I am so excited! I’ll be heading to California for work in early February, and my wonderful co-workers agreed that a quick stop at the Sierra Sacramento Valley Museum of Medical History would be a good way to relax in between presentations. There is almost nothing I love more than medical history museums, particularly when they are in English. (The last one I went to was in Zurich and the explanations were entirely in Swiss German, a language in which I understand essentially nothing. It was still an awesome museum, though. There were lots of gross and disturbing artifacts that didn’t need to be explained for the most part.)
The Sierra Sacramento Valley Museum of Medical History is small (only 1,200 square feet and the website claims it has room to grow) but has an exciting set of 16 display cases “featuring collections in the fields of Surgery, Clinical Diagnosis, Infectious Disease, Pharmacy, Radiology, Chinese Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Medical Quackery.” Medical quackery! Infectious diseases! Obstetrics and gynecology! These are my absolute favorites. Man, a work trip just can’t get better than this, I tell you. I am so lucky to work with people willing to humor my insane hobbies.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hey cool, you'll be in my neck of the woods. I heard that exhibit was excellent. I'm not sure whether this is on topic or not, but I recently found four antique butt plugs (described as "anal dilators") at a medical paraphernalia antiques booth. I didn't buy them, but I was impressed.
ReplyDeleteYes, I emailed you on your band's email to see if you guys had an upcoming gig around that time. I'd love to hear you play, and if not, meet up with you (assuming that is not too stalker-ish) since I think you and Gynagirl are funny and brilliant.
ReplyDeleteDavid Sedaris has written a lot about visiting these crazy shops in Paris where you can buy all sorts of medical tools & anatomical specimens. It seems like something you would love. Have you visited them when you traveled to Paris?
ReplyDeleteNo, I'll have to look into that. I'm not sure when I'll be going to Paris again, though. While I was in London in 2001, I went to the Old Operating Theater, which was a great medical history museum with a cool gift shop. That one was probably the best I've been to thus far.
ReplyDelete