New Carrollton, Maryland: Museum of Menstruation (Closed)

Road report and review of bachelor Harry Finley's basement museum outside Washington DC. Now closed to the public, but we visited in 1998.

The Museum of Menstruation (MUM) has closed the doors of its New Carrollton, MD, facility, and can now only be visited via the web. MUM founder Harry Finley had maintained his eclectic collection in the basement of his modest ranch home, opening by appointment to the public on weekends....

"Half-mannequins, clad in actual menstrual products and devices (belts, aprons, special panties, unthinkable contraptions...) dangle from the ceiling on invisible wires, turning slowly, slowly, above the indoor/outdoor wall-to-wall carpeting...If you are a woman and give him half a chance, the proprietor will quite possibly question you intently about your menstrual habits..."