Since I was a small child, I have loved museums, but I know they’re not for everyone. Maybe you don’t like crowds, or you don’t enjoy all the standing around, or maybe you just find them dry and boring. Whatever the reason, have I ever got the anti-museum for you! This is the virtual Museum of Ridiculously Interesting Things, and it’s absolutely got something for everyone.

The museum’s creator, art historian Dr. Chelsea Nichols. describes herself as a “curator exploring the strange, dark place between art and curiosities.” Nichols does a lovely job of bringing us odd, creative, and unfailingly interesting items for our consideration. She has a real talent for spotting oddities – old and new – that hold a special magic; objects that encourage our creativity and curiosity and, as Dr. Nichols says, our compassion.

“Her mission in life is to get more people into art, through a very weird-shaped door probably hidden somewhere in a haunted house.”

– About The Museum of Ridiculously Interesting Things

Though I first discovered the Museum’s fascinating Instagram feed, once I checked out the blog, I really enjoyed Dr. Nichols’s research and the wonderful articles that go with each of her remarkable finds. I so want to be friends with her! I hope you enjoy exploring this lovely virtual museum as much as I am.

I recommend you check out the curiosities on The Museum of Ridiculously Interesting Things WordPress blog and follow them on Instagram.

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1925 Les Parfums de Marcy "L'Orange Variee" perfume, packaged in 8 glass bottles shaped like orange segments sitting in a painted peel. I imagine it smells something like a combination of a Terry's chocolate orange and grandmas. ⁣ ⁣ #ridiculouslyinteresting #perfumehistory #curiosities #packagedesign #oddity #orangeaesthetic #citrusfruit #freshandfruity #antiquebottles #strangebutbeautiful #smellnice #designhistory #perfumelovers

A post shared by Dr Chelsea Nichols (@ridiculously_interesting) on May 10, 2019 at 1:32pm PDT

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The thing people always get wrong about Diane Arbus is that they say she photographed freaks and outsiders, the people who sit on the margins of normal society. But I think Arbus' photographs really point out that we are ALL freaks and monsters already….that normal society itself is just a strange and beautiful collection of utter weirdos. ⁣ ⁣ Diane Arbus, 'Jim Warren's Famous Monsters Fan Club', Queens, New York Chapter', 1964.

A post shared by Dr Chelsea Nichols (@ridiculously_interesting) on Nov 20, 2019 at 4:56am PST

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Silvered glass bottle said to contain the spirit of a witch inside. It was collected in 1915 from an old lady living in a village near Hove, Sussex, who sternly warned that if you opened the wax seal there would be a "peck o'trouble." ⁣ ⁣ Now in the collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. Wisely, no one has ever tried opening the bottle. ⁣

A post shared by Dr Chelsea Nichols (@ridiculously_interesting) on Jun 2, 2019 at 4:18pm PDT

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JFK with his daughter Caroline wearing a JFK mask, 1962. #twinningiswinning⁣

A post shared by Dr Chelsea Nichols (@ridiculously_interesting) on Jun 25, 2019 at 6:08am PDT

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Those long curly fingers feel like they want to wriggle into my head to tickle the primordial ooze in my brain. Shary Boyle has been one of my favorite Canadian artists ever since seeing her monstrous porcelain girlies as an undergrad in Toronto. She was the first artist I found whose work lived in the sweet spot between spooky and funny, which I've been chasing ever since.⁣ ⁣ Shary Boyle, "Clover Leaf" (porcelain and silver glaze) and "Your Humble Servant" (porcelain and gold lustre), both 2014. @magiclanterns

A post shared by Dr Chelsea Nichols (@ridiculously_interesting) on May 31, 2019 at 7:23pm PDT

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A collection of apothecary jars made for holding earthworm syrup (Oleum Lumbricorum in Latin) — a disgusting tonic made by boiling up fresh worms, wine, olive oil and sometimes puppy dogs (really!). From the 16th to 19th century, worm syrup was prescribed for joint pain, palsies and sometimes even gunshot wounds. ⁣ If you're a complete weirdo, you can find some authentic 16th century recipes for earthworm oil (and see more exquisitely strange worm syrup jars) on my latest post on The Museum of Ridiculously Interesting Things. #ridiculouslyinteresting⁣ ⁣ These jars are from the collections of the @hsmoxford, @smithsonian, @museefaience and #sciencemuseumlondon.

A post shared by Dr Chelsea Nichols (@ridiculously_interesting) on Jul 19, 2019 at 6:59pm PDT

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Vintage ad for a mail order monkey. Eats lollipops! Live delivery guaranteed!⁣ This seems like a recipe for terrible mischief.⁣ ⁣ #badideas #monkeybusiness #lollipops #vintageadvertising #curiosities #oddities #weirdhistory #mailorder #petmonkey #strangeworld #squirrelmonkey #mischief #ridiculouslyinteresting

A post shared by Dr Chelsea Nichols (@ridiculously_interesting) on May 12, 2019 at 12:37pm PDT

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Bathing is suicidal because of crocodiles. Noted. #goodadvice #crocodiles #infestedwaters

A post shared by Dr Chelsea Nichols (@ridiculously_interesting) on Nov 19, 2019 at 12:56am PST

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This gum dispenser is perfect for when you want a minty flavor AND a terrifying nightmare. ⁣ ⁣ Blinkey Eyes Soda Mint Gum vending machine, circa 1907. The eyes actually blink when the gum is dispensed. Horrifying. ⁣ ⁣ I do wish someone would make a horror movie about a haunted vending machine though. The tagline could be: "Chew Soda Mint Gum…or else!" It writes itself!

A post shared by Dr Chelsea Nichols (@ridiculously_interesting) on Sep 18, 2019 at 6:33am PDT

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Mug shot of hardened criminal Francois Bertillon, aged 23 months. His crime? Nibbling all the pears in the fruit basket. ⁣ This adorable photo was taken by his father Alphonse Bertillon, the inventor of the mug shot, on 17 October 1893. ⁣ ⁣ #mugshotmonday #inventors #alphonsebertillon #crimehistory #criminallycute #parentinggoals #toddlerphotography #curiosities #ridiculouslyinteresting ⁣#mugshots

A post shared by Dr Chelsea Nichols (@ridiculously_interesting) on May 19, 2019 at 3:47pm PDT

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Melted and damaged wax figures after fire at Madame Tussaud's wax museum in London, 1925. I find this photograph so chilling. ⁣ ⁣ #ridiculouslyinteresting #waxstatue #uncanny #firedamage #curiosities #weirdhistory #unsettling #hyperreal #historicalphotos #madametussauds

A post shared by Dr Chelsea Nichols (@ridiculously_interesting) on May 16, 2019 at 11:20am PDT