TRX | S5E16 | STRANGE MUSEUMS

Museums are interesting and fun places to visit, filled with educational artifacts from all over the world. Welcome back…
If you’re a person who finds traditional museums stuffy and boring, have we got a show for you! This is Season 5 Episode 16: STRANGE MUSEUMS

INTRO  You might remember our episode earlier this year titled This Spud’s for You. This was our enthusiastic homage to all things potato. The idea behind this episode emerged from a visit to the Canadian Potato Museum in Prince Edward Island, Canada. We went into a good amount of detail about this quirky and fun museum. Well today we are going to explore some more strange museums with bizarre exhibits. Stay with the guide, now, we don’t want you getting lost. Oh, and here’s a teaser, we’re saving our favorite one for the end. 

THE WINGNUT MUSEUM – BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA

As you likely know, the city of Berkeley, California is a well-established center of counter cultural influences. It is home to the University of California which was the sight of many political protests in the 1960s. It also became the focal point of the hippie movement of that era. And of course, the psychedelic drug culture was a prominent fixture of that time. So, it might not surprise you to find a weird museum in Berkeley. However, the type of weird museum may surprise you.

No, it’s not a collection of love beads, drug paraphernalia, or even Nehru jackets. Berkeley is the proud home of the world’s only Wingnut Museum!

In 2022 an employee of a department store called Urban One was tasked with cleaning up the store’s hardware department. His name is Neko, and he stated, “It was very messy, cluttered, and disorganized.” He kept coming across different types of wingnuts and decided to set them aside. The more he cleaned, the larger his collection grew. Soon other employees were contributing to the collection and then even customers were making donations of unusual wingnuts of their own. 

The wingnut was invented in the first half of the 19th century and quickly became an indispensable piece of hardware. It lets users fasten bolts by hand, without tools, using little wings jutting out from the nut. Over the past two hundred years the term “Wingnut” has also been used as a slang term for mentally unsound people, political extremists, freaks, eccentrics and weirdos. But in the Bay Area it also became used to describe an intellectually creative thinker.

Back to Neko who started the collection, over the next several months, his assortment of unusual wingnuts had grown so large that he decided to put them on display. According to Atlas Obscura, “In the museum, you’ll find a majestic display of wingnuts in all shapes, sizes, and materials from various hardware applications. Some highlights include the large decorative wingnuts from the front wheels of 1940s bicycles.” 

But for Neko and his associates, the wingnut took on a stronger significance. When the store employees decided to form a union, they selected the wingnut as their logo. “Ultimately, we decided on the wingnut because we thought it represented us as people and represented our clientele and it seemed like a powerful symbol,” said Neko. The Berkeley Wingnut Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

MUSEUM OF BAD ART – BOSTON

Back in our S4E5 called Psyche we touch on several unique psychological disorders. Among those discussed in that episode was something called Stendahl Syndrome. This was named for a French author who described in detail his experience after an 1817 trip to Florence. In fact, Stendahl’s Syndrome is also called Florence Syndrome. You are probably aware that Florence, Italy is home to some of the world’s most amazing and beautiful art galleries.  However, sometimes exposure to excessive amounts of beautiful artwork can cause some people to experience rapid heartbeat, anxiety, confusion, dizziness, and even hallucinations. That is Stendahl Syndrome. I mentioned during that episode that I experienced a mild version of this when I was in Florence in 2015 while touring the Uffizi Gallery. I just called it stimulation overload and I felt that I had to get to a window and look outside. 

Well, there is little danger of experiencing Stendahl Syndrome if you decide to take a trip to Boston and visit the Museum of Bad Art. 

According to their website, museumofbadart.org, the Museum of Bad Art, or MOBA for short, is the world’s only museum dedicated to the collection, exhibition, and celebration of art in all its forms that would not be welcomed to any traditional art museum. “Our collection includes sincere art in which something has gone wrong in a way that results in compelling, interesting images.” There are 800 permanent pieces in MOBA’s collection, though only fifty are on display at any one time. “Each piece embodies plenty of “poor-traits” (as MOBA calls them) and has been donated, thrifted, or even rescued from the trash. From undistinguishable presidents and celebrities to disconcerting landscapes and anthropomorphic animals, each piece carries a story and a laugh.” (thediscoverer.com)

An article in time.com states, “As you stroll through MOBA, you’ll grow more and more confident about your own artistic abilities. All the pieces range from the work of talented artists that have gone awry to works of exuberant but crude artists barely in control of the brush.” 

Many might find the location of MOBA to be a plus as it is housed inside the Dorchester Brewing Company. Enjoying a pint while discussing the bizarre art with your friends may add to the pleasure of the experience. The MOBA is open daily, and admission is free. 

THE CRYPTOZOOLOGY MUSEUM – PORTLAND, MAINE

You might recall our S3E8&9 which were titled American Monsters and Monsters of the World. In these episodes we discussed the mythical animals and creatures that dwell in, if not the actual lands of the world, at least within the minds and imaginations of native peoples. Of course, these include the various cryptids such as Sasquatch or Big Foot, the Chupacabra, and the Yeti. The name for the study of these mythical creatures is cryptozoology. And, yes, there is a museum dedicated to this. Located in Portland, Maine the International Cryptozoology Museum claims to be the only museum in the world of this type. 

Quoting directly from their website cryptozoology.com, “We have a wide range of exhibitions from rare, one-of-a-kind scientific, zoological specimens to popular cultural homages to the relevant anthropological and psychological acknowledgements of the sightings and folk traditions to be found within hominology and cryptozoology.” Evidently cryptozoologists are also masters of the run-on sentence!

Founded in 2003 the Cryptozoology Museum claims to have thousands of items on exhibit. One exhibit includes a letter from the actor Jimmy Stewart detailing his role in the Pangboche Yeti hand mystery. This is in reference to an incident in 1957 when a Texas Oil man named Tom Slick negotiated to buy a supposed Yeti hand from some Nepalese Monks. Jimmy Stewart then agreed to sneak the Yeti hand out of the country by wrapping it in his wife’s underwear and stowing it in her suitcase. Slick and his team also claimed to have found some Yeti poop which is also on display. 

Some other items on exhibit are actual hair samples of Abominable Snowmen and Bigfoot. Their website claims that the museum is the result of more than five decades of field research, travel, and dedication to gathering representative materials, native art, footcasts, hair samples, models, and other cryptozoological samples. In another impressively long sentence they also claim, “Realizing that cryptozoology is a “gateway science”  for many young people’s future interest in biology, zoology, wildlife studies, paleoanthropology, paleontology, anthropology, ecology, marine sciences, and conservation, the International Cryptozoology Museum is filling a needed educational, scientific, and natural history niche in learning.” You get the feeling that these folks take themselves quite seriously. (Personally I just like the phrase Gateway Science)

Evidently business is booming at the International Cryptozoology Museum as next year, 2025, they are moving to an expanded facility in Bangor, Maine. The museum is open every day of the year with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. 

INSTANT RAMEN MUSEUM – OSAKA, JAPAN

From the beginning of Remnant Stew we have strived to keep our format clean and family friendly. This has not changed one bit, however there is a person’s name in this story that uncomfortably borders on the cusp of acceptability. I just wanted you to be prepared. 

I doubt if very many are familiar with this man’s name, but it’s likely that all of our listeners have tasted his invention. Are you ready for his name? Here we go. Momofuku Ando. And while you may not have heard his name, I’ll bet that you are all familiar with his invention. He is the creator of Ramen Noodles. And why do we bring that up? Well, his work and his invention are celebrated in the Cup Noodles Museum of Osaka, Japan. 

You see it was in Osaka in 1958 where Momofuku Ando toiled in a work shed behind his house to develop a ramen that can be quickly prepared at home by just adding hot water. Quoting from their website cupnoodles-museum.jp, “He worked alone, sleeping only four hours a night and without a day off for an entire year. Chicken Ramen, the product of many trial and error experiments, was dubbed “magic ramen” and became an instant popular sensation.” The Cup Noodles Museum contains a complete reproduction of his work shed. 

But do not think that Momofuku Ando sat back and rested on his noodles. No sirree! In 1971 he visited America where he saw supermarket managers breaking up the ramen noodles, putting them in a cup, pouring hot water on them, and eating them with a fork. He hastened back to his Osaka workshop and began working on the cup-noodles concept. “By bringing together all sorts of wisdom and innovative ideas, CUPNOODLES transformed instant ramen into a global food.”

The Cup Noodle Museum is very much a hands-on affair. There’s an area where you can enjoy the entire process of kneading, spreading, steaming and seasoning the wheat flour and drying it with the flash frying method. You can also design your own cup and experiment with different flavors. You can stroll through the instant noodle tunnel which displays over 800 varieties of ramen noodles that are sold throughout the world. And, this would be my personal favorite, you can visit the Cup Noodles Drama Theatre which is shaped like a cup of noodles. In the theatre you will enjoy a dynamic video presentation of Momofuku Ando and his amazing determination and creative spark. Of course, there is also a tasting room and a gift shop. 

Now back to Momofuku Ando, once again he wasn’t just satisfied to bring ramen noodles to the world. In 2006 just a few years before his death he invented Space Ramen! “With Space Ramen, Momofuku’s creative thinking transcended the bounds of earth to contribute to creating food that people can eat even in space.”

The Cup-Noodle Museum in Osaka is open every day except for Tuesday. 

RIPLEY’S ODDITORIUMS

You might recall our S1E9 titled Believe it or Not where we honored one of our inspiring trailblazers Robert Ripley. Based on the success of his Believe it or Not items which appeared in newspapers around the world, the Ripley Company decided to open a museum to honor some of the subjects of their articles. Dubbed the Odditorium, the first one was opened at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933. There now are dozens of Odditoriums located across ten different countries and they host millions of visitors each year. Robert Ripley expanded the world famous Believe It or Not! brand into radio, television, movies, books, licensing, and Odditoriums—a genuine empire of the weird, the bizarre and unbelievable.

According to their website ripleyentertainment.com, typically, there are 300-500 exhibits in an Odditorium, collected from around the world and covering a wide variety of areas: science and biology, history and culture, technology, illusions. art, sports, and Robert Ripley artifacts. Each Odditorium is unique in its architecture and in its collection of oddities and their presentation. There is a careful balance between the strange, the shocking, and the beautiful.

--ODDITY DU JOUR ----------------------

SULABH TOILET MUSEUM – NEW DELHI, INDIA

I once knew a fellow who was often featured as a keynote speaker for various conventions and conferences. He told me that one of the favorite questions that he liked to ask an audience was, “Please raise your hand if you have ever lived in a home that did not have indoor plumbing.” He said that even at the poshest dinner parties, there would almost always be a couple of people who would admit to having lived in such humble circumstances at some point in their lives. 

When I met my first wife her family was living in a house in the woods that her father was building. While they had electricity and a well to draw water, it took several months before the restroom facilities moved indoors. They did use an outhouse. On the other hand, my father was the manager of the sewage treatment facility in my hometown. In spite of our differences, we had a long and happy marriage until her passing in 2007.

Anyway, I for one am a big fan of indoor plumbing. And if you are with me, then you might enjoy a trip to the Sulabh International Toilet Museum in New Delhi, India. At this whimsical museum you will learn about the history of toilets for the past 4,500 years stretching from simple chamber pots to elaborately decorated Victorian toilet seats. Established in 1992 by the esteemed social reformer Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of the Sulabh Sanitation Movement, the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets offers a unique glimpse into the history of sanitation.

The museum states that the oldest known use of toilets is traced to a settlement called Harappan in 2500 BC. Harappan is located in what is now Pakistan. Excavations there show remnants of wells, bathing tanks, both overground and underground drains, toilets, soak-pits, roads and lanes. The museum also displays sanitation arrangements of other ancient civilizations including Egypt, Babylon, Crete, Jerusalem, Greece and Rome. These ancient toilets often incorporated communal seating arrangements on stone slabs with round holes chiseled into them. Flowing water was channeled underneath the holes to carry waste away from the urban areas. 

During Medieval times rulers generally lived in castles or fortresses for their own protection. It would be silly to have her majesty beating a hasty retreat to an outhouse so in many cases highly decorated chamber pots were brought into the bed chamber for the royalty to use. A servant known as the Groom of the Stool would be in charge of emptying the contents. A special piece of furniture known as a close stool or a cross stool functioned as a sort of potty chair in which the chamber pot was placed. The museum has on display the diamond studded toiled seat that belonged to Queen Victoria, as well as several highly decorated toilets from other parts of Europe.  Some castles in the Middle Ages did have built in toilets of a fashion. This might have been a seat over a shaft that sent the contents of the colon into a heap at the bottom or in rarer cases to a water system which carried it away. In other castles the shaft led directly to an opening in an upper wall. Stains from medieval royal poop can still be seen on the outside of some castles and fortifications. 

The museum also contains a modern section including a demonstration of a toilet used in space. It also includes toilet cartoons, toilet jokes, and a collection of toilets from around the world. A highlight of the modern section is a collection of ultra-modern electric toilets from Japan and South Korea. 

While all of this is in good fun, the museum does have a serious side as well. Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of the Sulabh Sanitation Movement is a leader in the effort to bring clean water and improved sanitation to all citizens of the world. It is estimated that some 600 million people, about 8% of the world’s population, do not have access to toilets and clean drinking water. Of course, this can be the root cause of diseases and deaths in many countries. The Sulabh Sanitation Movement is dedicated to reaching and assisting these impacted people. 

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF FUNERAL HISTORY – HOUSTON, TEXAS

You might recall our S2E23 called Curiously Interred. That was the episode where we put the fun in funeral. We brought you interesting stories from around the world about how people go through the death, burial, and morning process. For example, in Taiwan they hire exotic dancers to liven up the proceedings. In Madagascar they dig up their dead once a year and have a party with them. And then there was the woman in San Antonio who was buried in her Ferrari. Well, if you liked these stories then you would likely also enjoy a visit to the National Museum of Funeral History located in Houston, Texas which is just down the road from us here in Cut & Shoot.

According to their website nmfh.org the mission statement of the NMFH is as follows: “Honoring the compassion and dedication of the funeral services industry has been the Museum’s mission since it began in 1992. Today, the Museum continues to enlighten visitors on one of man's oldest cultural rituals and celebrate the heritage of the funeral services industry.” The museum claims to contain America’s largest collection of authentic historical funeral service items in 19 permanent exhibits. Here you will learn about hearses through history, caskets and coffins, plus the funerals of Presidents, Popes and celebrities and the history of embalming and cremation.

In their presidential section the museum contains Abraham Lincoln’s death mask as well as the original bill totaling $99.25 for George Washington’s funeral expenses. There are also items from the funerals of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Dwight D Eisenhower as well as a special section dedicated to the funeral of long-time Houston resident President George H. W. Bush. 

There is a special section on 19th Century mourning which was strongly influenced by Queen Victoria after the death of her beloved Prince Albert. You may recall that she wore black for the rest of her life. Wearing black became symbolic of a period of mourning. A related section includes a display of post-mortem photography. This was a popular fad in the late 19th Century. It was common practice for the family members to prop up their deceased loved one and gather round for a photograph. 

Visitors to the museum often comment about the amazing collection of hearses, both modern and horse drawn. “The craftsmanship of the old carriages was amazing,” wrote a visitor from Illinois. “They also have the hearse that was used in President Reagan’s funeral.” A visitor from the local area wrote, “We really enjoyed the different displays of coffins from around the globe. Also enjoyed the section about New Orleans jazz funerals.” And a visitor from New York wrote, “If you are interested in learning new things or enjoy the macabre, this is a place for you.” 

The National Museum of Funeral History is located in an out of the way section of Houston in what looks like an ordinary plain building, but the funeral fun begins as soon as you walk through the doors. It is open daily.

HONORABLE MENTION

We didn’t have time to write about all the weird museums that we discovered. But before we get to our last and favorite museum, we want to briefly touch on some quirky museums that deserve honorable mention. 

In Bordeau, France you will find La Cité du Vin, one of the world's largest wine museums. Here you will learn about wine making from antiquity into the modern era. And in an example of Duck Architecture, the museum is shaped like a giant red wine decanter. 

Then in The Netherlands you don’t want to miss the Amsterdam Cheese Museum. From vintage gouda to award-winning goat cheese, this museum specializes in edible exhibits and is best visited on an empty stomach. Learn from one of the museum’s cheese guides about the history of Dutch cheese making. You’ll definitely want to Edom up!

The Museum of Ice Cream has six different locations in the U.S as well as one in Singapore. The museum is characterized by brightly colored rooms, each with a delicious theme. Indulge in your sweet tooth with exhibits like a massive sprinkle pool, a candy garden and a Pop Rocks cave. Each new room will make you feel like you're Willy Wonka.

Now this museum is weird not only for its theme, but also for its location. Situated in a cave in the small city of Avanos, Turkey is the Avanos Hair Museum. It features a huge collection of hair gathered from more than 16,000 women. We don’t know why.

In Tokyo you will find the Meguro Parasitological Museum. According to an article from time.com at this museum you can Learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about tapeworms, head lice and plenty of other parasites you’ve probably never heard of. The collection boasts 300 specimens, including a 29-foot tapeworm. Not recommended for anyone with a weak stomach.

And back in the middle of the U.S. we find the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum located in La Crosse, Kansas. Yes, there’s really an entire museum dedicated to barbed wire. It features more than 2,400 varieties and explores the role barbed wire played in the settlement of the United States. We’ve actually known some pretty serious collectors of barbed wire.

THE MUSEUM OF BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS – ZAGREB, CROATIA

One of my grandsons is entering junior high school this year. When he went to tour the campus he was held speechless when a cheerleader smiled at him and asked him if he needed help finding his way. As my daughter was telling me about this, we discussed the inevitable heartbreak that comes with dating and then breaking up. Almost everyone has been there and can identify with the pain of a broken relationship.

Well, there is a museum in Zagreb, Croatia that perhaps “celebrates” isn’t quite the right word, but at least “honors” the nearly universal experience of a break-up. The Museum of Broken Relationships is for anyone who has felt love’s cruel sting.  The exhibits include donated personal objects from former lovers, often accompanied by a story about their failed relationship. Some of the exhibits are heartbreaking but others are downright hilarious. Here are a few of our favorites. 

The Ex Axe     A gentleman in Berlin writes that his girlfriend had been living with him for several months when he had an opportunity to travel for three weeks to the U.S. “At the airport we said goodbye in tears, and she was assuring me she could not survive three weeks without me. I returned after three weeks, and she said: ‘I fell in love with someone else who I met four days ago.’ She went on a two week holiday with her new lover while her furniture stayed with me. I was so angry that I bought an axe at a hardware store and every day she was gone I smashed one piece of her furniture. The more I chopped, the better I felt. Two weeks later when she returned, I had all of her broken furniture arranged for her in neat little piles of kindling. She took that trash and left my apartment for good. The axe was promoted to a therapy instrument.”

A Galileo Thermometer     A women in Taiwan writes, “I had an almost feverish imagination about what kind of a boy I would fall in love with, and I even listed all the criteria. He should: 1. Be tall 2. Be tanned 3. Play music 4. Love post-rock 5. Especially love 'Explosions in the Sky' 6. Be able to cook (hopefully) And I met him! He satisfied all the criteria I had listed above, even the sixth! As luck would have it, this boy, my Prince Charming, also fell in love with me. We started our whirlwind romance. Like any girl in love, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. This passionate love lasted about six months. One day I suddenly realized that a criteria-fulfilling boy might not necessarily be a considerate and tolerant lover. He might not understand you. He even gave me a Galileo thermometer, wrapped in a crushed paper box, as my birthday present. What? Who would do that? So we broke up. From that day on I have never made another list.”

The Espresso Machine     A woman from Paris writes, “For a long time he loved the coffee I made for him using the espresso machine he gave me. For a long time he loved me. And then, one day, he no longer loved the coffee I made for him using the espresso machine he gave me. And then, one day, he no longer loved me and left. And so I took the espresso machine he gave me that made the coffee he loved and I put it in the basement so I don’t have to look at it anymore... But every time I come down to the basement, there it is.” So now it sits in the museum. 

Broken Watch      A gentleman from Switzerland writes about taking a trip to Vancouver, Canada and falling hard for a girl from Brazil. “After a few weeks she had to return to Brazil, and I returned to Switzerland heartbroken. Being Swiss, I liked watches and so, in addition to the watch on my left wrist showing local (Swiss) time, I put another watch on my right wrist showing her Brazilian time. After a while I got used to wearing two watches and kept doing so. I was always wearing them – when swimming, sleeping, pretty much all the time. It became a reminder that people in various places in the world had also taken a place in my heart. One day the watch broke down. I took it off but couldn’t fall asleep that night, so I put it back on again and fell asleep. Hence, I kept wearing the broken watch and it slowly continued to disintegrate. My friends were always after me to get rid of it. Girls I met would also learn the story. Some were intrigued, others weren’t amused. I kept wearing it anyway. It had grown on me. I’m sending the museum this watch that has now accompanied me for 15 years as a sign that even when a love story ends, we can continue to draw happiness and beautiful memories from it and give it new meaning over time. Through social media I did reconnect with the girl from Brazil. She is happily married now, but I’m happy that our paths crossed in 2002.”

The Boots      A woman wrote that her husband of 31 years bought a stylish new pair of boots for himself to impress his mistress. She writes, “The affair was discovered when he fell asleep in a drunken stupor onto the bed, wearing said boots, iPad open and showing their lascivious ‘Wickr’ chats. After reading his chats and watching a video of his showing off the Boots to ‘Violet’, I proceeded to remove the Boots from his feet, place them into one of my shoe boxes and put it high into the closet. The next day when he asked about the Boots, I feigned no knowledge of them and that I didn’t know what he was talking about. They were now my secret to keep, locked up nevermore to impress. I’d love to write a song about them, but Nancy Sinatra beat me to it. For now, the Boots walk symbolically in the halls of a museum, still my secret!”

A Scab in a Plastic Container     And finally, a woman from Austria writes, “In 1990 my friend, my first great love, had a motorbike accident. Its consequence was severe road rash with several large scabs. The accident shocked me, although nothing serious happened. Since then, I had constant fear that I might lose my dearest one. For that reason, I kept one of his scabs as it fell off, with the idea that in case of need I could have him cloned. My constant fearfulness eventually led to our break-up. I have kept the scab until today, twenty-seven years long. In the meantime, I have become a biologist. However, the desire to clone my partner from that time exists no more.

We hope that you have enjoyed our trip to these strange museums. 

Phil here reminding you to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages @RemnantStewPodcast. Drop us an email at StayCurious@RemnantStew.com just to say hi or to let us know about any topics you would like to hear us cover in an upcoming episode.

Remnant Stew is part of Rook & Raven Ventures and is created by me, Leah Lamp. Steve Meeker researches and writes each episode that we then host together. Our audio producer is Phillip Sinquefield. The Oddity Du Jour is brought to you by Sam Lamp. Theme music is by Kevin MacLeod with voiceover by Morgan Hughes. Special thanks goes out to Judy Meeker. For a complete list of sources for this episode please see this episode’s transcript, there’s a link in the show notes.

Before you go, please hit the FOLLOW button so you won’t miss an episode, head over to Apple Music and leave us a review. Share Remnant Stew with your friends, family, 

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Until next time remember to choose to be kind…AND ALWAYS STAY CURIOUS!

--SOURCES ----------------------

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/wingnut-museum-berkeley

https://www.metafilter.com/205030/we-decided-on-the-wingnut-because-we-thought-it-represented-us

https://museumofbadart.org/

https://www.thediscoverer.com/blog/9-museums-for-people-who-hate-museums/XvHyVpKgiwAG5agI?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2262903107

https://time.com/101851/weirdest-museums-in-the-world/

https://cryptozoologymuseum.com/

https://www.cupnoodles-museum.jp/en/osaka_ikeda/

https://www.ripleyentertainment.com/

https://www.sulabhtoiletmuseum.org/exhibits-collections

www.nmfh.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Funeral_History

https://brokenships.com/