This was published 14 years ago
Toilets and torture: the world's top 12 weirdest museums
The strangest places of learning in the rest of the world – from a museum of toilets to the phallic displays of a museum in Iceland.
1. The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets
What is it: A collection of artefacts and displays celebrating the inexorable rise of one of the world's most essential – yet least celebrated – household furnishings, the humble lavatory.
Essential information: Situated in New Delhi, India. www.sulabhtoiletmuseum.org
2. The Icelandic Phallological Museum
What is it: Talk about niche interest – this museum has a display of more than 100 mammal penises, including a giant that once belonged to an elephant.
Essential information: Located in the Iceland fishing village of Húsavík, where many visitors go to watch whales. www.phallus.is
3. The Lunchbox Museum
What is it: Just when you think museums could not get more niche, you stumble across a museum like Allen Woodall's, dedicated exclusively to the intricacies of the metal lunchbox (the "world's largest" too).
Essential information: Situated in Columbus, Georgia, in the US (there is also a southern crockery museum on the same site). //cwpsecure.com/lunchbox/
4. The Torture Museum
What is it: Strictly for the strong of stomach, this museum displays some of the most gruesome methods used to torment people down the ages, from the infamous rack to the skull cracker.
Essential information: In Amsterdam's red-light district. www.torturemuseum.com
5. The Museum of Bad Art
What is it: Why should museums be biased towards talented artists, reason the curators of this museum. And so they have attempted to redress the balance with these exhibits ("too bad to ignore"), which are likely to get short shrift elsewhere.
Essential information: Has two branches in Massachusetts, USA. www.museumofbadart.org
6. The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum
What is it: The world's only place dedicated to the many different forms of the much used condiment containers. This has 20,000 salt and pepper pots from all around the world.
Essential information: On the outskirts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. //ludden.com/SandP/
7. The Bunny Museum
What is it: Whatever the displays are like this has a great line in puns. It invites visitors to "hop over" and says its exhibits, devoted to all things rabbit-related, are "multiplying daily".
Essential information: Situated near Pasadena in California. www.thebunnymuseum.com
8. Ripley's Odditoriums
What is it: Now a worldwide museum franchise, Ripley's Odditoriums are dedicated to bringing the odd and the unusual to the wider public. The original Ripley's odditurium opened in St Augustine, Florida in the US.
Essential information: In various locations all over the world. www.ripleys.com
9. Paris Sewer Museum
What is it: Subterranean Paris is criss-crossed by atmospheric catacombs and sewers, the history of which are celebrated in this underground museum.
Essential information: Place de la Résistance, 75007 Paris
10. Kansas Barbed Wire Museum
What is it: The only place in the world dedicated to the history of "Devil's Rope", which helped to shape the development of America under the pioneers.
Essential information: Located in Lacrosse, Kansas, USA. www.rushcounty.org/BarbedWireMuseum/
11. Hair Museum
What is it: A slightly perturbing collection of hair from more than 16,000 different donors, gathered by a well known Turkish potter.
Essential information: Located in Avanos, Turkey. www.chez-galip.com/html/hair-museum1.htm
12. Shin Yokohama Noodle Museum
What is it: Another impossibly niche interest museum, this time dedicated to the wonders of instant noodle soup.
Essential information: Located in Tokyo, the museum opened in 1994.
(Photos: World's most bizarre museums)
- The Telegraph, London
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