Culver City, California: Museum of Jurassic Technology

I re-visited the Museum of Jurassic Technology, and they've updated a number of their displays. The trailer park exhibit now has nicer display cases, as well as Sonnabend exhibit was actually working now. It was rather crowded for the middle of the week, too. If you're there on the weekend, you might also want to check out the Center For Land Use Interpretation, unaffiliated to MJT, but right next door.

Want to add to the tip on your web site for this place. It is a clever/funny parody of museums. You now press the button on the side of the door to gain entrance. Seems creepy at first, but inside, it's a hoot. Be sure to watch the short video about the founding of the museum before wandering through; you'll get the drift. As self-described, the place has "a flavor of incongruity borne of overzealous spirit in the face of unfathomable phenomena."

Visited the Museum of Jurassic Technology a strange name and a strange place. The museum wasn't open on the day I called but when they heard I was from out of town and leaving the next day, they opened the museum just for me! It's a quirky place and I'm still not sure what it was all about but the displays are attractive and unusual. It was a very eerie experience to be left alone in the dimly lit rooms with green-glowing cases of folk cures and superstitions, medical anamolies, and a display about bats that can fly through solid matter. All the while the sound effects from the other displays (ghostly operatic singing, the yips and barks of foxes or dogs, birds and insect noises) can be heard through the empty museum. It was definitely a creepy feeling but I'm very grateful to the nice people there for allowing me to visit.

In January 1997 I visited the Museum of Jurassic Technology, a storefront operation which sometimes features the curator/owner outside, playing the accordion to drum up business. The place appears to be a parody of "serious" museums, where nothing can be taken at face value. For example, one special exhibit focused on collections of people that live in RV courts, and another explored odd medical myths. The permanent exhibits are even crazier. In fact, the exhibit about which I had the most serious doubts turned out to be true (the African stink ant -- you have to see it)!