Two of my (many) guilty TV pleasures are Mysteries at the Museum and Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover. I’ve known about the Mütter Museum since I moved to Philadelphia, but I wasn’t able to convince my husband to go along with me until we saw it appear on both shows, when Bourdain discovered the 40-pound colon and Mysteries explored the history of a plaster cast of Siamese twins.
After a greasy lunch at my favorite burger joint on the East Coast, Shake Shack, we headed to our destination. My first disappointment was the no photos rule outside the main lobby. I understand photography can harm some of the more delicate objects on display, but if I’m going to go out of my way to see something gross and/or morbid, I want to take a picture and show my friends. Weird? Probably. I settled on a photo of the outside of the building. Inside, the two-floor museum is small and crowded. The narrow aisles between exhibits are basically lines for visitors to file through, one-by-one, until they’re jostled on to the next exhibit. The space definitely looks larger on television. However, if you visit during the week, it’s probably not quite as crowded as a Saturday afternoon.
While the Siamese twin plaster cast and 40-pound colon are all good and well, they weren’t my favorite exhibits. I personally was most fascinated by the Soap Lady (a woman exhumed in 1875 and almost perfectly preserved through weird and uncommon adipocere formation) and the Hyrtl Skull Collection, which is made up of 139 human skulls from centuries before, all classified by place of origin and cause of death.
I understand the Mütter Museum is not for everyone, but it is a fun and definitely interesting place to go if you’re fascinated by medical marvels and the macabre. Go on a day when it’s not so crowded and the ticket will definitely be worth your $16.
Mütter Museum
19 S. 22nd St.
Philadelphia, Pa. 19103
215 560 8564
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