The Mütter Museum is a part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, founded in 1787, which (according to their website) is the oldest professional medical organization in the country.
Donated by Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter in 1858, the museum houses an impressive collection of medical oddities behind glass, anatomical and pathological specimens, scarily real-looking wax and paper mâché models, and antiquated medical equipment for research and educational purposes.
And educate me, it did, I must say. Walking in I was afforded a view of a wall full of skulls from around the world (many of them suicides and murderers), strange-looking medical implements and books bound in tanned human flesh. As I traversed the two floors and various rooms of the museum I saw some rather odd sights, such as the nine-foot long human colon with a black and white image of the man who held it all in (ugh, sorry, bad pun). There was the infamous soap lady made of grave wax, conjoined twins in glass bottles, and a variety of wax models of all sorts of diseases and medical conditions that you would not want to have let alone be in the same room with. Lepers’ limbs, strangely broken bones, odd growths, and unborn fetuses were also available for display.
The newest exhibition which was near an area under construction showed the deaths of Abraham Lincoln and Grover Cleveland and their assassins John Wilkes Booth and Charles J. Guiteau which gave a glimpse in history. Too bad there wasn’t anything from the Kennedy assassination but perhaps that’s too modern for this museum?
All in all it was a fun, if somewhat overwhelming, experience. There were so many oddities and different exhibits vying for my attention that by the end of it I was almost feeling a little desensitized. While it seems to be human nature to be naturally curious about the amazing and amazingly odd capabilities of the human body I think there is only so much that can stick with you during one viewing, and after an hour or two I was definitely approaching that limit. I think if I were a medical student I could have gleaned a lot more but as a non-medically inclined person there was probably a lot that I ended up missing out on. But still it was well-worth the $14 admission fee. I had a good time and I would recommend it to anyone in the area.
After the exhibits I headed into the gift shop and made a beeline for the Mütter-exclusive Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab oil Ü, a “mélange of balsams, leathers, and raw vanilla designed to evoke images of unearthed secrets and dusty, ancient libraries.” They also had bottles of Victorian Garden as well but Ü was what I was there for and Ü was what I got. For $25 I hope it grows on me because at first sniff it was too balsam-laden for my nose.
And after that it was lunchtime. Apparently all those strange and curious oddities did not hamper my appetite.
More information about the museum can be found here:
http://www.collphyphil.org/site/mutter_museum.html
If you like scented oils, I’d highly recommend giving BPAL a sniff:
http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/
And as there was no photography allowed I snagged my photo online from this review:
http://www.visitphilly.com/museums-attractions/philadelphia/mutter-museum/
Happy viewing!
