There’s a building in Philadelphia that haunts the minds of all who enter it.
Within those walls are gruesome tales of murder, eerie displays of the macabre and frightening surprises around every corner.
But, this place is not the Eastern State Penitentiary, it’s much more real than that.
Located at 19 S. 22nd St., the College of Physicians of Philadelphia’s Mutter Museum has educated medical students and the public on how to take greater responsibility of their health, while showing the heritage of medicine.
Growing up in Center City, I found that most people go to the museum for a cheap thrill, hearing their friends tell tales of actual human hearts and two-headed conjoined twins that float on display in a jars of formaldehyde.
Whether they are prepared or not, each visitor to the museum gets more than what they bargain for during their trip.
For example, when you first walk into the exhibit area, there’s an entire wall of human skulls greeting you with many “smiles.”
I asked a guard if she ever got the creeps walking by that display or any others. She smiled and said that she didn’t, until she started reading about them.
One such skull was that of Ellen Jones in the forensic pathology display. A sizable piece of her cranium, just above the mandible, was missing. Its vacant shape resembled that of an axe’s edge. The card next to the display said that she was indeed murdered with a similar tool in 1863.
“Take a look at that missing skull piece,” said one mother to her anxious son.
“That’s cool,” he replied as he walked away, eager to see the mummified remains of a woman in a glass coffin.
Even at the end of the day, the museum was crowded, but it was not hard to overhear conversations.
Most conversations that took place were exclamations of disbelief or softly spoken jokes made to offset the natural uneasiness of witnessing something grotesque.
“Why study pictures when you can study the real thing,” someone said, making his two companions giggle as they peeled themselves away from a gangrenous foot in a jar.
In the same area, perfectly cut slices of brain were displayed in the yellowish formaldehyde. There were even examples of shrunken human heads, taken from a South American tribe in 1900.
A few moments later, one woman holding onto a friend mentioned that she was feeling queasy and needed to leave the room.
And that’s when the thought crossed my mind that, perhaps, the 7-foot-6 inch gigantism skeleton or the gross enlargement of a man’s colon were not the ones on display. We were.
I couldn’t help but feel vulnerable and so out of touch with my understanding of normalcy there. I muttered my own softly spoken jokes, and felt ashamed that I couldn’t handle this version of reality.
But then again, some people are into that sort of thing.
The guard with whom I talked reported that fancy and pricey weddings have taken place at the Mutter Museum.
One bride actually posed for her family and friends in front of the wall of skulls. Now that’s a truly haunting image.
Within those walls are gruesome tales of murder, eerie displays of the macabre and frightening surprises around every corner.
But, this place is not the Eastern State Penitentiary, it’s much more real than that.
Located at 19 S. 22nd St., the College of Physicians of Philadelphia’s Mutter Museum has educated medical students and the public on how to take greater responsibility of their health, while showing the heritage of medicine.
Growing up in Center City, I found that most people go to the museum for a cheap thrill, hearing their friends tell tales of actual human hearts and two-headed conjoined twins that float on display in a jars of formaldehyde.
Whether they are prepared or not, each visitor to the museum gets more than what they bargain for during their trip.
For example, when you first walk into the exhibit area, there’s an entire wall of human skulls greeting you with many “smiles.”
I asked a guard if she ever got the creeps walking by that display or any others. She smiled and said that she didn’t, until she started reading about them.
One such skull was that of Ellen Jones in the forensic pathology display. A sizable piece of her cranium, just above the mandible, was missing. Its vacant shape resembled that of an axe’s edge. The card next to the display said that she was indeed murdered with a similar tool in 1863.
“Take a look at that missing skull piece,” said one mother to her anxious son.
“That’s cool,” he replied as he walked away, eager to see the mummified remains of a woman in a glass coffin.
Even at the end of the day, the museum was crowded, but it was not hard to overhear conversations.
Most conversations that took place were exclamations of disbelief or softly spoken jokes made to offset the natural uneasiness of witnessing something grotesque.
“Why study pictures when you can study the real thing,” someone said, making his two companions giggle as they peeled themselves away from a gangrenous foot in a jar.
In the same area, perfectly cut slices of brain were displayed in the yellowish formaldehyde. There were even examples of shrunken human heads, taken from a South American tribe in 1900.
A few moments later, one woman holding onto a friend mentioned that she was feeling queasy and needed to leave the room.
And that’s when the thought crossed my mind that, perhaps, the 7-foot-6 inch gigantism skeleton or the gross enlargement of a man’s colon were not the ones on display. We were.
I couldn’t help but feel vulnerable and so out of touch with my understanding of normalcy there. I muttered my own softly spoken jokes, and felt ashamed that I couldn’t handle this version of reality.
But then again, some people are into that sort of thing.
The guard with whom I talked reported that fancy and pricey weddings have taken place at the Mutter Museum.
One bride actually posed for her family and friends in front of the wall of skulls. Now that’s a truly haunting image.
Posted by Melissa Treacy @ 12:58 PM
Permalink |
File Under: Bucks County | | Burlington County | | Camden County | | Chester County | | Delaware County | | Gloucester County | | Main Line | | Montgomery County | | New Jersey | | Pennsylvania | Post a comment
About The My Community Blog Team
- Bucks County
- Burlington County
- Camden County
- Chester County
- Delaware County
- Gloucester County
- Main Line
- Montgomery County
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
Categories
Get it now
- October 2010
- October
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
Archives
- News | Sports | Business | What's Happening | Restaurants & Food | Entertainment | Living | Marketplace | Jobs
Site Services:
Classifieds:
Partners:
Local Services:
