Top 10 Strangest Museums

Across the world, there are museums of history, of art and of science. Some of the most famous include the Louvre, the Smithsonian and San Francisco’s Exploratorium. But for as many famous museums as there are around the world, there are just as many strange museums. To make it on this list, the wackier museum is the better.

10. Leeds Castle Dog Collar Museum

Everyone loves their pets. A pet museum might be interesting, but a museum dedicated to dog collars, not so much. However, that’s what London offers with more than 100 specimens that range from Medieval times to the Victorian Age. It looks like the Leeds Castle Dog Collar Museum has a collar on the competition!

9. British Lawnmower Museum

Year after year, people go out to purchase lawnmowers so that they may keep their lawns crisp and presentable. But a good portion of those people don’t know the history behind the lawnmower and possibly don’t care. If you do care, then there’s a museum for you in Southport, Lancashire, Great Britain. The British Lawnmower Museum holds more than 200 specimens of this ever-important machine for the lawn junkie.

8. International Friendship Exhibition Hall

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. That’s what has happened with the gifts received by Kim IL Sung and the Kim Jong IL in Kim IL’s International Friendship Exhibition Hall. Displaying more then 90,000 gifts, these were the items given by foreign dignitaries to the two leaders during their respective reigns as heads of state for North Korea. Who can resist green train rail cars as gifts of gratitude for your leadership?

7. The Museum of Bad Art

Founded in 1993, the Museum of Bad Art is “the world’s only museum dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition and celebration of bad art in all its forms.” Their mission: to bring the worst of art to the widest of audiences. With a collection of more than 400 pieces between two museums in Dedham Square and Somerville, Mass., these museums give new meaning to “can’t color between the lines.”

6. Marikina City Shoe Museum

It only seems appropriate that former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos’ shoe collection would be a part of the Marikina City Shoe Museum. Only a fraction of the more than 3,000 shoes she collected, the display still helps with the vast amount of shoe knowledge and lore presented in Marikina City. Their mission: to inform the world about how shoes were and are now made, especially in this city supposedly known for its shoemaking abilities.

5. The Mütter Museum

One of the few science museums on our list, the Mütter Museum is located in Philadelphia, Penn. The medical museum features medical oddities, wax models and antique equipment. Among the more famous displays are a preserved nine-foot long colon full of fecal matter, a growth taken from Lincoln’s assassin and a woman whose remains turned to soap – essentially making her the cleanest mummy in the world.

4. Burlesque Hall of Fame

Located between Los Angeles and Las Vegas on Route 66, the Burlesque Hall of Fame features burlesque displays and holds annual fundraising events for a wide audience. Their mission: to inspire, educate and entertain the public, fostering an understanding of the history and heritage of classic burlesque – including but not limited to the art, artifacts and personal histories of its brightest stars. I guess they keep abreast of all situations related to classic burlesque. See more of the Burlesque Hall of Fame

3. Sulabh Museum of Toilets

Several thousand years ago it was almost unheard of to have running water, sewers and bathroom facilities that were actually sanitary. That makes it seem all that more fascinating at the Sulabh Museum of Toilets in New Delhi, India. There are displays of toilets from centuries past as well as documentation of how toilets have helped the world. Perhaps that would be good reading on the throne?

2. Vibrator Museum and Masturbation Hall of Fame

Perhaps the most erotic museum on this list, this San Francisco “museum” displays ancient products originally designed to help women fight hysteria. As one of the first five products to use AC power, the vibrator has a long history and the museum would like to shed some light on the practices of women’s darkened bedrooms. In addition to vibrators from decades ago, there are also plenty of modern toys to help anyone and everyone with their hysterical frustrations.

1. Icelandic Phallological Museum

An ode to the phallus: Where oh where have you gone? Where will I find you? Perhaps at the Icelandic Phallacological Museum. This Reykjavík museum boasts a penis or penis parts from just about every mammal and sea creature indigenous to Iceland. Perhaps the Vibrator Museum and the Phallacological Museum should hook up