Circus World and Other Weird Museums Across America and Beyond

Certain things spring to mind for most people when the word "museum" is mentioned: large collections of fine art, skeletal dinosaur remains, historical artifacts, and the like. But the museums on this list are not those. These museums represent fascinations with the weird, the macabre, the, well, random. That doesn't mean, however, they're not worth a visit — many of these museums receive high marks from reviewers. Here are 27 museums around the country and world that are more eccentric than academic, ranging from food fascination to preserved body parts.

Related: 78 Weird Tourist Attractions Across America

Gatlinburg, Tennessee
If paying $3 to see a bunch of salt and pepper sets in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, will spark joy in your heart, who are we to judge you? In fact, we might even join you. At this museum, you'll find shakers disguised as all manner of animals, insects, astronauts, foods, and even the King and Queen of Nepal. Honestly, the exhibit seems charming, and enthusiastic TripAdvisor users give it 4.5 stars.

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McLean, Texas
A little museum housed on Route 66 in McLean, Texas, Devil's Rope exists as a "tribute to barbed wire" and fencing tools. This quirky museum showcases the 450 patents that apparently exist for barbed wire, as well as more than 2,000 variations that have been found by collectors, just in case you've always wanted to hang with a bunch of barbed wire enthusiasts.

Related: Route 66: Then and Now

Whiting, Indiana

If you prefer your museums more of the warm, fuzzy, and extremely animated variety, the Mascot Hall of Fame has got you covered. This is actually a really cute and well-designed little museum to take kids to. They can shoot a T-shirt cannon, participate in a Build-a-Bear workshop, build and design mascots, audition to be a mascot, and meet mascots like the museum's very own Reggie the Purple Party Dude with his hot pink fur and french-fry hair. 

Related: 25 Amusement Parks That Aren't Horrible for Parents

Houston
In this museum, you can wander through 15 permanent exhibits with 6-feet-under focus. That covers caskets, coffins, and cremation; hearses through history; the deaths and funerals of presidents, popes, celebrities, and more; embalming; mourning; and different cultures' funeral practices. It sounds depressing and more than a little macabre, but those who've visited regularly give it five stars and call it a "hidden gem."  

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Portland, Maine
Cryptozoology is a fancy word — a fancy word for mythical creatures that have little to no basis in reality. That's what is on exhibit here in Portland, Maine. Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster, the Abominable Snowman, something called a Tatzelwurm, and more are all represented here. If you want to pay $10 to go check all that out, who are we to say it's a waste of money? Certain reviewers, however, will tell you exactly that.

Gladbrook, Iowa
So you built the Millennium Falcon out of Legos, and you're feeling pretty proud? Well, here comes artist Pat Acton to humble you, because he took nearly a million matchsticks and created a model of the aforementioned Star Wars starship. Matchstick Marvels is filled with that work of ingenuity and plenty more. Acton used matchsticks to make a two-headed dragon, an International Space Station replica, Hogwarts castle, aircraft carrier, and more. It's a pretty eclectic collection, and those who've seen it are very enthusiastic about it, with one Google review exclaiming: "BLOWN AWAY! Soo much detail, so big! So impossible! It's awe-inspiring!"

Austin, Texas
No surprise that a city plastered with bumper stickers imploring folks to "Keep Austin Weird" would also have a museum representing all things weird, too. Opened in 2007, this museum is filled with "rare, one-of-a-kind — and in some ways priceless — artifacts." Translation? Shrunken heads, Fiji mermaids, suits of armor, taxidermied mutant farm animals, and, at the end of the tour, a very popular "sideshow" involving a guy and his "adorable" three-legged dog, which sounds worth the price of the $13 admission alone.

Joshua Tree, California
Ah, a breath of fresh air — literally. This free outdoor museum in Joshua Tree, California houses much of the life's work of late African-American artist Noah Purifoy. The collection, spread over 10 acres, is created entirely out of junk and found materials, a practice Purifoy took up after the 1965 Watts Rebellion in Los Angeles, when he constructed a sculpture made out of the uprising's charred debris. Purifoy moved to the desert and lived out the last 15 years of his life on the land this museum sits on, creating an "otherworldly environment (that) is one of California’s great art historical wonders."

Related: 23 Amazing Places to Learn About Black History

Middleton, Wisconsin
Is mustard memorabilia your jam? Then this Wisconsin museum will probably cut the mustard for you. It features more than 6,000 versions of America's not-favorite condiment (sorry, that's Sriracha, apparently) from all 50 states and more than 70 countries, as well as moments in mustard history like antique tins, vintage ads, and more. After taking in all that golden-hued goodness, you can visit the museum store where you can shop for not only mustard and other food products but also T-shirts, shot glasses, and other novelty items. 

Related: Bucket List Destinations for Foodies

Mecca, California
Not to be outdone in the museums-dedicated-to-yellow-foods department is this fruit-centric museum. It features more than 25,000 banana-related items, which is admittedly perplexing, as well as a Banana Bar where patrons can order "tasty treats" that feature … well, we don't have to tell you, do we? If that all sounds a bit ripe in the rip-off department, know that admission is only $1, and reviewers seem to love it, with many alluding to the friendliness of the couple who run it, as well as their unexpected delight in the items on display. The museum is currently closed due to COVID-19, but it may reopen sometime this fall.

If you like your museums with a heavy dose of pharmaceutical history, this one will satisfy you with exhibits on bloodletting, surgical instruments, questionable medical practices, hand-blown apothecary bottles filled with crude drugs, medicinal herbs, “gris-gris” potions used by Voodoo practitioners, and rare patent medicines. It sounds fascinating, and even more so when you realize that the museum is housed in America's first licensed pharmacist Louis Dufilho's early 19th-century apothecary, which has earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places. The Pharmacy Museum plans to reopen Sept. 22.

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New Orleans

Naturally, the Big Easy, with its famed cemeteries and macabre voodoo roots, is home to a Museum of Death. The morbidly curious can find mortician tools, a skull collection, and one of Dr. Jack Kevorkian's suicide machines. Serial killers have a prominent place at the museum, which has letters from Jeffrey Dahmer and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, along with paintings by John Wayne Gacy. There is a Hollywood, California, museum, too, but it is closed pending relocation.

Fort Mitchell, Kentucky
Not enough nightmares in your life? Vent Haven to the rescue. If you're interested in staring into the vacant, haunting eyes of more than 900 ventriloquist dummies from three centuries, this Fort Mitchell, Kentucky museum can accommodate. It bills itself as the world's "only museum dedicated to ventriloquism," and its collection includes photos, posters, playbills, recordings, and more. Snark aside, it does seem like those who visit love it — it has a 4.7 rating on Google and near-unanimous five-star reviews on TripAdvisor.

Austin, Minnesota
Did you know that Spam is more than 80 years old? Did you know that Gracie Allen, Dwight Eisenhower, Margaret Thatcher, and the members of Monty Python were all fans? Do you know how many ingredients there are in it? You can find out all this and more at the surprisingly slick and popular — and free — Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota. There, a Spambassador will take you on a 30-minute guided tour that fans say is surprisingly awesome, fun, and "goes way beyond canned meat."

Philadelphia
One of the current exhibits featured on the Mütter's website declares that "spit spreads death," so there's your first clue that this place is not your average museum-like glimpse into science. The Mütter displays massive, "beautifully preserved collections of anatomical specimens, models, and medical instruments in a 19th-century 'cabinet museum' setting." Some of its prized collection pieces include sections of Einstein's brain (worth the price of admission alone, we think), one of John Wilkes Booth's vertebra, and President Grover Cleveland's jaw tumor. With thousands of pieces in its collection, this museum is sure to have quite a few things to fascinate (and repulse) you.

Baraboo, Wisconsin
Actually a museum complex — there are six buildings to visit — the Wisconsin Historical Society-run Circus World has exhibits and artifacts devoted to circus history, but also hosts live circus performances in the summer, and there are also smaller exhibits that represent Wild West shows and carnivals. And just in case you require a little circus name-dropping to pique your interest, Circus World's history is rooted in Ringling Bros. fame. In fact, part of the land the museum is on is still owned by the Ringlings, and some of the buildings on the campus were part of the original Ringling Bros. setup.

Dover, Ohio
This lovely little museum in Dover, Ohio, is strange if only for its unique and varied collection of items, which include the late artist and inventor Ernest Warther's 60-something intricate model train carvings; his wife Frieda's elaborate gardens and 73,00-piece mounted button collection, many displayed as art pieces she created; and a huge number of American Indian arrowheads and other artifacts. Wrote one Google reviewer of Warther's work: "The intricacy of the carvings is positively astounding, and it is amazing to think of the time and effort that was expended to create these true works of art."

Williamstown, Kentucky
Following biblical dimensions, this destination's creators thought it would be a fine idea to build a massive ark replica in Williamstown, Kentucky, and then charge folks a whopping $45 to $80 to visit said replica as well as the museum. The exhibits are meant to bring biblical history to life, including one that imagines how Noah and his family might have lived, and the site of the ark is mind-boggling. Reviews, however, are mixed: one TripAdvisor user wrote that the "place is great for people 1 to 1,000" — the latter of which seems unlikely, but this is a place based on miracles, we guess — while another called it a "big fat waste of money."

Somerville, Massachusetts
Sadly, the MOBA is currently closed and in search of a new venue. But when it does reopen, you might want to visit wherever it lands. Reviews can be mixed, with some patrons saying it's "not particularly interesting except for the concept," and others saying they laughed until they cried. You probably know which of those two wildly different groups you fall into.

Montreal
She's a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world — and that world is in downtown Montreal. The free-admission Barbie Expo includes a collection of more than 1,000 unique representations of our favorite body-unrealistic doll, and that includes Barbies dressed by famous fashion designers, movie character Barbies, and celebrity Barbies from many decades (think a Marilyn Monroe to Jennifer Lopez span of time). It's the largest exhibit of Barbie dolls in the world, say its creators.

Related: 11 Barbie Dolls That Could Become Collector's Items

Cappadocia, Turkey
This rather bizarre little museum is filled with human hair. Every surface in the joint is covered with the snipped locks of its patrons, some with bits of paper with addresses on them. Why the addresses? Apparently each year, local potter Chez Galip (who runs the museum) chooses 10 locks of hair and invites these women to an all-expenses-paid week in this beautiful Turkish town, where they can also take part in pottery workshops. To date, Galip has amassed a collection of more than 16,000 locks of hair.

If you like water, its impact on human history, and you like, um, taps, this is the museum for you. One patron noted that hiring an English translator for his visit helped the experience immensely. Another noted, "This was in the top tap water museums I've visited. I had a whale of a time." Wait, there are others? (For the record, yes. Taiwan has the "Museum of Drinking Water.")

Kent, England
The dog has long been man's best friend, and we've been buying our pups collars to adorn and show our adoration for them for a very long time, apparently. At the Dog Collar Museum — housed in the Leeds Castle in Kent, England — you'll find collars from the 15th Century to the Baroque Period and onward on display, with a total collection of more than 130 "rare and valuable" pieces.

Rothenburg, Germany
The Medieval Crime Museum in Rothenburg, Germany, is the stuff of dark humanity to be sure — torture devices, shame punishments, executions, witches, and the like — but it's also a German National Tourist Board award-winning site and visitors use words like "amazing," "a treasure," and "fascinating" to describe it. It's housed on six floors in two buildings, so there's a lot to see — in total, though some pieces are archived, about 50,000 exhibits from over 1,000 years of German and European legal and criminal history.

Stockholm
If you've ever wondered how the childhood experiences of Björn, Benny, Frida, and Agnetha led them to become one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of popular music, this is your spot. Find out how the foursome met, check out exact replicas of where they lived and worked, gaze upon their personal belongings, perform with their holograms, and so on. You might even hear the red telephone ring, which means an original band member is on the other line. Mamma mia!

Zagreb, Croatia

Unlike like most museums, the Museum of Broken Relationships is an internationally crowd-sourced enterprise dedicated to sharing heartbreak stories and symbolic items of lost loves — like a boyfriend's belly button lint or another person's dreadlock. Romantic, huh? There's also a Los Angeles venue, though it is temporarily closed.

Toledo

While it doesn't exist yet, plans are in the works for a 56,000-square-foot facility in a city whose connection to the legendary brand goes back to the 1940s. The $40 million facility is expected to open in 2022. The Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator are both currently made in Toledo.

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