VOICE ONE:
The United States has thousands of museums. Some museums showlarge collections of art. Some show objects about science orhistory. Other museums show collections of unusual things. I’m SarahLong.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. We visit some unusual museums on the VOASpecial English program THIS IS AMERICA.
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VOICE ONE:
Some museums in the United States have huge collections ofinteresting things. The museums of the Smithsonian Institution inWashington, D.C., are a good example. But the United States also hassome very different museums.
Smaller places throughout the country collect and show one kindof object. For example, some museums exhibit only medicalinstruments or different kinds of soap. Or, they present informationabout just one subject. Many Americans visit these unusual museumsevery year.
VOICE TWO:
One such place is the DrugEnforcement Administration museum. It is in Arlington, Virginia,near Washington, D-C. Its subject is a history of illegal drugs inAmerica. People of all ages visit the museum. But it is especiallypopular with school groups. The museum’s exhibits begin with thenineteenth century Opium Wars. And, they continue to the illegaldrug operations in South America today.
One area of the museum shows a collection of objects used bypeople who take illegal drugs. Visitors also can see a gun withdiamonds on it. It belonged to a drug criminal.
There are pictures of famous people who used illegal drugs. Theseinclude musicians Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Both died aftertaking too much of the drug heroin.
Retired Drug Enforcement Administration agents often showvisitors around the museum. They talk about anti-drug operations.They tell exciting stories of arrests they made.
VOICE ONE:
A very different but equallyinteresting place is the Museum of Bad Art. It is in Dedham,Massachusetts, near Boston. The museum has more than two-hundredterrible-looking paintings.
Scott Wilson started this museum. He found the first painting forthe museum among unwanted objects on a Boston street. This place maybe the only art museum in America where officials are pleased whenvisitors say the paintings are ugly. What exactly is bad art? It ishard to describe. But Mister Wilson said he knows bad art when hesees it.
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VOICE TWO:
Several interesting Americanmuseums tell about health subjects. One is the Doctor Samuel D.Harris National Museum of Dentistry. It is at the University ofMaryland in Baltimore. That is where the first college in the worldto train dentists began. The museum tells about the history of themedical treatment of teeth. Visitors can see some frighteningdevices that once were used to remove infected teeth. They also cansee sets of teeth made of animal bone. They were made for a famousAmerican — the first President, George Washington.
Most people do not consider a visit to the dentist their idea ofa good time. However, the director of the museum says he wanted tomake the museum a fun place to visit. He says he also wants to teachvisitors about the importance of taking care of their teeth.
VOICE ONE:
Another museum collects devices that help people hear. TheKenneth W. Berger Hearing Aid Museum is at Kent State University inKent, Ohio. The museum has more than three-thousand hearing aidsfrom around the world. They include old and strange devices. Somehearing aids were made to look like other objects. That is becausein the past many people did not want anyone to know they werewearing a hearing aid.
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VOICE TWO:
Some popular foods in America alsohave museums. One is the Jell-O Museum in LeRoy, New York. Jell-O isthe name of a popular American food that shakes when you move it.
You mix the Jell-O powder with hot water to melt the particles.You add cold water. Then you put the container in a cold place untilthe liquid becomes solid. Jell-O tastes like different kinds offruits. It also is the color of fruit — red, orange, yellow orgreen.
Jell-O was invented in eighteen-ninety-seven. The museum tellsabout the history of the product.
VOICE ONE:
Another unusual museum also tellsabout a popular food product — mustard. Mustard is a spicysubstance made from mustard seeds. People have added it to theirfood for centuries.
The Mount Horeb Mustard Museum is in Wisconsin. It has more thanthree-thousand different kinds of mustard. There are mustards fromalmost every American state and from several foreign countries. Themuseum shows how mustard is made. Visitors can taste three-hundredkinds of mustard.
VOICE TWO:
An unusual museum in Boston, Massachusetts, collects a verycommon substance. But it is not a substance that you would want toeat. You would not want to have this substance inside your house,either. It is the Museum of Dirt.
This museum has more than three-hundred small containers of dirtgiven by people from around the world. There is dirt from famouspeople and famous places.
For example, there is dirt fromGraceland, the home of Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tennessee. There isred sand from Nome, Alaska, containing gold. There is dirt fromMount Fuji in Japan. And there is dirt from the Yankee’s baseballstadium in New York City.
The head of the museum says the dirt tells stories about thefamous people and places where it was found.
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VOICE ONE:
Speaking of famous people, a museum in Victorville, California,tells about the King of the Cowboys and his wife — Roy Rogers andDale Evans. They were famous in cowboy movies and on televisionduring the nineteen-forties and nineteen-fifties. They helped keepthe spirit of the American West alive.
Memories of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans crowd the museum. There arewestern hats and clothing. Letters and records. Photographs. PopularRoy Rogers toys. Even Roy’s horse, Trigger, is stuffed and mountedin the museum. It is one of the most popular things in the RoyRogers-Dale Evans Museum.
VOICE TWO:
Another museum celebrates the memory of two of the most populartelevision entertainers, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The Lucy-DesiMuseum is in Jamestown, New York. That was Lucy’s hometown.
Lucy and Desi appeared in one of America’s best-loved televisionprograms, “I Love Lucy.” Millions of people watched the programduring the nineteen-ffties. Even today, millions of people watchrepeated broadcasts of these programs. The museum includes clothingand other objects of the famous couple.
VOICE ONE:
One museum has the world’s largest collection of things linked toactor James Dean. The James Dean Gallery is in Fairmount, Indiana.That is the town where Dean grew up.
James Dean was a film star in the Nineteen-Fifties. He appearedin only three movies: “East of Eden”, “Rebel Without a Cause” and”Giant.” Each time he played a young man angry at the world. ManyAmericans remember James Dean as a young man rebelling againstsociety.
David Loehr started the James Dean museum twelve years ago tohonor the actor. James Dean was killed in a car crash innineteen-fifty-five. He was only twenty-four years old.
VOICE TWO:
Another unusual museum is the International Clown Hall of Fameand Research Center. It is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It honors actorswho paint their faces and perform in the circus. Clowns also makepeople laugh at other public events. Many clowns entertain sickchildren in hospitals.
The museum shows pictures and objects from the lives of a numberof famous clowns. Perhaps the most famous clown remembered there isEmmett Kelly. He performed for the Ringling Brothers circus. EmmettKelly was a clown for more than sixty years. He began innineteen-seventeen. And he was still making people laugh with hisclown performance until he died at age eighty.
VOICE ONE:
If you visit one of these small and unusual museums you will notfind huge crowds. But you will find people who think thesecollections represent memories worth sharing.
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Shelley Gollust and Jerilyn Watson.It was produced by Cynthia Kirk. Our audio engineer was HollyCapehart. This is Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Sarah Long. Join us again next week for anotherreport about life in the United States on the VOA Special Englishprogram, THIS IS AMERICA.