August 2, 1999
The Museum of Jurassic Technology
Tidbit Archive
| One of the most eccentric -- and engaging -- museums you may ever
visit is the Museum of Jurassic Technology
in Los Angeles. Housed in a storefront on Venice Boulevard, the museum
has relatively little to do with either technology or the Jurassic Age
and nothing at all to do with the film, Jurassic Park. Rather it
brings together such odd-ball exhibits as the “Garden of Eden on Wheels”
(a collection of collections gathered from people living in trailer parks),
the stink ant of the Cameroon, and “No One May Ever Have the Same Knowledge
Again,” (letters to Mount Wilson Observatory, 1915-1935).
A fascinating portrait of the museum and its founder, David Wilson, can be found in Lawrence Weschler’s book, Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonders (Vintage paperback, 1996). Perhaps not surprisingly, the museum is on shaky financial ground and its future is in doubt. A fund for its preservation has been organized; information can be found on the museum’s web site. |
Links:Home"Museum of Jurassic Technology Receives Foundation Grants for Exhibits Defying Description" (Philanthropy News Digest, May 27, 1998)
Visit to the museum on Road Trip America. (illustrated)
Another visit to the museum (with more photos)
"Um, what exactly is this place?" The Atlantic Unbound, July 23, 1997
Description of the museum on alt.culture
"Museum of Unnatural History," by John McMurtrie, Salon, October 14, 1997