Garry Parrett, owner of the Land of Oz Museum in Wausaukee, Wisconsin, has a collection of Wizard of Oz pieces from more than three decades.
A baseball fan who became obsessed with mustard. A former sports car racer and drag queen performer who has the "world's worst car." The eccentric developer of a groundbreaking supercomputer. A teacher who loves puzzles and spinning toys. A music expert who loves the accordion.
In addition to passion, this diverse group of Wisconsinites have another thing in common: they've all either founded museums or are featured in them, and together they offer up interesting, fun and funny destinations for people looking for experiences off the beaten path.
Here are five of the most unusual museums the state has to offer.
National Mustard Museum: The world's largest mustard collection
The National Mustard Museum, 7477 Hubbard Ave., Middleton, is the self-proclaimed home of the world's largest collection of mustards and mustard paraphernalia. The museum got its unlikely start when founder and curator Barry Levenson's beloved Boston Red Sox lost the 1986 World Series to the New York Mets. In his grief, he went wandering the aisles of an all-night supermarket, according to the museum's website. While in the condiment aisle, he found himself in the mustard section and was inexplicably drawn to create the world's largest collection of prepared mustards.
In 1992, Levenson resigned from his job as an assistant attorney general for the state of Wisconsin and opened the National Mustard Museum. It now has more than 6,500 mustards from all 50 states and more than 70 countries. It also features all kinds of mustard-related paraphernalia, items from luxurious silver and porcelain mustard pots to vintage ads. Visitors also will find specifics about the condiment's past, such as its history, how it has been valued for its medicinal qualities and how it's produced.
For more information, visit mustardmuseum.org.
Logic Puzzle Museum: Brain teasers from the past and present
The Logic Puzzle Museum, 533 Milwaukee Ave., Burlington, offers up stimulating challenges designed to test a visitor's mind and spatial thinking. This museum isn't a drop-in-and-look kind of experience. It is a hands-on experience in which participants can challenge themselves with more than 60 puzzles. When people solve a puzzle, said Judith Schulz, director and founder, they get to ring a bell. It's quite the scene, she said, when groups of people are all vying for solutions at the same time, with bells ringing and people laughing.
Puzzle styles include sliding block, geometrics, parlor wire puzzles, take-aparts and put-togethers. No jigsaw puzzles, though. In addition to doing puzzles, people can look at more than 100 on display, spanning more than 100 years.
The Logic Puzzle Museum has a sibling, the Spinning Top & Yo-Yo Museum, which has more than 400 kinds of tops, yo-yos and gyroscopes. The top museum isn't open now as it is going through a reorganization, Schulz said. Both museums stem from Schulz's fascination with puzzles and toys. A teacher, she uses both to sneak in science and other lessons, especially for children. "But don't tell anybody that," she said.
Due to the unusual way people experience The Logic Museum, reservations are required to visit. Schulz said those can be made by calling (262) 763-3946. Visit logicpuzzlemuseum.org to learn more.
A World of Accordions Museum: More than a thousand instruments
Located at 1401 Belknap St. in Superior, A World of Accordions Museum has on display about 1,300 accordions and other musical instruments in the accordion family, along with art and photos that underscore the accordion's role in cultures across the world, according to Helmi Strahl Harrington, the curator of the museum and president of its board of directors.
The facility has the "world's finest and most comprehensive collection of accordion-family instruments," Harrington wrote in her welcome note on the museum's website. They are organized in about 130 displays that show the instrument's evolution through the years, countries of origin, usage and quality classifications.
In addition to the accordion-family instrument collection, the museum is home to the Accordion-Concertina Repair and Technicians' School. "With resources of the museum and over 400 instruments available for hands-on training, this is the only school of its type," Harrington wrote.
Find out more about A World of Accordions Museum at worldofaccordions.org.
Chippewa Falls Museum of Industry & Technology: Seymour Cray's supercomputer
In the 1970s and '80s, the Chippewa Valley was the Silicon Valley of the time, thanks to Chippewa Falls native Seymour Cray. Cray was a computer engineering force, and the Cray supercomputer was a thing of legends. You can see one of the early supercomputers at the Chippewa Falls Museum of Industry and Technology, 21 E. Grand Ave., while learning about the visionary genius behind it.
Cray, who was called the "Thomas Edison of the supercomputing industry," was a legendary eccentric. He dug tunnels under his home to help him think. A World War II veteran, Cray studied electrical engineering and applied mathematics at the University of Minnesota. He settled in the Twin Cities, eventually helping found Control Data Corp.
But Cray had little patience for corporate bureaucracy. He moved back to Chippewa Falls, where he set up a computer lab and manufacturing facility, which would go on to become the cutting-edge tech company Cray Research. Ironically, Cray preferred using a Ticonderoga No. 3 pencil to do his work.
Learn more about the Chippewa Falls Museum of Industry and Technology at cfmit.org.
Motorama Auto Museum: World's worst car and Alfa Romeos
Americans love cars, and there are hundreds of museums devoted to the automobile peppering the country. But there is only one Motorama. Located at 181705 Stradale Lane, Aniwa, Motorama reflects the unique gearhead tastes of its founder and curator, Tom Zatloukal. There are more than 400 on display, all owned by Zatloukal. He grew up in Northern Illinois, the son of an owner of a car dealership, and got his first car when he was around 14, a 1963 Rambler. He raced sports cars, primarily Alfa Romeos, for 30 years, and there are plenty of Alfas on display.
But he also has what he calls "the worst car in the world," an Israeli-made Sabra. The Sabra has a wooden frame, and the driver fills the car with gas right over the muffler. "One drop of gas and poof!" Zatloukal said. "I mean, who thought that was a good idea?"
There also is a sleek, fast SSZ Stradale, a sports car that Zatloukal built and designed himself.
The Motorama grounds, about 40 acres total, have also become a destination for people in the LGBTQ+ community, as they play host to a variety of Pride events. Zatloukal has also performed as drag queen Mistruss Lola across Wisconsin.
Find out more about Motorama at motoramaautomuseum.org