While nothing beats stepping foot in a real museum and taking in its atmosphere, fascinating artifacts, and history, it’s not always possible to escape from our busy lives and dedicate an afternoon to calmly strolling around an exhibition. A great solution for this is an online museum where you can get your cultural fix without leaving your coach.
It's even better if it’s full of peculiar finds—the ones that pique our interest so much that it becomes hard to look away. Monsieur Pompier's Museum of Curiosities is a place of this kind, sharing treasures that are as fascinating as they’re quirky and uncanny. Scroll away to find the magnificent display of this online museum, and let us know what you think in the comments below!
#1 Perfume Bottle Consisting Of Eight Glass Bottles As Orange Segments, Set In Painted Ceramic Holder. (Ca. 1925)
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#2 This Is Bertha Boronda. Bertha Was Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison For “Mayhem” In 1908. Bertha Cut Off Her Husband’s Penis With A Straight Razor And Fled The Scene By Bicycle
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#3 19th Century Walking Stick, Topped With A Cat Wearing Goggles
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Since the first feature on Bored Panda in 2022, The Museum of Curiosities has grown a lot—almost three and a half times its size. At the time of writing, it has 52.9K followers on Instagram and 58.9K on X.
The guy behind this project, Paul, has kindly spoken with us twice before and told us that the inspiration for it came from similar websites on the internet, like The Museum of Ridiculously Interesting Things curated by Dr. Chelsea Nichols, which we have covered before too, and actual museums like The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities in London.
“I'm a magpie for anything oddball and unusual, especially from the past so I'm always on the lookout for stories about things like old medical devices, bad taxidermy, the occult, bad inventions, weird unsolved mysteries, and so on,” shared Paul.
#4 Liar
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#5 17th Century Poison Cabinet Disguised As A Book
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#6 Obstetric Phantom, 18th Century. The Wood And Leather Model Was Used To Teach Medical Students, And Possibly Midwives, About Childbirth. It Came From The Hospital Del Ceppo In Pistoia, Near Florence, Founded In 1277
Image credits: museum_of_curiosities
When we last spoke to Paul around a year ago, he was slowly but surely making his way toward taking this online museum into the physical realm. "I’m still quite a way off, but little by little I see the rooms filling up with all manner of oddities, making me look like something of a hoarder (which I think is a good sign that I’m getting closer to having enough stuff to launch the museum!)”
#7 Vintage Disguise Kit By Fao Schwarz
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#8 Self-Defense Glove For Ladies (London, 1850)
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#9 Hidden Staircase In A 19th Century Victorian Home Leading To A Secret Room
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Currently, the Instagram page says that Monsieur Pompier's Museum of Curiosities is coming to Dublin in 2025. We really hope this project will go beyond the internet and soon welcome visitors to their physical location. And if you do too, Paul is seeking donations to help make this all a reality. “You can donate whatever you like - be that money or your own curiosities which you’d like to see featured in the museum!"
#10 Ann Lockley Taking Tea With A Baby Hawk And A Lobster. Ann Lived On The Island Of Skokholm, Where Her Family Were The Only Inhabitants And Animals Were Pals. This Photo Was Taken For A 1938 National Geographic Story ‘We Live Alone And Like It — On An Island’
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#11 Woohoo!
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#12 This Was Once The Oldest House In Hamburg Germany. It Was Built In 1504 And Was Demolished In 1910
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Starting a museum is truly no easy task. And if you ever wondered how it’s done, Mark Walhimer, museum planner since 1992, lists in his article ten steps to creating one. The first thing he recommends doing is putting the vision on paper (which can be physical or digital). “Write a one-page description of the museum. What type of museum are you creating? science center? Art museum? local history?” Try imagining what you’re going to display, what you already have, and what story you’re going to tell with it.
#13 Victorian Era Radiator With Bread Warmer
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#14 Gnome Found In A Coffin In Sweden Back In 1866
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#15 Museum In Japan That Showcases Various Naturally Formed Rocks With Faces On Them
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Then he advises aspiring owners to find out what the community the museum is going to be in wants. “Ask, “What type of museum do you want?” Do not show drawings of the proposed museum, do not describe the museum you are planning. Listen.”After getting a general idea of what they expect, try visiting other museums, precisely 20, to see how they operate. “Keep notes and take lots of pictures. What is their yearly attendance? What is their ticket price? Notice the smallest details, what does the floor staff wear? Do they have a museum store?”
#16 Cat Walking Stick
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#17 Battle Rabbit, Netherlands, Ca 1650
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#18 Horse Costume Taken From Jean Cocteau’s Le Testament D'orphée (Testament Of Orpheus), Designed By Janine Janet, 1960
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There’s no surprise here, but starting a museum is very expensive. Therefore, Mark recommends really crunching the numbers and finding connections in the real estate industry. After that, it’s a good idea to name the organization and purchase the domain for the words that describe it.
#19 Cats Nightmare (1890) Louis Wain
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#20 Virgin Of The Seven Sorrows - Southern Italy, 18th Century. Musée Du Cœur
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#21 Medieval Pilgrim Badge Displaying Three Phalli Bearing A Crowned Vulva In A Procession (1375-1450), Found In Brugge
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The final steps include raising money and sharing the news. ”The best fundraising tools I know for starting a museum: a preview facility, an icon, and a museum preview booklet (including architectural illustrations and exhibition illustrations),” Mark shares. “As you start the design process, walk potential donors through the preview facility (with the museum preview booklet in hand) and discuss with them potential icons of the facility, and your exhibition plans, and involve the donors with the building architecture and exhibition design.”
#22 Tutankhamun Wore Socks With His Sandals
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#23 Daddy Saddle
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#24 Fly Me To The Moon
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Even though a physical museum takes more work than we could ever imagine, let’s all hope that The Museum of Curiosities will succeed in crossing over to the physical realm, and all the fans will get to see the fascinating finds Paul has curated through the years.
#25 Dali Walking His Anteater
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#26 Corner Piano
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#27 Cat At A Vet Clinic In Paris, 1953
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In his last interview with us, he signed off by saying, “I would like to thank everyone who has been following my social media accounts over the years on Twitter and Instagram, as well as you cool cats at Bored Panda, for taking an interest in my project," he wholeheartedly thanked. "Let’s hope the next interview is to announce the opening of my REAL LIFE museum of curiosities!" We can't wait to announce that exciting news either!"
#28 The Pillar-Biter, 1509-1517 Seen On The Lower Part Of The Choir Screen Of St. Bavo Church In Haarlem, The Netherlands
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#29 It's Mushroom Monday!
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#30 Roman Gold Good-Luck Ring, With Phallus In Relief, Dating To The 1st Century Ce
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#31 Trip To Mars!
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#32 Frog Automaton, Made In Switzerland In 1820 / Gold, Enamel, Diamond, Ruby - The Metropolitan Museum Of Art
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#33 This Russian Family Portrait Was Taken Back In 1886. The Father Had An Obsession With Pool, And Dressed His Children Like Billiard Balls
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#34 ?️
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#35 Rainbow-Coloured Beasts From The 15th-Century
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#36 Clown Shower
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#37 Happy Caturday!
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#38 Brown Velvet Hat That Belonged To A Street Dentist In London In The 1820s-50s. It Is Covered With 88 Decayed Teeth Of His Former Patients
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#39 Soviet Smoking Toys, 1970s
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#40 The Bee's Knees
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