A trip to the Statue of Liberty and the view from roof of the Empire State Building might well be the essential tourist stops on any trip to New York, but now a stuffed two-headed kitten from Victorian Britain is wooing visitors too.
On today’s Moncrieff, Sean chats to Joanna Ebenstein, Creative Director at The Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn, New York, about the ghastly gallery of grotesque and creepy exhibits.
Tune in live this afternoon at 3.20pm: http://www.newstalk.com/player/
Of course, there’s no shortage of barmy and head-scratching museums around the world to tickle the fancies of the more discerning tourist. Here are seven of the oddest ones you can still visit today:
1: The Kansas Barbed Wire Museum
A collection of more than 2,000 varieties of the spiky wire, outlining its history and complete with displays of the earliest usage. “Some say it was the six-gun that settled the west. Others know better,” is the message that ushers tourists.
2: Meguro Parasitological Museum
Since 1953, this Tokyo museum has had tapeworms on tap, letting curious visitors in on the life of the head louse. With more than 300 specimens and 6,000 books and periodicals in its library, this is the go-to place to discover everything you didn’t know about blood-sucking parasites.
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3. International Cryptozoology Museum
For true believers in Florida, this museum is dedicated to the study of unverified animals, with displays dedicated to mythical creatures like Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster. Take along your doubting friends and family, and force them to confront conspiracy by shoving their faces into the wealth of hair samples, fecal matter and footcasts of animals that may or may not be entirely made up.
4: The Carrot Museum
This Belgian museum is entirely dedicated to the history of the carrot, all packed into one tiny room where attendees turns a wheel to make the exhibits move along a conveyor belt located inside the display cabinet.
5: The Museum of Enduring Beauty
Arguably as morbid and grotesque as Brooklyn’s anatomical anomalies, this Malaysian museum examines different cultures’ attempts to construct physical perfection through often uncomfortable means. From the binding of feet to the stretching of necks, it’s a curious look at the body alternations and physical ideals that have shaped our bodies and minds.
6: The Museum of Broken Relationships
In the Croation capital of Zagreb, this is perhaps not one for a romantic weekend away. It encourages jilted and dumped lovers to donate their artefacts of a failed love affair in order to overcome the emotional collapse. The collection includes countless rings and Valentine’s Day gifts, as well as fuzzy pink handcuffs and a wooden watermelon – the keepsakes of a love that would not keep.
7: The Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center
Equal parts belly tickling and stomach turning, the clown museum in Wisconsin pays homage to the humour and horror of clowns. Behind the inch-thick make-up and the seltzer-spraying bottles, the art of making children laugh is told across the displays.
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