Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Prof. Ouch's South Street Odditorium (Closed)

Please be advised that the Odditorium is no longer in business. This place is closed up! I went there to visit on July 21, 2018, and discovered this.

No need to buy anything, but the temptation will be difficult to resist, along with signs begging you to buy something. The added humor of the place makes it an enjoyable browsing experience. Things get more bizarre as you make your way towards the closet-sized museum in the back. Although small, every inch is filled with items of wonder. It is an otterly unique experience you must see to understand.

At first this just seems to be your typical hobby and collectibles shop, but when you go inside you discover it's much more. It's a mishmash of nostalgia spanning over a hundred years. Not only that, but it has art, wrestling, monsters, sideshow, carnival, music, vintage pin-up, Tikis, knick-knacks and all sorts of kitschy items. That's just in the first two parts of the shop. In the back there is the Odditorium, a closet of curiosities that includes two-headed creatures, things in jars, and a plethora of freak show/sideshow photos. The owner, Professor Ouch, explains that he set up the store in such a way that the further you go in, the stranger it becomes. He is most definitely someone you want to converse with.

Professor Ouch's South Street Odditorium pays tribute to the storefront Dime Museums of yesteryear with rotating displays, live events, and a collection of freak show memorabilia from many of the famous showmen. There's a Fiji mermaid, pygmy mummies, shrunken heads, a voodoo devil man, a giant flesh-eating rat, a midget's boot, and many more exhibits. And it's free! Philadelphia has a long history of museums and strange attractions.