The Zizzler

Living THE life on a shoestring budget. Traveling, DIY projects, general fabulousness.......

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Last Days- Oddities

So, my digital camera broke. I have to wait who knows how long for it to get fixed. Amidst the packing and sweating, I'm trying to enjoy the last few days in Philadelphia. I had to make one last visit to the weirdest museum I've even been to , the Mutter Museum of Medical Oddities.
I must say, I was shocked that the cost of admission has gone from $4 to $12 for general admission! What a jump! But worth it.
The Mutter Museum was started in 1858 from a collection of medical oddities used to educate other physicians at the time. The collection includes fluid preserved specimens, skeletons (including the largest on display in the US), plaster casts of weird tumors/conjoined twins/crazy livers, a lady that turned to soap, some faces and a bunch of jars of babies. I went to see Gunther von Hagen's BodyWorlds previously this year, which is totally a modern-day Mutter Museum.
The museum also has a great photo collection of 19th century oddities. The photos of conjoined twins especially interest me for some reason. Having a photography background, I guess I'm drawn to the pictures more than the specimens. Growing up in a time of "special effects", the specimens seem fake to me, whereas the photos seem like "proof." The Mutter Museum is not for the faint or weak of heart (or stomach)... the first time I went I was chewing gum, and after seeing all the jar babies... man did that gum taste like babies. There's also a collection of skeletons of babies from fetus to birth. Its creepy and surreal. Of course the gift shop doesn't have anything cool beyond a Mutter Museum magnet and a ton of books. It's definitely worth a trip, but at $12 I won't be going back again.