Postcard From: Philadelphia's Curious CollectionsHi Again –
Okay, I’m in Philly now and the Liberty Bell is pretty impressive, but I’ve uncovered a bunch of curious little museums that have it all over
Independence Hall for sheer offbeat fun.
Mutter Museum For starters, it’s probably not wise to visit the Mutter Museum on a full stomach. Among its prize exhibits are a tumor removed from President Grover
Cleveland's jaw during a secret operation in 1893, a death caste of Siamese twins and brains and other specimens preserved in jars.
Do I have your attention, yet?
Though established as a teaching tool for medical students to study the 20,000 or so “disturbingly informative” objects, tourists tend to opt for the skeleton of a 7-foot 6-inch giant (basketball player?) and the Parisian woman who had a 6-inch horn growing out of her forehead (no comments, please…). Presumably the museum's name comes from all the people who leave, shaking their heads and muttering to themselves. Dental MuseumAnother ingratiating medical option? Temple University's Dental Museum featuring the works of Edgar "Painless" Parker. The colorful dentist collected all the teeth he pulled at his chain of West Coast offices in the first half of the 20th century. And why not? There’s a bucket containing thousands of them on display. Wonder what each one would fetch on Ebay?Other mouth-watering memorabilia include dental torture devices (the PR department would probably take issue with that characterization…) and other objects I imagine you could sink your teeth into… Kinda makes your bout with implants not so harrowing, huh? Mummers Museum Music is the focus of the Mummers Museum (not to be confused with the Mutters…), dedicated to the elaborately costumed participants in Philadelphia's
annual New Year's Day parade. Visitors also have an opportunity -- and who would want to miss it -- to learn the Mummers' "strut,"
the distinctive march-cum-dance step used during the annual festivities.
Shoe MuseumHowever, anyone marching in the day-long parade should first saunter over to the Shoe Museum at the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine. Among some 800 items – even Carrie Bradshaw didn’t have THAT many shoes -- are Egyptian burial sandals from the 2nd century B.C., 3-inch-long shoes made for Chinese women with bound feet, Eskimo snowshoes, and turn-of-the-century woman's footwear with 6-inch heels – ouch! Talk about sole-mates…Other funky footwear include First Ladies' shoes such as Lady Bird Johnson's silk pumps, Nancy Reagan's rhinestone-adorned dress wear and Betty Ford's "sensible shoes" – at last something I can relate to. Celebrity toe-coverings include a lifeboat-size basketball sneaker filled up by "Dr. J" Irving, boots that Sandy Duncan wore (flew in?) in the Broadway show Peter Pan, tune-tappin', beat-stompin' Beatle shoes sported by Ringo Starr and Andre Agassi’s signed jazzy pink and black Nikes. I knew that last one would appeal to you! And More!And we sure don’t want to forget the Garbage Disposal Collection, which boasts the most complete (and I suspect, only) gathering of In-Sink-Erator garbage disposals in America; the Philadelphia Insectarium, crawling with 100,000 live roaches in a model kitchen (now there's a real draw!) and the Spiral Q Puppet Theater with dozens of puppets from around the world. Sightseer beware – there are lots of strings attached!And yes, there also are a large variety of art and other traditional exhibits in Philadelphia for those who prefer the more conventional museum route. But none of them includes a garbage disposal! For more information about any of the museums, contact the Independence Visitor Center, 800/537-7676, or visit them at GoPhila.com
Until my next destination, |
OffbeatTravel