humor | The Museum of Ridiculously Interesting Things

Illustration of a map of a woman's heart, published in the nineteenth century.

A Map of a Woman’s Heart, 1833-1842

2 May 2012 by Chelsea Nichols

Published by D.W. Kellog between 1833-1842, this amusing Map of the Open Country of Woman’s Heart paints the “fairer sex” in a rather unflattering light. From the mole traps in the Province of Deception, to the city of Moi-meme in the Land of Selfishness, to the Plains of Susceptibility in the Region of Sentimentality, this ever-so-charming illustration certainly demonstrates this Victorian gentleman’s equal taste for maps and disdain for women. I suspect this fellow must have had a recent broken […]

Categories: Curiosities, history • Tags: anatomy, art, humor, love, map, victorian era

Victorian photograph of three children with mother hidden under draped fabric.

Hidden mothers in Victorian portraits

5 January 2012 by Chelsea Nichols

The first photographic images in the late 1820s had to be exposed for hours in order to capture them on film. Improvements in the technology led to this exposure time being drastically cut down to minutes, then seconds, throughout the 19th century. But in the meantime, the long exposures gave us a few unmistakable Victorian photography conventions, such as the stiff postures and unsmiling faces of people trying to remain perfectly still while their photograph was being taken. Seems children […]

Categories: history • Tags: art, children, hidden mothers, history, humor, images, photography, victorian era

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The Museum of Broken Relationships

19 December 2011 by Chelsea Nichols

A monument to broken hearts and lost loves, the clever Museum of Broken Relationships features objects related to former romantic relationships, anonymously donated by broken-hearted people all over the world. The museum was originally conceived by Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić as a travelling exhibition, and now has a permanent home in Zagreb, Croatia. Featuring diverse love tokens such as teddy bears, wedding dresses, underwear, and even an axe, the collection becomes a physical manifestation of the heartache, nostalgia and […]

Categories: Ideas, Museums • Tags: humor, institution, love, museum, nostalgia

The Museum of Ridiculously Interesting Things

a collection of ridiculously interesting art, objects, ideas, and history

Tag: humor

A Map of a Woman’s Heart, 1833-1842

Hidden mothers in Victorian portraits

The Museum of Broken Relationships

Internet Archaeology: the best of 90s internet graphics

Knit Meat by Stephanie Casper

Women Laughing Alone With Salad

Embroidered Toast by Judith G Klausner

Tibi Tibi Neuspiel’s strange sandwiches