The Mutter Museum is one of my favorite museums in Philadelphia. I have been there several times and each time I notice something different that I missed before. They also have special exhibits that change every once in a while. While we were there, the moving exhibit was about soldiers and the medical practices that were done. There was an interactive exhibit where you stand in a booth and it shows you what it was like to lose your arm during the war. it was actually really interesting to experience.Their website has a lot of upcoming events and also shows what is currently on display.
This museum was America's first museum of medical history. It's a collection of anatomical specimens, models, and medical instruments. The museum started with 1,700 objects donated from American surgeon Thomas Dent Mutter. The museum has grown to over 25,000 objects since 1858. The goal of the museum is to help the public understand the mysteries and beauty of the human body and to appreciate the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease. A few features of the collection are the Soap Lady, Einstein's brain, Dr. Jospeh Hyrtt's human skull collection, and many more. You can find out more information on their website. (Their website is the source of the information I have shared in this post)
The collection of skulls is probably one of the coolest features, in my opinion. Its a very large wall fun of all different skulls, each one has its own story. They each a plaque in front of them that tells you their sex, age, where they're from, how they died, if they were a criminal or a soldier, all kinds of things like that. Some are murderers, some are from people who committed suicide, some are children, theres a large variety. It's rally fascinating to read them. Every time I go, I read a different section. There's always so many people in front of it that its impossible to read them all at once. One day, I hope to have a skull collection as big as this one. It would mostly be ethically sourced animal skulls but I do really want at least one human skull.
Not only do they have an impressive skull collection, they also have an amazing collection of objects that people swallowed. Located on the bottom floor of the museum is a glass case talking about objects found in peoples stomachs and underneath the case, there are drawers that you can open to see everything! There's buttons, safety pins, hardware like nails, small toys, and many other crazy things. This is my other favorite part. It's so fascinating to see what people swallowed. I always wonder how some of those objects were ingested without causing the subjects pain or getting stuck in their throats on the way down. I sadly don't have a photo of any of these things but it is definitely something worth checking out.
There is so much I can write about from this museum but I think it would be better for you to just visit it and see everything for yourself. A warning to you though, this museum is not for people with weak stomachs. You will see many organs in jars, tumors, bones, and some fetuses as well. It may be hard for some to look at so just a word of caution to you. The rest of the things in there are really interesting. It's a small museum but it's definitely worth the trip if you are ever visiting Philadelphia.
This is a better close up of the wall of skulls.
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