It is often said that Britian is a land of eccentrics – and that truth can be proven in the unusual museums that dot the island of Great Britain. From a museum in a red phone box to a museum of pickled animals – Britain is full of strange and interesting museums that will surprise you, entertain you and most imporantly – educate you.

Here a rundown of the strangest British museums that I could find.

Phone Booth Museum

Britain is dotted with the iconic red phone box. It’s one of those elements of design that’s instantly recognizable as British. In the age of the cell phone, though, they are a dying breed with many being abandoned or offered to towns to maintain as heritage icons on their own. One local authority in Wales decided to turn it’s red phone box into a museum celebrating the photography of Tom Mathias. They adopted the phone box, gave it a new lease on life, restoring and creating this unique museum dedicated to a unique photographer.

Located in Cilgerran, Pembrokeshire in Wales

Cartoon Museum

Opened a couple years ago in London, The Cartoon Museum seeks to preserve the best in British cartoons, caricatures, comics and animation. The museum features a gallery, archive and library dedicated to all things cartoons.

Located in London:

The Cartoon Museum
35 Little Russell Street
London WC1A 2HH.
Telephone 0207 580 8155.
www.cartoonmuseum.org

Photo from Loz Flowers

Museum of Tea and Coffee

If I had to pick one thing that defined Britain – that would be tea. So, of course there is an entire museum dedicated to it! Not only does the museum tell you everything you need to know about the 400 year history of tea in Europe – they also have a tea room!

Located in London: (rumor has it that this museum may now be closed)

Bramah Museum of Tea and Coffee
40 Southwark Street
London SE1 1UN
www.teaandcoffeemuseum.co.uk/

Hunterian Museum

This museum is not for the faint of heart! The Hunterian Museum in London is a collection of thousands of animal specimens, pickled in jars in an incredible steel and glass gallery. They have everything from the smallest creatures to actual human beings. Would not recommend a visit after you’ve eaten!

Located in London:

35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London
www.rcseng.ac.uk/museums

Photo from phatcontroller

The Fan Museum

An entire museum dedicated to fans. Not electric fans, mind you (which would be cool as well!) – we’re talking the old school fans that women used to keep cool back in the day. Many of them are works of art in their own right. Boasting a collection of over 3,500 fans, they have the world’s largest collection of the interesting piece of art. They even have fans from the 1100’s!

Located in London:

12 Croom’s Hill
London
www.fan-museum.org

British Lawnmower Museum

The British love their gardens, so it only makes sense that they’d have a museum dedicated to everything to do with lawnmowers. From the very first lawnmower to modern day robotic lawnmowers, this museum has it all.

Located in Merseyside:

106-114 Shakespeare Street
Southport, Merseyside
www.lawnmowerworld.co.uk

Cumberland Pencil Museum

Here you can journey to the place where the pencil was invented which I’m sure would be a worthwhile pilgrimage for all the office supply geeks out there! Here you can learn the entire history of pencils and learn how they are made to this very day.

Located in Cumbria:
Southey Works,
Keswick,
Cumbria
www.pencilmuseum.co.uk

Photo from Dominic Torrisi

Do you have a suggestion for a strange British museum? Share it in the comments!

Contributing Editor – Jonathan Thomas

Today’s era of fast fads and quick trends in everything from fashion to food, means that companies are churning out products at unbelievable rates.  In this hyper-competitive marketplace, brand compete for our attention, but in doing so create a rich history of design that spans hundreds of years.

Robert Opie noticed that at the tender age of sixteen.  He was eating a British Munchies candy bar when the unique design of the wrapper caught his fancy.  Then it dawned on him.  He should never throw anything away.

Thank heavens. Today his collection is over 500,000 items and many of them are on display at the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising. They hark back to a simpler time in our collective consumer history…

Like the era when Heinz canned virtually anything…including Turtles:

Photo by danielweir.esq

Before wrigley’s decided that scary gnome-like men, weren’t as inviting as doublemint twins (can’t see why):

Photo by I Like

And when Kelloggs Rice Crispy’s were called “Sugar Ricicles.”

Photo by danielweir.esq

While many of the objects in the Museum are specifically British products and might not be recognized stateside, they do lend themselves to a fascinating study of consumer history.   The collection spans over 100 years and is a must see destination for any history lover, quirky facts aficionado, or marketeer.

Star war yogurt anyone? (they’ve got that too!)

Museum of Brands Packaging and Advertising
2 Colville Mews, off Lonsdale Road, Notting Hill, London, W11 2AR
Online at www.museumofbrands.com