MÜTTER MUSEUM
YIKES
This is not where you want to take someone on your first date.
The Mütter Museum, located just south of Market Street in Center City near the Schuylkill River, is a medical history and science museum containing nearly 40,000 unique and unusual anatomical and pathological specimens, wax models, and medical equipment.
Sounds tame enough, but beware - this ain't a circus sideshow, a B-grade horror movie, Madame Tussauds, or Ripley's Believe It or Not! This is the real deal, folks, and it is not for the squeamish.
If you want a case of the heebie-jeebies, you have come to the right place. (More on that shortly.)
The Mütter Museum was founded with a generous gift from Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter, a renowned 19th century surgeon. It was originally intended for educational purposes only and was private until the mid-1970s.
The museum is part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest private medical society in the United States, which was founded in 1787 by 24 Philadelphia physicians "to advance the Science of Medicine, and thereby lessen human misery."
A worthy goal. Medical science presents many dangerous and even frightening challenges, and those who are willing to confront those challenges head-on for the betterment of mankind are worthy of our highest respect.
But let's be honest...
The museum gets over 100,000 visitors a year, and you can bet many of them are there not to learn about the latest advances in medical science, but to gape and gawk at freakish human remains - deformed skeletons, body parts in formaldehyde, etc. - as well as oddities like the Soap Lady and Michelle the Choking Doll, used to demonstrate techniques for removing foreign objects from children's throats. (Indeed, the museum's Jackson Collection contains more than 2,300 such objects.)
Some have questioned the ethics of showcasing the body parts of dead people, most of whom never consented to be included in a museum exhibit. The museum actually owns, and has studied - but has agreed never to publicly display - 46 slides containing slivers of tissue from Einstein's brain.
All of that said, the College of Physicians building where the museum is located happens to be a stunning architectural landmark and is considered one of the city's premiere venues for weddings and events.
It certainly offers a unique event sub-theme you will not find at the Radisson.
