December 14, 2020
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
The Mütter Museum's online shop is filled with unusual gifts and lots of books and postcards related to the museum's medical oddities. There's also a 'Spit Spreads Death' mask.
The Mütter Museum is temporarily closed due to COVID-19, but you can still shop their online store.
The museum of medical history, filled with preserved anatomical specimens in jars and antique medical equipment, is one of Philly's most unique points of interest. Similarly, its museum store is filled with unusual goods that would be hard to find elsewhere.
If there's anyone on your gift list this holiday season who seems to have everything, or has a quirky sense of humor, you'll be able to get them a weird but wonderful item from the Mütter Museum. It's also a great way to help support the cultural institution while it's not open to the public.
The museum sells a mask reading "Spit Spreads Death" that would make a useful present for anyone. It's a reference the Mütter's exhibit "Spit Spreads Death: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919."
There also are Mütter T-shirts and sweatshirts featuring some of the museum's best-known oddities.
One of the strangest specimens inside the museum is the Mega Colon, and online you can buy a plush toy version.
Other unique finds include a plague doctor cookie cutter, an illustrated book for kids on the museum's medical marvels, a "Fifty Things that Might Kill You" deck of cards, a notebook with an anatomical heart on the cover and a tote bag featuring portraits of famous women in science.
The museum store's full selection of goods can be browsed online.
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