Exhibitions of eccentricity
From Iceland to Missouri, quirky museums explore male anatomy, pencil sharpeners and more
Sure, you’ll be enlightened by visits to the Louvre in Paris, the British Museum in London and the Smithsonian Institution in our nation’s capital. But for an atypical take on the human experience, check out these unusual museums and their oddball collections. that’s just the tip. Other animals represented in the collection include an African elephant, polar bear, seal, mouse, walrus, moose, giraffe and weasel. Five human donations have been pledged by men from Germany, England and the U.S. upon their deaths.
The museum’s founder, historian Sigurdur Hjartarson, says his interest in phallology began when he received a pizzle — a dried bull’s penis made into a whip — while on summer vacation in the Icelandic countryside. Later, as headmaster of a secondary school, he was given specimens from a nearby whaling station, initially as a joke. His collection grew and was passed to his son, now the curator of the museum, which draws more than 12,000 people a year. Julia Child and film director John Ford. A special exhibit chronicles 50 years of James Bond villains. In two immersive experiences, participants can try to locate a missing nuclear device and go on a GPS-based outdoor walking mission. The museum store stocks disguise kits, spy toys and books.
In the fall, the museum is scheduled to move from its current location in the Penn Quarter to a building at L’Enfant Plaza, where it will more than double its floor space. by cutters made of aluminum and then, when metal was scarce during World War II, plastic. Companies gave away free cutters as an incentive to buy their baking products.