{"id":2881,"date":"2015-10-05T08:08:59","date_gmt":"2015-10-05T06:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/?p=2881"},"modified":"2021-04-02T10:33:16","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T08:33:16","slug":"5-weird-museums-that-actually-exist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/?p=2881","title":{"rendered":"5 Weird Museums That Actually Exist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pecker<\/a>Today, I am walking through Podskalska in Prague\u2019s New Town. New Town is wonderful; it is often overlooked by tourists and yet it\u2019s lined with charming buildings which mark Prague\u2019s varied architectural history.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the back streets are often home to hidden gems. I\u2019ve stumbled upon a bust of Winston Churchill, a pub with an archery range in it, and a church with a severed arm behind the altar. There\u2019s always something weird just waiting to be discovered in those cobbled streets.<\/p>\n

And better yet, there\u2019s always a good pub near that something weird.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s surprise turns out to be a museum of toilets and kid\u2019s potties. The sign was in linoleum \u2013 what else \u2013 and the large front window is stuffed with the historical representation of The John. We take a picture of it and then swiftly move to the pub across the street. But I am already obsessed with this idea of the toilet museum.<\/p>\n

The toilet museum exists. Someone thought that a museum to toilets should exist and they built it here in Prague 4 and then filled it with appropriate objects. Once I start thinking about it, the idea doesn\u2019t seem all that crazy.<\/p>\n

Surely, there are other weird museums out there and then I start remembering others I’ve been to – the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, the Sex Museum in Amsterdam, the Museum of Medieval Torture Devices in Prague.<\/p>\n

What else is out there? I sip my beer in content, because my internet surfing time for later is set with purpose. Here are five other weird museums that actually exist in the world.<\/p>\n

The Icelandic Phallological Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n

In laymen\u2019s terms: A museum of dicks! A whole museum dedicated to the world\u2019s peckers, wieners, willies, and cocks. The peckers on display range from the 67 inch tip of a blue whale\u2019s to the 2 millimeter dong of a hamster (who I think I roomed with in college). Also featured are man junk specimens of both Hulduf\u00f3lk (Icelandic elves) and trolls.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss the room on penile warts!<\/p>\n

Momofuko Ando Ramen Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Momofuko Ando invented Ramen instant noodles on August 25, 1958, after months of frustrating trial and error, the world\u2019s future college kids joined together in a collective song of thanks and joy.<\/p>\n

The museum is in Osaka, and is \u2013 according to the website \u2013 \u201cfour stories of fun-filled exhibitions and attractions\u201d which includes a riveting history of Ramen instant noodles and a factory workshop where visitors can make their own noodles, thus voiding the entire point of Ramen in the first place. Reservations must be made to enjoy that feature. The museum is 500 yen for adults, but free for high school age kids or younger. They probably figure that most of them are going to buy far more than 500 yen in Ramen in a few years.<\/p>\n

The Barbed Wire Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before you say, \u201cWhat the feck!?\u201d just keep in mind that this museum is in Kansas. There\u2019s just not a lot to do out there.<\/p>\n

According to the good folks at the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum, barbed wire \u2013 or the Devil\u2019s Rope \u2013 is bringing people together in La Crosse, Kansas. There are symposiums on fencing (armored, I suppose), a trade show for fencing tool collectors, and it\u2019s home of the annual Kansas Barbed Wire Collectors Association (KBWCA) Swap and Sell.<\/p>\n

One highlight is an authentic raven\u2019s nest made primarily out of barbed wire. It was found in the 1960s in Missouri. Another place there\u2019s just not much to do.<\/p>\n

Barney Smith\u2019s Toilet Seat Art Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n

Barney Smith is a master plumber who apprenticed with his dad, who was also interested in mounting trophies on plaques. Barney noticed at a young age that toilet seat lids resemble plaques. He suggested this to his dad who did to his dream what most people do while sitting on a toilet seat.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, later in life Barney started making artwork on toilet seat lids and it has since become a kind of a \u201ctoilet seat scrapbook of his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Highlights include a toilet seat lid commemorating the space shuttle Challenger, which actually incorporates a piece of insulation which floated ashore after it blew up (NASA has not authenticated), and a lid covered in volcanic ash from Mount Saint Helens.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to see more famous toilet seat lids featured. For example, the seat lid from the toilet Elvis died on, or the seat lid from the dirtiest toilet in Scotland from Trainspotting, or from George R.R. Martin\u2019s toilet: The Throne of Thrones.<\/p>\n

The Mini Bottle Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have ever gotten a cocktail on an airplane, you know exactly what a mini bottle is. Those little pocket-sized midgets that hold a shot and a half of seven-mile-high-relaxation.<\/p>\n

Yes, there is a whole museum dedicated to them in Oslo. The museum displays 53,000 mini bottles, bottles filled with mice, worms, and even flowers (I think they were factory mistakes, but it\u2019s not made clear).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a (mini) bar. Moreover, there\u2019s a slide from the third floor to the cellar \u201chorror room\u201d an intimate and creepy dining and drinking room meant to provide a place for the Mini Bottle King to enjoy his old age.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one thing I have learned in the last day, it\u2019s that you never know what will come out of Scandinavia. Also, I recently discovered the desire to see an Icelandic Elf’s pecker.<\/p>\n

What’s the weirdest museum you’ve been to?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, I am walking through Podskalska in Prague\u2019s New Town. New Town is wonderful; it is often overlooked by tourists and yet it\u2019s lined with charming buildings which mark Prague\u2019s varied architectural history. Moreover, the back streets are often home to hidden gems. I\u2019ve stumbled upon a bust of Winston Churchill, a pub with an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2882,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/damiengaleone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/pecker-museum.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EvEu-Kt","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2881"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5222,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2881\/revisions\/5222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}