Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mütter Museum

America's most famous museum of medical oddities

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Located inside the headquarters of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the Mutter has a wide range of wondrous and curious displays, including the skeleton of the tallest man in North America and the fused bones of Harry Eastlack, who died of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva, an extremely rare disorder in which the soft connective tissue of the body ossifies, painfully freezing the body in an immobile state.

Easy to miss but worth poring over is the collection of 2,000 objects removed from peoples throats, in attractive wooden pullout display drawers. These are from the Chevalier Jackson Foreign Body Collection, amassed by Chevalier Jackson, who is considered the be the greatest laryngologist of all time.

Also of particular interest are the conjoined twin skeletons, delicately displayed in various jaunty positions, and the plaster death cast of Chang and Eng. These and many other exhibits are still displayed in the same Victorian cabinets that the museum began with in 1858. 

  • Hours
    Hours of operation Monday-Thursday, 10am-5pm Friday, 10am-9pm, Saturday & Sunday, 10am-5pm, The Museum is closed Thanksgiving Day, December 25th, and January 1st.
  • Website
  • Address
    19 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103, United States
  • Cost
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