From the Museum of Bad Art in Massachusetts to Texas’s National Museum of Funeral History.
America is home to countless museums celebrating art, history, and science, but tucked away in its cities and small towns are museums dedicated to subjects both unusual and wonderfully strange. These unique institutions offer visitors a delightful dive into some truly odd collections.
1. Museum of Bad Art – Somerville, Massachusetts Celebrating creativity gone delightfully wrong, the Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) curates pieces considered “too bad to be ignored.” From bizarre portraits to incomprehensible landscapes, MOBA joyfully showcases the humorous side of artistic expression.
2. National Museum of Funeral History – Houston, Texas For those fascinated by the macabre, this museum offers insight into funeral customs, coffins, hearses, and rituals from cultures worldwide. Exhibits range from historical embalming practices to presidential funerals, revealing humanity’s enduring fascination with mortality.
3. The International Cryptozoology Museum – Portland, Maine Dedicated to the study of hidden animals like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and other mythical creatures, this museum houses exhibits full of intriguing footprints, photographs, and models. Visitors can indulge their curiosity about the mysteries that dwell on the edges of science.
4. Spam Museum – Austin, Minnesota This quirky museum celebrates the canned-meat product SPAM in all its glory. With interactive exhibits, history lessons, and playful displays, visitors learn about SPAM’s worldwide popularity, its unexpected cultural impact, and creative culinary uses.
5. Leila’s Hair Museum – Independence, Missouri This unusual museum features intricate art pieces and jewelry crafted from human hair. Offering a rare glimpse into Victorian-era customs, it highlights the sentimental and artistic traditions of hair weaving, a nearly lost art form.
6. Mutter Museum – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, this museum is famed for its fascinating and unsettling collection of medical oddities. Exhibits include anatomical specimens, vintage medical instruments, and rare pathological displays.
7. The Neon Museum – Las Vegas, Nevada Dedicated to preserving iconic neon signs from the famous casinos and hotels of Las Vegas’s past, the Neon Museum is a nostalgic journey through the bright lights and bold aesthetics of American pop culture history.
Exploring America’s strange museums isn’t just an entertaining detour—it’s a vivid reminder of the endless diversity of human interests and the wonderfully peculiar ways we choose to celebrate them.