later), and railway officials sold pieces of the overly well-done turkey to locals at sixpence a piece.^[3]

7 The Fake That Was Authentic

Some things go missing in plain sight. For decades, the Field Museum in Chicago displayed a sword. Discovered in the 1930s, the artifact came from the Danube River in Budapest. According to its label, the sword was a replica of a Bronze Age Hungarian weapon made during Medieval times or later. In other words, it was an old fake.

In 2022, a Hungarian archaeologist visited the museum, took one look at the sword, and insisted that the weapon wasn’t a replica but instead an authentic piece from the Bronze Age. This prompted the museum’s curator to order an X-ray of the sword. The tests showed that the artifact was forged from the right combination of tin and copper to chemically match other Bronze Age artifacts.

The 3,000-year-old sword was likely thrown into the Danube River on purpose between 1,080 and 900 BC. During this time, people ritualistically discarded weapons in waterways to commemorate a battle or the death of a loved one.^[4]

6 The Real Last Captive Thylacine

According to popular lore, the last thylacine to die in captivity was a male called Benjamin. That’s not true. In 1936, a female Tasmanian tiger was illegally trapped and sold to the Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, where Benjamin was also kept. She outlived the male but died four months later of exposure. When the animal passed away, nobody realized the significance of the moment—that there would never be another thylacine in a zoo.

Over time, the truth dawned, but when researchers tried to locate her remains, they were nowhere to be found. Some feared that she’d been discarded after death and thus lost forever. But in 2022, staff at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) uncovered an unpublished report which revealed that the body had been at their own museum all along.

According to the report, the remains were donated to TMAG and stored in the museum’s educational section, not the zoological section where researchers had looked for the thylacine before. Sure enough, when they opened a cupboard in the educational archives, they found the female’s preserved pelt and skeleton. She’d been used in school visits to teach students about thylacine anatomy before being permanently stored away in the 1980s.^[5]

5 Extremely Rare Pyramid Wood

In 1872, a piece of wood was discovered in Egypt’s Great Pyramid. Found within the Queen’s Chamber, the cedar plank measured 5 inches (13cm) long. The artifact was a rare delight, being one of only three items ever to be found inside the Great Pyramid. Needless to say, when the fragment vanished, the loss wasn’t small.

A clue appeared in 2001, however, in the form of an archival record. The document revealed that the fragment had been donated to a Scottish university. Even with the institution’s name in hand (the University of Aberdeen), the wood was nowhere to be found.

By 2019, the artifact was officially missing for 70 years. During this year, however, an assistant curator at the University of Aberdeen accidentally found a cigar tin in their Asia museum collection. It contained several pieces of broken wood. The splinters were identified as the now-shattered Giza wood, and tests also determined it was 5,000 years old. The age bracket suggests that the plank was used in the pyramid’s construction process and left behind by the builders, not later explorers.^[6]

4 Lost 18,000-Year-Old Sounds

In 2021, researchers released the results of an accidental find. They’d been riffling through the inventory of the Natural History Museum of Toulouse, located in France when they noticed a seashell bigger than a person’s head. The history of the conch was also available. Found in 1931 inside the Marsoulas cave near the Pyrenees Mountains, the artifact once belonged to the Pyrenean Magdalenians who lived in the cave 18,000 years ago.

But the initial study incorrectly assumed the shell was a communal drinking cup with a damaged tip. The new study realized that human hands had altered the tip, drilled holes in the shell, and added a tube-like mouthpiece. This could only mean one thing. It was a musical instrument.

The team couldn’t resist playing the conch, and after an 18,000-year silence, it produced rich notes that were close to C, C-sharp, and D. However, the shell wasn’t limited to three toots. That was just the first experiment, and apparently, it’s capable of a lot more. As a bonus, it’s also the oldest musical shell of its kind known today.^[7]

3 Edison’s Last Breath

Most people know Henry Ford as the man who invented the gas-powered automobile. A lesser-known fact is that Ford was an employee and engineer at Thomas Edison’s company. The two struck up a friendship that lasted over 30 years until 1931, when Edison was on his deathbed. Bereaved, Ford asked the man’s son to capture his father’s dying breath in a test tube and give it to him as a memento.

Ford himself passed away in 1947, and his possessions were stored in boxes at the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. Nearly 30 years later, museum employees stumbled upon the test tube and put it on display. Soon, the backstory involving Edison’s “dying breath” spread like wildfire.

The authenticity of the legend remains uncertain. Edison’s son really did give Ford the tube. However, no one knows if he held the container in front of his dying father or whether he merely handed Ford an empty tube that was in the room when Edison died.^[8]

2 Footage Believed to Be a Myth

Among film aficionados, a rumor circulated about the existence of a film showing a Mardi Gras parade from 1898. If real, the clip would be the oldest moving footage of a New Orleans Mardi Gras and the city of New Orleans itself. While many believed the film was just a rumor, Arthur Hardy wanted to recover this rare piece of cinematic history. But after decades of searching, he was ready to give up.

But then Hardy contacted the Louisiana State Museum, and the dominos started to fall. The curator of the museum reached out to the Rex Organization, which assists in organizing the Mardi Gras parade. An archivist with the Rex Organization went on the hunt, and in 2022, he found the legendary footage at the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam.

The two-minute film shows six floats taking part in the parade on February 22, 1898. The theme was “Harvest Queens”—prompting one float to carry people dressed as pineapples. It also showed Rex, the “King of the Carnival,” on another float and a live bull on a third. Organizers abolished this tradition in the early 20th century, and Mardi Gras parades now carry a papier-mache bovine instead.^[9]

1 The Silpho Moor UFO

In 1957, three men were walking along Silpho Moor near Scarborough when they found what newspapers would later call a “copper-bottomed flying saucer.” The description included a diameter of 18 inches (45cm) and copper sheets bearing strange hieroglyphs. Although expert analysis suggested a hoax, people’s imagination ran wild, and this helped the broken artifact to earn the lofty title of “Britain’s answer to Roswell.”

Then, the fragments disappeared. Almost half a century later, a man visited the Science Museum archives. He was searching the archives for files on aviation historian and UFO enthusiast Charles Harvard Gibbs-Smith when he found a cigarette tin.

Inside the box were several pieces of metal and a note that said “alleged UFO bits.” Since the bits strongly resembled those described in the 1957 incident, there’s a good chance that they belong to the object found at Silpho Moor.^[10]

Visiting a museum is an educational and cultural experience that we all enjoy when traveling. Thousands of museums and galleries around the world display fine arts, precious artifacts, and historical displays.

The Louvre, Tate Modern, Uffizi Gallery, and Guggenheim Museum are just a few of the famous cultural exhibits around the world which draw thousands of visitors each day.

By its very definition, a museum is a building where articles of historical, artistic, cultural, or scientific importance are exhibited. Yet there are also some unique, lesser-known museums around the world. Many grew from a fanatic’s personal collection, while others are just plain weird.

10 Hair Museum
Avanos, Turkey

In Avanos, Turkey, you will find a somewhat bizarre museum located beneath a pottery shop. Artist Chez Galip has collected locks from more than 16,000 women and displayed the tresses in his unusual “hair museum.”

Saddened by a friend’s departure from Avanos back in the late 1970s, Galip asked for a remembrance and the woman apparently gave him a lock of her hair in response.

Over the next few decades, he collected locks of hair from visiting females around the world. The multicolored hair samples, tagged with each donor’s name and address, hang from every spare surface within the museum.

Visitors are not obliged to donate their hair to the growing display. However, participants have the opportunity twice a year to win an all-expenses-paid holiday.^[1]

9 Icelandic Phallological Museum

Iceland has a number of museums dedicated to a range of historic and cultural themes. However, the Icelandic Phallological Museum in Reykjavik may well be the weirdest museum in the world. It is dedicated entirely to penises.

According to the official website, it is “the only museum in the world to contain a collection of phallic specimens belonging to all the various types of mammal found in a single country.”

The museum displays over 200 penile specimens from whales, seals, polar bears, and 20 other land mammals. A 170-centimeter (67 in) whale penis preserved in glass is the largest specimen on display. There are also human samples on view. In fact, visitors are given the opportunity to sign up to donate specimens after their deaths.

Among the more unusual artistic displays are lampshades fashioned from bull scrotums as well as toys and utensils related to the museum’s theme.^[2]

8 Toilet Museum
South Korea

You certainly won’t have difficulty finding the public restrooms in this South Korean facility. Haewoojae is an entire museum dedicated to the history of toilets and sanitation.

Despite the obvious lavatory humor, the museum actually has serious origins. Sim Jae-duck, or “Mr Toilet” as he became known, worked to improve the city toilets during his time as mayor of Suwon City, South Korea. He also aimed to improve sanitation around the world with the “World Toilet Association.”

He even built a toilet-shaped house which was turned into a museum after his 2009 death. The original museum was predominately toilet-themed signage and educational material on the importance of clean toilet facilities.

Since 2012, the museum has expanded to display a history of water closets, squat toilets, and public urinals from around the world.^[3]

7 Cup Noodles Museum
Osaka

Cup noodles are seen as a rather boring foodstuff that is traditionally eaten by poor students trying to pay their way through college. With over 100 billion servings of instant noodles consumed globally each year, it probably isn’t surprising that a cup noodles museum exists.

In Osaka, Japan, you can visit a museum entirely devoted to the 60-year history of such noodles. The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum tells the history of instant noodles from the first Chicken Ramen noodles in the 1950s to the many varieties available today.

Exhibits include a re-creation of the inventor’s work shed where the first cup noodles were developed as well as displays of noodles sent into space to feed astronauts. The “Instant Noodles Tunnel” displays packaging from over 800 varieties of noodles, providing a great “selfie” opportunity for ramen lovers.

Visitors even have the opportunity to attend a workshop to create and package their own variety of ramen noodles.^[4]

6 Kansas Barbed Wire Museum

Travel through any rural area in the world, and you are likely to find stretches of barbed wire fencing surrounding properties. You may expect to find samples of this spiky fencing wire in an agricultural museum.

Yet in La Crosse, Kansas, you will discover an entire museum dedicated to barbed wire. You’ll be amazed to find over 2,400 versions of barbed wire on display there.

The museum covers the history of barbed wire from its invention during the 1870s to help protect holdings in America’s Midwest to its uses during the war years and in modern fencing applications.

You can also explore exhibits of fencing tools and equipment. A whole museum dedicated to fencing wire may sound uninteresting. However, the impact of this basic fencing material throughout its history makes for a fascinating display.^[5]

5 Spam Museum
Austin, Minnesota

Many of us shudder at the thought of eating “Spam,” the highly processed tinned pork that Hormel Foods first introduced to the US market in 1937. While the long-life convenience food certainly had its place as a staple for troops during World War II, the square tin of meat has become a much-maligned product in more recent years.

Yet there is actually a Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota. Hormel Foods first established a small museum in a mall in 1991 before moving to a bigger, more accessible site in recent years.

Here you can learn the history of Spam production and its role during the war years. You can even taste Spam varieties. Yes, there are different types sold throughout the world. Visitors can even pick up some Spam recipes for their next dinner party.^[6]

4 Bata Shoe Museum
Canada

Shoe collecting has been a popular female hobby for centuries. From basic “flip-flops” and sandals to elaborate fashion footwear, the humble shoe is something most of us wear daily.

In Toronto, Canada, you can actually enter a shoebox-shaped museum to explore the history of footwear. The wife of Bata Shoe Company founder Thomas Bata outdid even Imelda Marcos’s infamous shoe collection.

Sonja Bata began amusing herself by shopping for shoes when accompanying her husband on business trips. Her collection started back in the 1940s. By the 1970s, it had outgrown their home, so the Bata Shoe Museum was established in 1992. In 1995, it moved to its current location.^[7]

Visitors to the museum can view over 13,000 shoes spanning over 4,500 years of footwear history. From Chinese “foot bound” shoes to basic sandals and ludicrous fashion items, visitors can learn about the background of these items as well as the changes in shoemaking across the centuries.

3 Dog Collar Museum
Kent, England

Dog collars have been a basic canine accessory since medieval times. Spiked leather collars were originally used to protect hunting dogs from predators, while more privileged pooches donned elaborate bejeweled ornamental collars.

Even today, we clip on a nylon collar to attach a lead or identification tag. Any pet store has a range of doggie neckwear for your canine companion.

At Leeds Castle in Kent, you will find a museum dedicated to dog collars across the ages. Since 1976, the museum has displayed about 100 dog collars dating from medieval to Victorian times. The exhibit has collars that would seem barbaric by modern standards as well as elaborate royal collars decorated with each owner’s coat of arms.

An estimated 500,000 individuals visit the museum each year to browse through five centuries of doggie fashion.^[8]

2 Skull Tower Of Nis
Serbia

Serbia’s somewhat gruesome “Skull Tower of Nis” dates back to the Battle of Cegar in 1809. With Turkish forces fast closing in, Serbian commander Stevan Sindelic blew up a gunpowder store, killing himself and fellow soldiers to save them from torture by their captors.

Vizier Hurshid Pasha had the deceased rebels decapitated. Then the heads were skinned and stuffed. Finally, a 4.6-meter (15 ft) tower using the skulls of the 952 fallen Serbian soldiers was erected as a clear message to rebels.

Over time, some skulls fell from the wall while others were taken by relatives for burial. As of 2013, 58 skulls remained on display, including a glass-encased exhibit said to hold the skull of Sindelic.

A chapel was built around the tower in 1892 to preserve it as a monument to the fallen troops and a reminder of the barbarities of war.^[9]

1 Lunchbox Museum
Columbus, Georgia

Over the years, we’ve all had our favorite lunchboxes—those utilitarian little objects that safely carried our sandwiches and fruit to school or work. Some of us will remember the metal boxes of the 1950s and 1960s—from the black-and-red plaid tins to those decorated with decals of our favorite folk heroes.

In more recent years, we shifted to plastic containers. These included the simple lidded plastic boxes and the trendy pop culture or Disney varieties that every school child “has to have.”

But did you know that there is actually a museum dedicated to lunchboxes? Above a country music station in Columbus, Georgia, you will find a museum displaying thousands of lunchboxes, thermoses, and coolers.

Owner Allen Woodall first began collecting lunchboxes in the 1990s. His museum collection is open to the public and displays the history of this humble container from the 1950s to the present.^[10]

Lesley Connor is a retired Australian newspaper editor who provides articles for online publications and her travel blog.

Museums can be great additions to any travel itinerary, and prominent ones, like the Louvre or the Smithsonian, are visited by throngs of tourists each year. Then there the collections that are perhaps more niche but certainly still of interest to the right audience.

There are plenty of odd museums located around the world, but who would have thought so many were dedicated to celebrities? These shrine-like menageries are devoted to the famous and house memorabilia, props, personal items, and everything else fans want to discover. Check out these celebrity museums from around the world that are strangely unique.

10 The Britney Spears Exhibit At The Kentwood Museum

In the small town of Kentwood, Louisiana, you’ll find the Kentwood Museum. The museum features two permanent exhibits—the Kentwood Military Exhibit and the Britney Spears Exhibit. The second exhibit may sound out of the ordinary, but Kentwood is the hometown of Britney Spears.^[1] After thousands of fans called Kentwood to discover more about the famous pop singer, the museum finally decided to open the exhibit in 2001 for visitors to learn more about the singer.

The exhibit features three sections, with one being devoted to her childhood, another to her years as part of the “New Mickey Mouse Club,” and the third depicting her time as a pop star. Visitors to the museum will be able to enjoy a replica of one of her stages, clothing, platinum records, photographs, and other memorabilia. There is also a gift shop located at the museum that sells Britney Spears merchandise.

9 The Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum

One of Austria’s greatest celebrities has his own museum in the small town where he was born. The Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum is located in the Terminator’s childhood home in Thal. Schwarzenegger eventually left Austria to pursue his careers in bodybuilding, acting, and politics.^[2] His many achievements and humanitarian works are all on display at the museum.

Each room of the museum is full of memorabilia and features exhibits focusing on his childhood as well as his film and gubernatorial careers. Visitors to the museum will be able to browse rare movie props, a collection of weights and equipment, and photographs and even take a peek at his governor’s desk. The museum is small compared to Schwarzenegger and his many careers, but it features rare memorabilia that won’t be seen anywhere else in the world. The museum will leave you saying, “I’ll be back.”

8 The Stoogeum

The world’s first and largest museum of the Three Stooges is located in Ambler, Pennsylvania. The Stoogeum contains about 100,000 pieces of “Stoogeabilia,” including props, games, toys, personal belongings, and much more. The 929-square-meter (10,000 ft²), three-story building not only houses artifacts of the legendary comedy team, but it also features an art gallery, research library, and an 85-seat theater used for film screenings, lectures, and presentations.

The Three Stooges Fan Club, one of the largest and oldest fan clubs in the US, is also headquartered at the Stoogeum. They currently have about 2,000 members worldwide. The fan club holds their annual meetings at the Stoogeum and brings together Stooges relatives, supporting actors, impersonators, and fans to enjoy a comedy-filled event.^[3]

7 The L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition

L. Ron Hubbard was an American novelist and the founder of the Church of Scientology. He struggled to gain recognition for Scientology as a legitimate religion, but he gained popularity through his life. Hubbard was respected by many, and his achievements can be recounted at the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition.

The L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition opened in 1991, and it features more than 30 creative displays and multimedia presentations to be walked through. The exhibition is made up of several artifacts, awards, and films about Hubbard and his role in Scientology. Videos that can be viewed include “Introduction,” “A Brief Chronology,” “Early Years,” “University Years,” and “Living the Stories.” The museum is open seven days a week and is conveniently located on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.^[4]

6 The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast/Museum

In 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were found brutally murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts, home. Their daughter, Lizzie Borden, was tried for the ax murders, but she was acquitted in 1893. The case was never solved, and Lizzie continued to live in the Fall River home until her death in 1927. The Borden home is now a bed-and-breakfast and museum that is open year-round.

The house still sits just as it was, and artifacts of the murder case are displayed around the home. Visitors can stay the night if they dare face the alleged paranormal activity. The Lizzie and Emma Suite includes both of their bedrooms, the Andrew and Abby Suite includes their bedroom and Abby’s sewing room, and the John V. Morse Room is where the uncle of Lizzie and Emma stayed the day before Abby was found murdered in the same room. There are also three other rooms in which guests can spend the night.^[5] Those looking to be introduced to the unsolved murders can participate in a day tour, and those brave enough can reserve a tour at night by candlelight.

5 Museu CR7

Located on the picturesque island of Madeira is a shrine-like museum dedicated solely to soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. He was born on the island, located off the coast of Portugal, and he plays soccer for Portugal’s national team and for Serie A club Juventus. He is one of the most decorated soccer players in history, with several awards, championships, and records.^[6] His success led Ronaldo to open the museum of himself to display his trophies for fans to see. Maybe he has an ego as great as his talent; you decide.

Museu CR7 showcases the accomplishments of Ronaldo by displaying four Golden Boot awards, five Ballon d’ors, and several other club trophies. Fans visiting the museum can write, draw, or paint letters to send to Ronaldo after visiting the interactive timeline showcasing the most important points of his career. The fan-favorite activity at the museum is the augmented reality experience that allows fans to take a photo next to the international soccer star.

4 Ava Gardner Museum

One of Hollywood’s most glamorous leading ladies has her own museum in North Carolina. Ava Gardner was an American actress of the 1940s through the 1970s, most notably known for her roles in The Killers, Mogambo, The Night of the Iguana, and Bhowani Junction. The museum in her home state honors the life, loves, and legacy of Gardner.

The 465-square-meter (5,000 ft²) exhibit space showcases Gardner’s successful career in the business. Visitors will find costumes, movie posters, and awards to look at, along with a number of personal items such as jewelry, art, portraits, and more. The museum also features exhibits on Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck’s lifelong friendship and her homes in California, Spain, New York, and England.^[7] The Ava Gardner Festival is held each year at the museum to celebrate the life of the praised actress.

3 Bonnie & Clyde Ambush Museum

You’ve probably never heard of or traveled to Gibsland, Louisiana, but it is home to a small museum dedicated to one of the most notorious outlaw couples in history. Bonnie and Clyde were known as a sexy, charming couple who enjoyed robbing, stealing, and shooting. Their crime spree captivated the country, and they were considered a modern-day Romeo and Juliet.^[8]

The last place Bonnie and Clyde visited and dined before their death was Rosa’s Cafe, which is now the location of the Bonnie & Clyde Ambush Museum. The museum takes visitors back to 1934 to experience the bloody ambush in which the outlaw couple met their demise. On display at the museum is a replica of their getaway car, firearms, and other artifacts. A monument located at the actual ambush site where the couple died can be found about 13 kilometers (8 mi) south of Gibsland.

2 The Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum

One of the most iconic literary figures, Ernest Hemingway, owned a home in Key West that is now a museum dedicated to the writer. It is nestled in Old Town, and it was one of the first homes in Key West to have indoor plumbing and a pool—the pool cost $20,000 in 1938 and is 18 meters (60 ft) long, 7.3 meters (24 ft) wide, and 3 meters (10 ft) deep. Some of Hemingway’s most famous works, such as For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms, were written in this home.^[9]

Much of the original, elegant furniture is still on display in the home, along with other fancy furnishings. The beautiful gardens and original pool are also available for viewing at the museum. A white six-toed cat was given to Ernest Hemingway, and some of the descendants of that cat still live on the grounds, along with about 40 other polydactyl (six-toed) cats. He named all of his cats after famous people, and that tradition still continues today.

1 Jackie Chan Museum

One of the most famous Chinese people in the world has his own museum in Shanghai. The Jackie Chan Museum, located in a revamped factory, is dedicated to kung fu master and brilliant actor Jackie Chan. After a brief welcome movie from the martial arts legend, visitors are welcome to explore the museum.

The museum is divided into four sections, covering everything from his early film career to his philanthropic contributions. Fans will find several props from his films and can interact with activities and videos about Chan’s life.^[10] Many of his movies are action-packed, just like how you will find many of the props throughout the museum, such as a motorbike crashing through a wall. The end of the museum focuses on his philanthropic work and encourages others to donate. Chan has changed many lives through his career, and he continues to do so through his charity work as well.

I’m just another bearded guy trying to write my way through life.
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To the victor go the spoils. Throughout history, many conquerors or colonizers have taken treasures back to their homelands as part of their expansions. Sometimes, it was done to fund their wars. Other times, these items were just considered novelties.

Regrettably, many of these objects were lost or ruined. For example, thousands of mummies were unwrapped for entertainment at parties in 19th-century England. But other items found their way from one owner to the next until landing in a museum.

Though acquired through questionable methods, these cultural treasures remain on display in foreign lands hundreds or thousands of years after their thefts. Here are 10 such stolen treasures on display at museums.

10 Stolen Ancient Artifacts That Carried Curses

10 The Elgin Marbles
Taken From Greece And Displayed In England

The Elgin Marbles are a collection of Greek sculptures and architectural details that were originally part of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the ambassador to the empire, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, arranged to have the marbles removed and taken back to England.

He was concerned about the damage being done to them and hoped to safeguard them from being destroyed by Ottoman indifference. So, in the early 19th century, the collection was packaged and sent to England. Mostly, it arrived safely. (The cargo on one ship sank into the water during a storm, but the sculptures were eventually recovered from the seafloor.)^[1]

The removal of these treasures was met with an outcry from the people of Greece and even Lord Elgin’s countrymen, including the famous poet and politician Lord Byron. Within a few short years, the entire collection was purchased from Elgin by the English Crown and eventually displayed in the British Museum in London.

Lord Elgin’s original concerns about damage under Ottoman rule became a moot point in 1832 when the Ottomans recognized Greece as an independent nation. As a result, Greece could control the marbles and ensure that they were protected by people who appreciated Greek cultural heritage.

Yet the collection was not returned. For some time, the British argued that no adequate facilities existed in Greece to display Elgin’s Marbles. But in 2009, a $200 million, 21,000-square-meter (226,000 ft²) museum was constructed near the base of the Acropolis.

At one point, the British Museum offered to loan the marbles to the Acropolis Museum on the condition that they acknowledge England’s ownership of the artifacts. This proposal was rejected, and the marbles remain on display at the British Museum in London.

9 Priam’s Treasure
Taken From The Ottoman Empire And Displayed In Russia

The ancient city of Troy (in what is now the country of Turkey) was excavated by a German man named Heinrich Schliemann when archaeology was in its infancy. Schliemann was obsessed with finding objects mentioned in the Iliad and the Odyssey, ancient epic poems by Homer that centered around events associated with a legendary war between Greece and Troy.

Ultimately, Schliemann succeeded. He found the ancient city of Troy and a forgotten treasure trove that included precious jewelry, gold headdresses, masks, and other artifacts.^[2]

Since then, Schliemann’s methods have been condemned by archaeologists as an insult to their work. While digging for treasure, he irreparably destroyed layers of the ancient city. In addition, Schliemann had no intention of sharing his discovery with the Ottoman Empire, from whose land he smuggled the artifacts.

After a few years on exhibit in London, the treasure trove went to Berlin, Germany, in 1881. The items were displayed at Kunstgewerbe Museum and then at the Ethnological Museum. However, after the end of World War II and the defeat of Germany, the artifacts disappeared.

Eventually, in 1993, it was revealed that the collection had fallen into the hands of the Soviet Union’s Red Army. They had taken the artifacts as spoils of war. Later that decade, they were again displayed—in Russian possession. Today, the majority of Priam’s Treasure is on exhibit at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.

8 Ishtar Gate
Taken From Iraq And Displayed In Germany

The Ishtar Gate is an imposing structure that was once one of the many entrances to the inner city of Babylon in what is present-day Iraq. Constructed by King Nebuchadnezzar II, the gate was dedicated to Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of love and war.

It was made with blue glazed bricks assembled in a mosaic that included lion, aurochs, and dragon reliefs. Between 1899 and 1917, the structure was excavated and moved to Germany. Eventually, part of the gate was reconstructed and displayed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.^[3]

Like so many archaeological treasures taken from their homelands, the Ishtar Gate is a disputed piece of history. Although requests for its return have been made by the Iraqi government over the years, it remains in Berlin because it was taken legally at the time.

Between 1533 and 1918, the country now known as Iraq was under Ottoman rule. Then the area was under British control for some decades. During that time, many artifacts were taken back to Europe freely under the laws of the Ottoman and British Empires.

However, when Iraq gained its independence, the laws governing its cultural heritage changed. By 1936, the laws allowed foreign archaeologists to excavate and to publish research based on what they found, but all recovered artifacts were owned by Iraq.

In 2013, an Iraqi man protested at the Pergamon Museum by holding a sign in front of the Ishtar Gate that read, “This belongs to Iraq.” The Ishtar gate and associated artifacts are on display in many museums around the world.

7 Rosetta Stone
Taken From Egypt And Displayed In England

The Rosetta Stone is a slab of granitoid rock that has the same message written on it in three languages: Egyptian hieroglyphics, mainly used by priests; Egyptian demotic, used for everyday purposes; and ancient Greek.

Before the Rosetta Stone’s discovery, hieroglyphics were a mystery to scholars. However, as the artifact had the same message inscribed in a language that scholars already understood, they were able to break the code and finally decipher the hieroglyphics.^[4]

This unique artifact was discovered in 1799 during Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign near the town of Rashid (Rosetta), which explains the name. It came into the possession of the British when they defeated Napoleon in Egypt two years later. Then they took the Rosetta Stone to England.

Egyptian officials have demanded its repatriation for decades. Egyptian archaeologists have also tried to convince the British Museum in London to return the artifact but to no avail. It is still displayed in London to this day.

6 Hoa Hakananai’a
Taken From Rapa Nui (Easter Island) And Displayed In England

Rapa Nui (aka Easter Island) is famous for its giant carved figures called moai that were made from 1100 to 1600. During those 500 years, the moai became increasingly complex and whole crowds of them were constructed and erected—approximately 900 in total. With their backs to the ocean, they watched over their island home.

Most were carved from the island’s tuff, but a few were made from basalt. One basalt figure considered a masterpiece is called Hoa Hakananai’a, which aptly translates to “stolen friend.”^[5]

Believed to have been created sometime around AD 1000 to AD 1200, Hoa Hakananai’a remained on Rapa Nui for hundreds of years. Then, in 1869, it was carried to a different island named England and presented to Queen Victoria. From there, Hoa Hakananai’a was given to the British Museum in London where it remains to this day.

However, the moai are more than art made of basalt and tuff. The people of Rapa Nui believe that the moai contain the spirits of their ancestors. In 2018, the governor of Rapa Nui visited England and tried to negotiate the return of Hoa Hakananai’a, even if only as part of a loan. She said, “We all came here, but we are just the body—England people have our soul.”

10 Stolen Pieces Of Art That Have Never Been Found

5 The Gweagal Shield
Taken From Australia And Displayed In England

About 250 years ago, British explorer James Cook arrived in what later became known as Botany Bay in Australia. He was met by two local men carrying shields and spears. In his journal, Cook reported being attacked by these men with stones and spears. This forced his crew to discharge their firearms and wound the attackers, who fled and left behind some of their equipment.

From the Gweagal clan’s perspective, though, Cook’s crew were unannounced visitors and needed to negotiate permission to enter the clan’s country. Sometimes, this would happen through dialogue. Other times, it would occur through spiritual ceremony.

However, Cook didn’t know about or understand the local customs. So this meeting ended in hostilities during which the Gweagal Shield was dropped. Eventually, this shield made it back to James Cook’s homeland and was displayed alongside many other artifacts in the British Museum.^[6]

Since 2016, Rodney Kelly, a possible descendant of the man who dropped the shield during the skirmish with James Cook, has rallied for the shield’s return to Australia. In the last four years, he has made repeated visits to England to advocate for the shield’s repatriation.

As of this writing, his calls have landed on deaf ears and that seems unlikely to change. According to British law, it would be illegal to return this artifact and many others. The British Museum Act of 1963 forbids the museum from permanently disposing of its holdings with only rare exceptions.

4 The Koh-i-Noor Diamond
Taken From India And Displayed In England

Until diamonds were discovered in Brazil in 1725, India was the only real source of them throughout the world. Often sifted from riverbeds in alluvial mining, gemstones held a prominent place in Indian culture.

The world’s oldest texts on gemology originate in India. Jewels were the most important indicators of status in ancient Indian courts, with different gems representing distinct levels of hierarchy.

From this golden age of gems came the diamond that would eventually be known as Koh-i-Noor. Originally a magnificent 793 carats, it was trimmed to 186 carats while owned by the Kakatiya Dynasty and finally to 105.6 carats when cut and polished in England.^[7]

When India was under Mughal rule, the Koh-i-Noor diamond was used as part of a jewel-encrusted throne that took seven years to build and cost four times as much as the Taj Mahal. Later, the throne and the Koh-i-Noor were taken to the region now known as Afghanistan.

For ages, the diamond shuffled between owners in bloody conflicts until it finally landed in sight of the British Empire in 1849. The empire signed a treaty that included the Koh-i-Noor becoming its property. The treaty was signed with a 10-year-old boy king, who also gave up his sovereignty.

From there, Queen Victoria took possession of the Koh-i-Noor. The diamond was put on display for the British public, but they were underwhelmed. Many people couldn’t believe that it was anything more than a simple piece of glass. So the diamond was cut and polished, losing over 80 carats in the process. Eventually, it was included in the crown jewels of England, where it remains to this day.

India, Pakistan, and even the Taliban have all make claims to this unparalleled diamond.

3 Bust Of Nefertiti
Taken From Egypt And Displayed In Germany

Ancient items usually show their age. Over time, colors fade, cracks develop, and repeated use or neglect damages what was once perfect. For at least one artifact, though, time seems to have had relatively little effect.

Around 1340 BC, a bust of Queen Nefertiti was constructed of limestone, gypsum, and wax in Egypt. Unlike so many artifacts of the time, this bust of Queen Nefertiti has aged gracefully. Its shape remains largely undamaged, its colors are intact, and the face of the queen appears unsullied by age.

It is rare to find so pristine an ancient figure in the modern era. The bust was unearthed by German archaeologists in 1912. The following year, it found its way to Germany and has stayed there ever since.^[8]

In 2011, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities sent a request to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation for the artifact’s return. The foundation runs the museum in which the bust is now displayed. They replied that the bust was obtained legally and Egypt has no grounds to reclaim it.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities explained, “This request is a natural consequence of Egypt’s long-standing policy of seeking the restitution of all archaeological and historical artifacts that have been taken illicitly out of the country.”

The foundation’s president disagreed: “[The bust of Nefertiti] is and remains the ambassador of Egypt in Berlin.”

2 Kumluca Treasure
Taken From Turkey And Displayed In The United States

This collection of over 50 pieces consists mostly of silver religious artifacts such as crosses, candlesticks, and dishes. It is thought to have all originated from a single church. However, the collection was excavated in a clandestine and likely illegal way which makes an exact dating of the artifacts difficult. Nevertheless, they are of Byzantine origin.

Uncovered in the 1960s, these relics were smuggled out of the country and into the United States. However, a 1906 Ottoman law dictates that all antiquities discovered in Turkey’s territory remain the property of the government. It is not legally clear if modern-day Turkey can use this version of its cultural property protection law to regain these items in an international setting.

The collection has been split apart and is now displayed in several different museums. These include the Getty Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection at Harvard University.^[9]

As early as 1970, the Turkish government requested the return of the Kumluca Silver, but they were ignored. Since then, many requests have been made. As of this writing, no museum holding any pieces of the Kumluca Silver has returned their holdings to Turkey. In 2012, Dumbarton Oaks asserted in a press statement that they have the legal rights to the artifacts in their possession.

1 Old Fisherman From Aphrodisias
Taken From Turkey And Displayed In Germany

So much art celebrates the incredible. Statues of heroes from mythology look down on us from atop their perches in many museums, but one valued statue, the Old Fisherman, is a more down-to-earth consideration of humanity.

Created around 200 BC, this artifact has a complex history, and what the marble statue represents is far from mythological. The gaunt muscles and tired eyes of the Old Fisherman capture the story of his ancient life in stone.

In 1904, only the fisherman’s torso (wearing a loincloth) was discovered by French engineer and amateur archaeologist Paul Gaudin. This occurred during an excavation of the public baths of the ancient Greek Hellenistic city of Aphrodisias (in what is now Turkey).

Eventually, Gaudin’s heirs sold the torso to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. The head of the statue was discovered in a subsequent dig in 1989. However, it remains in Turkey. So a plaster cast of the head was added to the marble torso in the Berlin museum.^[10]

Though repeated calls have been made for its repatriation, the Old Fisherman is still in Berlin. It has been displayed at the Pergamon Museum and the Altes Museum. Ertugrul Gunay, Turkey’s cultural minister until 2013, once said, “Artifacts—just like people, animals, or plants—have souls and historical memories. When they are repatriated to their countries, the balance of nature will be restored.”

10 Stolen Cultural Artifacts That Were Recovered

When you think of museums, do you picture incomprehensible artwork hanging on the wall while a stuffy tour guide drones on? Thankfully, there are some very different and interesting museums from coast to coast in the United States.

Today we’re going to take a look at 10 of these uniquely American institutions that have documented the bizarre and the unusual, providing museum experiences like no other.

Related: 10 Oddly Wonderful Celebrity Museums Around The World

10 Abita Mystery House

Located in Abita Springs, Louisiana, not far from New Orleans, the Abita Mystery House’s mission is to take the old saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and turn it into a museum of distinctly American throwaway items. Founder John Preble got the idea for the Mystery House during rock collecting trips. He would find not only rocks but also “bottles, bottle caps, license plates, springs, motors, pottery shards, and ‘what all.’”

The museum has since grown to feature several odd collections, memorabilia, and old arcade games. And fittingly for Louisiana, there are several alligator-themed exhibits. If you can’t make it to the New Orleans area anytime soon to see the oddities in person, several YouTubers have documented the unique experience of visiting the Abita Mystery House.^[1]

9 American Sign Museum

The American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, offers 20,000 square feet of indoor space dedicated to signs and the history of sign making. Their website claims that they have the largest such exhibit in the United States. From the familiar red neon “MOTEL” sign to early McDonald’s storefront signage, all types of signs are represented in the museum’s collection.

Besides being a highly entertaining look at something we take for granted in everyday life, it’s also educational. The tour is self-guided, as audio you listen to on your smartphone gives context to the exhibits while also explaining the skill and artistry involved in crafting such memorable signs. You can even host your own events there, which would surely make for one of the most unique birthday parties ever.^[2]

8 Vent Haven Museum

Did that episode of the Twilight Zone featuring a sentient ventriloquist’s dummy creep you out? You might want to keep that in mind before visiting the Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. Billed as the world’s only museum dedicated to ventriloquism, your enjoyment of this museum will ultimately depend on whether you’re comfortable with hundreds of dummies staring at you.

Over a period of 40 years, founder W.S. Berger amassed a collection of everything related to ventriloquism, including dummies, puppets, photos, scripts, posters, and other memorabilia. Since the dead-eyed stare of dummies does unnerve many people, it’s not surprising that some claim that the place is haunted, with one reviewer labeling it “the creepiest museum in the world.”^[3]

7 The Museum of Death

If ventriloquism dummies are no big deal to you, then something darker and a little more realistic might be in order—The Museum of Death. With locations in both Hollywood, California, and New Orleans, Louisiana, the Museum of Death houses the world’s most extensive collection of “serial killer artwork, antique funeral ephemera, and morticians’ and coroners’ instruments,” according to their website.

Be forewarned before visiting this museum—this exhibit has not been watered down to make it family friendly. Reports from past visitors list some of the gruesome exhibits: actual photos of the Charles Manson and Black Dahlia crime scenes, morgue photos, the guillotined severed head of the Blue Beard of Paris (Henri Landru), and videos of both real deaths and autopsies. While it won’t be for everyone, you have to admire the Museum of Death locations for their commitment to their theme.^[4]

6 Leila’s Hair Museum

Located in the Kansas City suburb of Independence, Missouri, Leila’s Hair Museum claims to be the only one of its kind in the world. And that seems totally believable. In 1956, museum founder and cosmetology school owner Leila Cohoon was visiting an antique dealer and discovered a 6″ by 6″ gold frame with a wreath of human hair in it. That kick-started a hobby that led to her eventually starting up her namesake hair museum.

What exactly is hair art? The category includes a wide variety of objects made from human hair, including wreaths, bouquets, and jewelry. Hair art actually has a long history, peaking in popularity in the 19th century. In a time before widespread photography, saving the hair of family and friends and then making art out of it was seen as a way to remember the deceased. It’s also a way to record different hairstyles over the years. Leila’s Hair Museum has been credited with reviving interest in the art form.^[5]

5 The Museum You Can’t Visit

The initials CIA are familiar to most, as they stand for the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA Museum is located at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and, as such, is not open to the public. But the museum does collect over 3,500 declassified artifacts that are available to view online or can be sent out for public exhibits elsewhere.

The museum was the brainchild of former CIA Executive Director William E. Colby. In 1972, Colby had the idea to share “a very selective accumulation of truly unique items.” Among those items are the spy gadgets, weapons, and espionage memorabilia that one might expect from the intriguing world of international spies. So unless you’ve got the high-level government clearance required to set foot in the CIA, you won’t be making a visit to see this fascinating collection in person. Still, you can always check out the current list of exhibits on the museum’s website.^[6]

4 New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum

Technically speaking, Voodoo is a term often used to refer to many different religions and cultural practices, but there’s no doubt that New Orleans is the city most associated with it. The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum attempts to demystify things with this mission statement: “We take all the mysteries, the secrets, the history, and the folklores of rituals, zombies, of gris-gris, of Voodoo Queens and all that jazz, and put it all in one place at the heart of the New Orleans French Quarter.”

A visit to the museum will help you understand how Voodoo made its way to New Orleans via the 18th-century slave trade and how it then merged with Catholic concepts to create the unique blend that is New Orleans Voodoo. It may seem like a scary topic to explore, but the focus is more educational than sensational. The museum does offer haunted cemetery walking tours, though, if that sounds like something you’d like to participate in.^[7]

3 Museum of Questionable Medical Devices

The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices in St. Paul, Minnesota, officially closed in 2002. But the name alone is enough to tell you this is a special collection still worth exhibiting, so the Science Museum of Minnesota picked it up as an exhibit. That makes it somewhat of a museum within a museum. The items on display range from devices of dubious functionality to the downright dangerous.

On the innocuous end of the spectrum is a phrenology reader that was purported to read personalities and give reports on traits such as intelligence and morality. That’s questionable but harmless, but the same can’t be said for a depilatory machine that removed unwanted hair with x-rays and ultimately caused cancer in thousands of patients. The museum features many other examples of medical quackery, making for a fascinating look at how humans attempted to cure their foibles over the years. If nothing else, it will make you grateful for living in a time of more advanced medical science.^[8]

2 The Spear Hunting Museum

If you live in an area where hunting is popular, you’re familiar with the various seasons for bow-and-arrow and rifle hunting. But do you remember the last time it was spear hunting season? If you find yourself in Summerdale, Alabama, you can learn all about the sport in the only museum on this list to honor one single person. Billing itself as “Home of the greatest spear hunter in recorded history, Gene Morris,” the Spear Hunting Museum is a one-of-a-kind experience.

Morris recorded 592 big game kills, which is all the more impressive considering that he didn’t even start spear hunting until the age of 40. While the focus is on Morris and his exploits, a visit to the museum does provide a good education on spear hunting itself, along with information about big African game like lions, zebras, and wildebeests.^[9]

1 Oasis Bordello Museum

The Oasis Bordello Museum in Wallace, Idaho, has one of the best origin stories of any museum in operation. In 1988, the building that currently houses the museum was an active house of ill repute when the occupants quickly packed up and left, leaving everything behind. And that really means everything, including all personal items, furniture and furnishings, food in the cupboards, and even groceries fresh from the store, still in a bag.

The operation’s madam sold the building to a local businessman in 1993, and the museum was born. Things are exactly as how they were when the occupants fled in 1988 (a tip came in that the FBI were headed to town). If a museum’s purpose is to preserve history, we’re not likely to find one that does a better job than the Oasis Bordello Museum, which was literally frozen in time. And perhaps the most fascinating aspect is just how recent that time was, given that the story of the madam and her ladies on the run sounds like a story out of the 1800s American West.^[10]

For fans of history a well-presented museum brings the past to life. Museums inform, entertain, and allow visitors to enter a different world. Some living museums, including Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia and Connecticut’s Mystic Seaport, are entertainment and tourist destinations, as well as windows to the past. Other museums, including the ten presented here, are intended to educate as well as challenge visitors to confront the past, as well as celebrate it.

The museums described here were selected for their depictions of areas which have a continuing impact on American life. The United States has, according to the federal government, over 35,000 active museums, many highly specialized. Here are ten which every history buff should visit. Most will want to visit them more than once.

10. Ellis Island National Immigration Museum: New York, New York

In 2009, The History Channel estimated that 40% of the extant population of the United States can trace their ancestry to immigrants who arrived on American shores through the facilities on Ellis Island, in the shadow of New York City. The island itself has long been the subject of controversy. Both New York and New Jersey have claimed jurisdiction. In 1998 the Supreme Court ruled that most of the island is in New Jersey, though New York retains about 16%, and the entire island is administered by the federal government.

America’s long and frequently sordid immigration history is displayed for public education. Included are the periods of mass detentions and deportations, experimentation with eugenics including sterilization of “defectives”, and other activities ignored by history textbooks. The museum also addresses the longstanding myth that some immigrants had name changes forced upon them by administrators experiencing difficulties with foreign pronunciations and spellings.

The National Immigration Museum includes displays which address the gamut of immigration to the land of the free, including before, during and after the era when Ellis Island provided the main gateway into the United States. Unless one can trace one’s heritage to the Mayflower, it likely represents part of one’s own past.

9. The Mariners’ Museum and Park: Newport News, Virginia

From its inception, the United States was and remains a maritime nation. Trade with the mother country enabled the early colonies to survive, and eventually thrive. Americans went to sea to trade with other nations, with their fellow states, and to harvest the riches found in the oceans. Vast fortunes were made from whaling and fishing, trading and shipbuilding, exploration and colonization. The Mariner’s Museum celebrates those who went to sea, and the ships which carried them.

The Mariners’ Museum’s collection is international in scope, fittingly as international trade helped shape American history. It includes a large collection of seamen’s art, including the scrimshaw produced by whalers in their off-hours, and the figureheads which once graced the prows of seagoing vessels. Civil War buffs find a large display of artifacts from USS Monitor. Working maritime steam engines can be viewed, as well as sextants, octants, and other navigational instruments and aids.

Congress has recognized the Mariner’s Museum as the official museum of America’s seagoing history, though it displays art and artifacts from nations around the world. The life of sailors at sea is displayed as it changed over the centuries, including in the museum’s restrooms, which offer descriptions and displays of the facilities once offered to sailors in the days before modern plumbing.

8. The National Museum of the United States Air Force: Dayton, Ohio

One would expect a museum dedicated to the United States Air Force to contain famous American warplanes, and one visiting here would not be disappointed. The famed World War II B-17 known as Memphis Belle is displayed here. So is Bockscar, the B-29 which dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki in 1945. The Doolittle Raid is celebrated here, and the aircraft of enemy nations during the World Wars are also available for viewing.

There are also displays focused on early aviation, including the wind tunnel designed and hand-built by Wilbur and Orville Wright. Though a replica of the original, Orville Wright supervised its construction. Exhibits allow visitors to experience landing the Space Shuttle, inspect Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft, and view numerous rockets and missiles used for space exploration and national defense. More than 360 aircraft, aerospace vehicles, missiles, and rockets are displayed in the museum’s galleries and on its grounds.

The history of aviation is traced from its earliest days (including designs by Leonardo Da Vinci) to its speculated future within the museum. Nearby, visitors can see the National Aviation Hall of Fame. Both facilities offer educational tours and support. For those fascinated with the history of aviation in general, and military aviation in particular, the National Museum of the United States Air Force is a definite must-see.

7. The B & O Railroad Museum: Baltimore, Maryland

In the early days of the United States emerging technology focused on transportation and the steam engine. Steam propelled the boats plying American canals and rivers, and the locomotives which drove America railroads. The railroads changed the world. It was the railroads which bored tunnels through the mountains, bridged gorges and rivers, and connected America’s new western towns with the market centers of the east. One of the earliest and biggest was the Baltimore and Ohio, chartered to connect Baltimore with the Ohio River at Wheeling, then in Virginia.

The B & O grew to become one of America’s largest and most powerful businesses, connecting the eastern cities with Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis and points in between. The B & O Museum in Baltimore depicts that history. Fans of baseball will recognize it as the building which looms over right field at Baltimore’s Camden Yards. Within the building and its adjuncts is the most comprehensive railroad museum in the world. Camden Yards itself was once the hub of B & O activity, linking the railroad to the port of Baltimore.

Though obviously focused on railroads, the B & O Museum traces the history of American industry, technology, and western expansion from the 1820s through the present day. A visit to the museum is a definite must for anyone interested in American history.

6. The National WWII Museum: New Orleans, Louisiana

From its name, one expects the National World War II Museum to display artifacts explaining America’s role in the Second World War. It does. But it also depicts American life during the years in which the war was fought. Radio programs which entertained Americans during the war years are celebrated. Propaganda posters which urged Americans to support the war effort are displayed. Rationing and War Bond drives are represented and displayed.

The totality of the war effort, from the contributions by the Merchant Marine to the efforts of entertainers and film producers to promote morale are prominent in the museum. Daily life on the home front is explored in detail, from recipes to help housewives feeding their families during rationing to maintaining aging automobiles when new vehicles were not to be had.

Of course, the war, in all its theaters, is covered extensively and in detail. The focus is on the human side, rather than the strategies, dates, and battles, though those too are covered in displays, artifacts, films, and interactive exhibits. If one wants to learn about World War II, the museum offers comprehensive information regarding the most significant and world shaking event of the 20th century.

5. Alcatraz East Crime Museum: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

In 2016 the National Museum of Crime and Punishment relocated from Washington DC to Pigeon Forge, where it opened as the Alcatraz East Crime Museum. The name comes from the prison theme of the building in which it is housed. Its displays depict the long and lamentable history of crime in the United States, and the evolution of law enforcement to control and contain it. How crimes are committed and how law enforcement solves them and brings its perpetrators to justice are two themes explored in the museum’s exhibits.

Among the exhibits is a rosary once used by Al Capone, though the image of Capone praying the rosary is somewhat absurd. Ted Bundy’s Volkswagen Beetle is on display. So is the Ford Bronco which carried OJ Simpson during his televised flight from police in 1994. Also on display, though not used in a real crime, is the “leetle fren” brandished by Al Pacino in the film Scarface.

Both historical and educational, Alcatraz East explains crime scene investigation through a CSI laboratory, the history and art of safecracking, and famous crimes and how they were resolved. The evolution of the American prison system, including the federal prison at Alcatraz, is also displayed. Alcatraz East displays real pieces of evidence used in solving and prosecuting historic crimes, and presents displays explaining the history of the US justice system.

4. The Museum of Science and Industry: Chicago, Illinois

Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry is housed in the last surviving building erected as part of Jackson Park’s Great White City for the World Columbian Exposition in 1893. It opened in 1933, and displays both historical artifacts and contemporary science and technology. For example, a visitor can view exhibits tracing the evolution of agriculture in America alongside displays of how current farmers use GPS and drones to monitor crops and herds.

History buffs can explore a World War II German U-boat, U-505, and learn how an American task force captured it in the Atlantic. The first diesel-electric stainless steel streamlined passenger train, the Pioneer Zephyr, allows visitors to enter its cars and cab and learn how it revolutionized railroading. One hall contains an extensive collection of ship models, another automobiles and race cars, and another one of the largest model railroad setups to be found anywhere.

One of the museum’s exhibits includes the entry shaft to a coal mine, allowing visitors to experience a coal mine and its workings in the pre-World War II era. Dedicated to science and technology, and their industrial and agricultural uses, the museum offers many interactive exhibits which celebrate history, explain the present, and predict the future.

3. National Museum of American History: Washington DC

As its name attests, this is the museum which explores all of American history, including culture, technology, military, industry, medical, and scientific achievement. Here a visitor can see the huge American flag which flew over Ft. McHenry in Baltimore in 1814, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write The Star Spangled Banner. An entire colonial house, built before the American Revolution, is displayed within the museum.

A hall dedicated to each of the American Presidents, with their histories, can be viewed as well as another dedicated to their First Ladies. Archie Bunker’s chair, from the set of the television series All in the Family, is in the museum. So are a pair of ruby slippers made for Judy Garland for her role as Dorothy Gale in 1939’s The Wizard of Oz.

The lunch counter which served as the scene for the Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in protest against segregation in 1960 is displayed. Nearby is Julia Child’s kitchen. A hall dedicated to the history of musical instruments includes 18th century instruments by Stradivari, scores of music boxes, and the Yellow Cloud, a signature guitar used by Prince. This museum covers all of American history and as with all of the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington DC area museums (and the National Zoo) there is no charge for admission.

2. Greenfield Village: Detroit, Michigan

When it opened to the public in 1933, Greenfield Village represented the first outdoor living museum in the United States. A collection of restored or rebuilt homes, shops, laboratories, factories, farm buildings, and other structures, it covers 90 acres. Here one can visit the home in which Henry Ford grew up. Harvey Firestone’s (Firestone Tire and Rubber) farm was moved to the village in 1983, and since 1985 operates as a sheep farm on the site. The Wright Brothers bicycle shop was relocated from Dayton Ohio to the village in 1937. Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park laboratories was reconstructed on the site it now occupies beginning in 1928.

The museum was and is intended to allow visitors to not only see but experience how Americans lived, worked, and played throughout the nation’s history. Costumed employees demonstrate era-appropriate skills such as glass blowing, pottery making, planting and harvesting crops, and other aspects of industry. A village green presents games demonstrated by employees according to the season. Visitors may ride in Ford Model Ts, trains pulled by steam locomotives, and a rare Ford AA motorbus.

Greenfield Village is open during the Christmas season, though it closes for most of the winter due to its location and the severe weather often experienced in the region. As an interactive representation of American history, focused on American life as it changed over the decades, it is unsurpassed. Its founder, Henry Ford, included Greenfield Village as part of his goal to display, “…American life as lived, and that, I think, is the best way of preserving at least a part of our history and tradition”.

1. The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation: Detroit, Michigan

Beginning around 1906 Henry Ford began collecting historic objects and artifacts. In the mid-1920s he decided to build a museum to house his collection, and future items to be obtained, dedicated to the support of education. In 1929 the museum opened as the Edison Institute, dedicated to Ford’s longtime friend and camping partner, Thomas Edison. President Herbert Hoover, another longtime friend, presided over the ceremonies. It opened to the general public several years later, as a museum.

Since then, the museum has expanded to include more than 26 million artifacts. It displays items from American culture, automotive history, aviation history, manufacturing, fast food, camping, postcards, road signs, the World Wars, and virtually all aspects of American innovation. Where else can one view the history of McDonald’s as well as the chair in which Abraham Lincoln was assassinated? Nearby is a bus from which Rosa Parks triggered protests, as well as the limousine in which President Kennedy rode in Dallas Texas in November, 1963. A camping exhibit depicts Ford, Edison, Firestone, and others camping, with President Warren G. Harding joining them on one such trip.

The Henry Ford Museum, combined with Greenfield Village, represents the largest indoor-outdoor museum complex in the United States. George Washington’s camp bed used during the Revolutionary War is there. So is the original Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. For automobile aficionados, the Henry Ford includes, appropriately, the first Ford Mustang convertible ever produced. The obviously diverse contents of its exhibits are entirely focused on Americana, and probably no museum anywhere has a more eclectic display.

Humans, like cats, are naturally curious creatures. Fortunately, the world is full of museums to explore, presenting a vast assortment of interests and themes. Here’s a list of some of the quirkier destinations to stimulate the senses. 

10. Big Mac Museum

Anyone growing up in the 1970s will undoubtedly remember McDonald’s ubiquitous jingle, “two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame-seed bun” — only to suffer from an annoying earworm for decades to come. But for those who still can’t get enough of the iconic burger, there’s the Big Mac Museum in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. 

As legend has it, Jim Delligatti, a franchisee who opened Western Pennsylvania’s first McDonald’s restaurant, wanted to create a new menu item to satisfy the appetites of hungry steelworkers in the area. He then introduced the double-decker in 1967 with a hefty price tag of just 45 cents — twice the cost of a cheeseburger at the time. Delligatti’s idea would become a smash hit and went nationwide at all McDonald’s locations.

Original names for the offering included “Aristocrat” and “Blue Ribbon Burger” until Esther Glickstein Rose, a 21-year-old advertising secretary at the company’s corporate office in Chicago, struck gold with the “Big Mac.” Today, visitors making their pilgrimage to the fast-food shrine can learn all about the brand’s history while enjoying hordes of memorabilia, including the world’s largest (plastic) Big Mac.

9. Museum of Medieval Torture Instruments

Ironboot. Scourge. Frocks of Penance. No, these aren’t heavy metal bands taking the stage this Summer at an outdoor music festival, but rather the names of devices found at the Museum of Medieval Torture Instruments in Prague. 

Housed inside a small building next to the Charles Bridge, the exhibition includes more than 80 methods used by the courts of Europe to inflict horrific pain and suffering. Several graphic illustrations and descriptive captions augment the presentation, providing guests with a disturbing glimpse of life during the Middle Ages while leisurely killing time in the former Bohemian capital.

8. Trundle Manor

The city of Pittsburgh boasts of an impressive array of first-rate attractions, such as the Carnegie Museum of Art, Science Center, and Warhol Museum. Still, without question, the award for Western Pennsylvania’s oddest destination goes to Trundle Manor. Located in the Swissvale borough of Allegheny County, Trundle Manor is the home of Mr. Arm and Velda von Minx. The goth-meets-steampunk style residence is touted as, “The most unusual tourist trap in the world meets the most bizarre private collection on public display.” 

The house features a death ray mounted on the ceiling of their kitchen, numerous taxidermy hybrid animals, miniature carvings of famous figures (including a person mooning the queen of England), and a singing tumor in a jar. Guests are required to make a donation in exchange for the tour, which can be in the form of cash, booze, or a new oddity to add to the existing pile.

7. Barbed Wire Museum

Set deep in the heartland of America, Kansas is best known for its agriculture, destructive tornadoes, and the fictional home of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. The flat, land-locked state is also home to the Barbed Wire Museum, showcasing more than 2,000 types of fencing material types. 

Barbed wire was first patented in 1874 and helped define the nation’s frontier borders in the untamed, wild west. Additionally, its ultimate tensile strength would play a crucial role during World War I as an effective deterrent against enemy tanks. And every year (except 2021 due to COVID-19), collectors from across the country gather in La Crosse, Kansas to buy, sell, and swap memorabilia at the Barbed Wire Festival.

6. Museum of Witchcraft and Magic

There’s a scene from the seminal comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where an unruly mob falsely accuses a woman of being a witch. Although the farce plays out with typical Python-esque dark humor, medieval superstitions were no laughing matter — a grim reality on full display at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic.

Located in the quaint seaport village of Boscastle in Cornwall, England, the museum opened in 1960 and now features the world’s biggest collection of objects related to witchcraft and the occult. The museum also contains exhibits devoted to the witch trials from the early modern period, when an estimated 50,000 people were burned at the stake, most of whom were women.

5. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Inside the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, a large empty frame hangs prominently on a second-floor room wall. The void serves as a glaring reminder of the biggest unsolved art heist in modern history — a theft in which 13 masterpieces worth $500 million, including Rembrandt’s only seascape, “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee.”

The museum houses the rare possessions of Isabella Stewart Gardner, a wealthy philanthropist, and patron of the arts. Her vision of celebrating art in all forms is scattered throughout the five-story historic building, featuring a wide range of works ranging from Roman antiquities to Renaissance artists such as Titian, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Botticelli.

But despite the priceless treasures on display, the museum is equally renowned for what’s not there. In the wee hours of the morning on March 18, 1990, two thieves disguised as police officers managed to pull off the stunning caper after tying up a pair of dimwitted security guards. Countless theories abound regarding the whereabouts of the artifacts — and Netflix recently released a four-part documentary about the theft, This Is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist.

4. Museum of Death

Museums often serve to inspire, stimulate and celebrate the joys of life through artistic expression. However, the Museum of Death takes a different approach and instead showcases the Big Adios — and lots of it.  

With locations in both Los Angeles and New Orleans, visitors can view memorabilia and artifacts related to dying, such as antique funeral objects, photos from crime scenes, coroner’s instruments, and an extensive collection of art by serial killers. Notable exhibits include a recreation of the Heaven’s Gate mass suicide replete with the original beds as well as rooms paying homage to Charles Manson and the gruesome Black Dahlia murder.

3. The Mütter Museum 

Thomas Mutter, a renowned Philadelphia physician, specialized in the surgical repair of human deformities and pioneered procedures to treat burn victims. His vast stockpile of specimens and medical equipment would later form the basis of the Mutter Museum.

First opened in 1863, the museum now consists of over 20,000 artifacts, well-preserved inside The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest private medical society in the United States. Among the medical oddities, highlights include a vertebra of John Wilkes Booth, slides of cells from Albert Einstein’s brain, the livers and plaster cast of Chang and Eng (the original “Siamese Twins”), and the infamous “Soap Lady.”

2. Phallological Museum

Iceland is known as the “Land of Fire and Ice,” where active volcanoes and glaciers co-exist to form a bizarre landscape like no other. Fittingly, the Nordic (you’ll appreciate the pun later) country hosts the world’s only museum, which contains phallic specimens belonging to all the mammals indigenous to a single nation. 

Visitors to the Icelandic Phallological Museum in Reykjavík will discover more than 300 penises and penile parts of creatures such as polar bears, seals, reindeers, and even a 3-foot willy from a blue whale. So whether you refer to the male anatomy as a John Thomas, one-eyed trouser snake, tallywhacker, giggle stick, winkle, or hooded bandit — a hodgepodge of various shapes and sizes can be found in this truly unique Mecca for members.

1. Museum of Broken Relationships

In their classic hit song, “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” the Bee Gees explore the pain and sorrow associated with love gone awry. But for those looking for a cathartic alternative to sad songs, look no further than the Museum of Broken Relationships.

According to its website, the collection “is a physical and virtual public space created with the sole purpose of treasuring and sharing your heartbreak stories and symbolic possessions. It is a museum about you, about us, about the ways we love and lose.” Two Croatian artists came up with the concept, who, after breaking up, joked that they should create a museum to honor their relationship.

The global crowd-sourced project now has two permanent outposts in Zagreb and Los Angeles. One of the more notable items donated is an ax (“therapy instrument”) once used to smash the furniture of a cheating partner.