Museums are fun places to learn about things from the past. History museums and art museums are familiar, but what about something a bit weirder? Who would visit a museum all about death? Or what about the food Spam? Readers take a walk on the weird side of displays and dioramas full of wacky things like failed consumer products, creepy old pharmacies, and more in this wild book sure to bring everyone from reluctant readers to avid museum-goers—to the edge of their seats.

Collects details of some of the strangest museums and exhibits around the United States, providing a guided tour of places such as the Cockroach Hall of Fame, Spinning Top Exploratory Museum, and the Mini Cake Museum.

Fads come and go, but they’re almost always weird. From troll dolls to pet rocks and even goldfish swallowing, there are plenty of weird fads hidden in American history. Full-color photographs introduce readers to one of America’s earliest fads—drawing panoramas of towns—as well as some of the weirder phenomena like flagpole sitting or dance contests. With full-color photographs highlighting these odd toys, games, and hobbies, readers learn some of the reasons behind these trends in American history.

Some of the weirdest occupations on the planet can be found right in our backyards. For every golf course near our homes, for example, there might be someone diving in its ponds searching for golf balls. Some people even collect snake venom or teach dogs how to surf! Curious readers get to explore the many odd jobs that dot the American landscape through colorful photographs and graphics that highlight some of the strangest things people do for a living.

Offbeat Museums contains profiles of the curators and collections of America's most unusual museums. From the Banana Museum in California to the Tragedy in U.S. History Museum in Florida, Saul Rubin takes you on a guided tour of the United States' strangest institutions, and introduces you to the offbeat people who run them. Included among the places you will visit are: Cockroach Hall of Fame The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices Mister Ed's Elephant Museum The Museum of Jurassic Technology The Mütter Museum Houdini Historical Center UFO Enigma Museum The Museum of Menstruation Nut Museum 50 museums in all! In the age of cable television and the World Wide Web it's easy to smugly believe that we've seen it all. Such institutions as the Museum of Death, the Museum of Bathroom Tissue, and the Glore Psychiatric Museum suggest otherwise. By stepping outside the mainstream, these offbeat museums meet and even surpass the promise of more traditional museums: To amaze, inspire and enlighten the public. So turn off the TV, log off the Net, and letOffbeat Museums take you on a journey of unexpected wonder and discovery!

Architecture is a very special kind of art, and sometimes it veers into the oddest places of our imaginations. Buildings both inspired by the past and looking ahead to the future are common sights, but America is full of goofy buildings in weird places, from a building shaped like a picnic basket in Ohio to man-made dinosaurs standing guard in California. This book takes an exciting look at some of the strangest places in the United States with colorful photographs and engaging stories about the how and why of these oftentimes massive construction projects.

The law of the land is not always uniform, and this wacky book is proof. Intrigued readers dive into the law books of America’s cities and towns, passing by all the boring stuff and getting down to the just plain weird. Forget jaywalking and other everyday crimes—in West Virginia it’s illegal to use a ferret for hunting! Incredibly engaging text and wild photographs help make sure readers won’t play bingo for too long in North Carolina and stay on the right side of the law when collecting seaweed in New Hampshire.

Leisure time is for people do anything they want, but sometimes their interests are really freaky. While some people like to read books and others play board games with their families, many hobbies are a bit stranger. This wild book looks at the collections Americans treasure and the games they love—even if the collection is of their own fingernails and the game is bug fighting! Engaging subject matter and incredible photos show Americans relaxing in the oddest ways imaginable, delighting even the most reluctant of readers.

Museums are fun places to learn about things from the past. History museums and art museums are familiar, but what about something a bit weirder? Who would visit a museum all about death? Or what about the food Spam? Readers take a walk on the weird side of displays and dioramas full of wacky things like failed consumer products, creepy old pharmacies, and more in this wild book sure to bring everyone from reluctant readers to avid museum-goers—to the edge of their seats.

In Righting America at the Creation Museum, Susan L. Trollinger and William Vance Trollinger, Jr., take readers on a fascinating tour of the museum. The Trollingers vividly describe and analyze its vast array of exhibits, placards, dioramas, and videos, from the Culture in Crisis Room, where videos depict sinful characters watching pornography or considering abortion, to the National Selection Room, where placards argue that natural selection doesn't lead to evolution. The book also traces the rise of creationism and the history of fundamentalism in America.