Museums You Never Knew Existed

I love all museums! Living in New York, I have many world-class museums at my fingertips – the Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Museum of Natural History, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art, and so on and so forth. My earliest memories of going to museums are with my brother – particularly to the Natural History museum (love the gem section!) and to the Met (best Christmas tree ever!). So here’s to you, Tom, for turning me on to this treasure trove!

Whenever my family travels, we do our best to hit some local museums. The big ones, of course, are impressive and a must-see. But more and more, I find myself seeking out the smaller “Specialty Museums”. These come in two forms: museums that have a theme of one type of item or one artist, and just a smaller low key, low-budget deal.  These museums often tell us a lot about the history of the area without telling us about the history of the area if you know what I mean.

Need some examples? How about the Museum of Neon Art in Los Angeles, California? Walking through that museum is like walking through history and is the perfect blend of science and art. They also have classes that you can take to design and create your own neon sign.

Along similar lines, the Corning Glass Museum in Corning, New York is a thorough walk-through of a dizzying array of glass treatments.  Over 50,000 objects spanning 3,500 years with works from all over the world, this museum will give you a new appreciation for all things glass. Incidentally, you can also make something from glass on site.

One more glass example I must share: the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum in Seattle, Washington. Such mastery and technique and possibly one of my favorite gardens. Plants and glass intermixed somehow really works.

Here is a list of some fascinating specialty museums worth your time: Museum of Puppetry (Atlanta, Georgia), Norman Rockwell Museum (Stockbridge, Mass), Banksy Museum (Lisbon, Portugal), Moonshot Museum (Pittsburgh, PA), the Word Museum (Washington DC), and the National WWII Museum (New Orleans, LA).

Now if you have read this far, you will be rewarded with two of the most surprising museums you never knew existed: I believe the Museum of Sex in New York City has been around for nearly twenty years. Believe it or not, there is a lot of education to be had surrounding sex and sexuality. This museum provides insight into prevailing belief systems and societal taboos across geography and time. The second most surprising museum is the the Icelandic Phallological Museum in Reykjavík, Iceland. This specialty museum is dedicated to collecting, studying and presenting actual phalluses from all walks of life, from hamsters to whales. Like the Museum of Sex, the information and objects are organized and presented in a scientific fashion.

There is easily a dozen more that I could detail for you from my travels, but I suspect I now have your curiosity piqued. Whatever town you find yourself in, I recommend you check out its specialty museums.  You won’t be disappointed.

Thanks for reading.

Eve