From the world’s only museum dedicated to ventriloquism to museums honoring the legacy of SPAM, Idaho potatoes, and the telephone, here are 6 fun and usual museums across the U.S.
Hundreds of colorful ventriloquism “dummies,” from Shari Lewis’s “Lamb Chop” to Jeff Dunham’s “Peanut” line the walls at Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. Founder W.S. Berger began collecting dummies and ventriloquism-related ephemera in 1910. Today, the collection is over 1,100 dummies – each with its own fascinating story – plus a library of posters, magazines, playbills, and more, all related to the art. Stop in to explore the massive collection, and learn the history of ventriloquism and how dummies are crafted.
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Located in Little Rock’s hip and growing South on Main (SoMa) district, the Esse Purse Museum & Store is one of just two purse museums in the world. The museum is the culmination of owner Anita Davis’s personal collection, which, in 2013, found its permanent home in Little Rock, Arkansas, after several tours. Not only honoring the craft and beauty of the bags themselves, the museum also highlights the essence of the woman who carries it, and what makes her unique. Stop by the museum’s shop and pick up a one-of-a-kind accessory, like a “Fresh Hot Popcorn” Bewaltz bag, for yourself or a friend.
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With over 1,000 telephones and related artifacts, the New Hampshire Telephone Museum, in Warner, New Hampshire, began with the Violette and Bartlett families, who worked in the telephone industry for over 85 years. Their collection, combined with that of a telephone worker from Connecticut, plus public gifts, made the museum what it is today. Equally as fascinating as the time capsule of communications objects are the stories behind them. Take a docent-led tour and learn about an undertaker who invented the dial system, how companies raced for the first patents, and more. Historic items like a Cabbage Patch doll telephone and vintage 1970s Sculptura phones, public telephone signs, and more, are for sale in the museum shop. Admission ranges from $5-7. Check the website for seasonal hours.
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First produced in 1937, and coined as the “meat of many uses,” SPAM found wide-spread growth during World War II, when the country was in need of easy-to-transport protein. Today, over a dozen varieties are sold in more than 40 countries. At the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minnesota, learn everything you ever wanted to know about the packaged meat brand – like, What does SPAM actually stand for, does anybody know? The museum provides a fun and interactive look at the history and development of one of the world’s most iconic canned-meat brands.
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Just look out front at the giant baked potato, topped with sour cream, and you’ll know you’re at the Idaho Potato Museum. Opened in 1988, and located in a historic 1912 train depot in Blackfoot, Idaho, the museum takes you on a lively journey through the history of Idaho’s famous crop, from the first potato ever planted, to milestones along the way, like Pringles’ brand largest potato chip ever produced. Kids will love the Mr. Potato Head races and science experiments in the Potato Lab.
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Something spicy is bubbling in Middleton, Wisconsin. The National Mustard Museum pays homage to the classic condiment and features the world’s largest collection of mustard. Opened in 1992 by the one-time Assistant Attorney General of Wisconsin, Barry Levenson, the collection soon outgrew that location, moving two more times, and expanding to what today has become a collection of over 6,500 different mustards from all 50 states and 70 countries, plus vintage jars, tins, sterling silver and porcelain mustard pots, and lots more.
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