National Mustard Museum

The National Mustard Museum is in Middleton, a western suburb of Madison.  I don't know what's on the 2nd floor of that building, but the 1st floor is a shop selling a staggering variety of mustards and mustard-related products (I bought a coffee cup with symbols for peace - love - mustard (pot)), and the museum itself covers the basement.

This "shining temple to the King of Condiments" (their words) charges no admission fee and relies on volunteers and donations (they claim to be a 501(c)3).

fountain close-up

Here's how the museum explains where it came from:

Founder and curator Barry Levinson blames it on the Boston Red Sox.  In the wee hours of October 28, 1986, after his favorite baseball team had just lost the World Series, Barry was wandering the aisles of an all-night supermarket looking for the meaning of life.  As he passed the mustards, he heard the voice: If you collect us, they will come.

He did and they have.  In 1992, Barry left his job as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Wisconsin to open this most improbable museum, now one of Wisconsin's most popular attractions.

Well, I don't know about that popular bit but I can say, having seen it, that it's most improbable.

The walls are painted French's mustard yellow, but because of all the displays in the very large room, the color's not as overwhelming as it might be.

They begin with the basic question: What is mustard?

I'd never heard of black mustard

One wall is full of these shelves with mustards from all 50 states plus DC.

California - Florida

Alaska - California

Florida to Illinois

Illinois to Maine

Maine to Minnesota

Mississippi to New York

Ohio - Tennessee

New York - Ohio

Texas - Washington

Wisconsin - Wyoming & Wash. DC

Then there were the cases of mustards from other countries.  I photographed the 4 from Europe, and there were many other countries as well.

Poland & Germany

Turkey, Luxembourg, Finland etc

France

Latvia, Greece, Bulgaria etc.

medicine with mustard

mustard baths to relieve stress

mustard plasters

They claim that tests have shown that eating a "modest" amount of strong mustard with a meal tends to increase metabolism.  They also claim mustard flour contains only 4.3 calories and no carbs per gram.  So healthy.


And there were the oddities:

world's only mustard vending machine
apparently it really works

a Jeopardy "answer"

from the sublime ...

... to the ridiculous

There were many more cases of various mustard-related books, containers and products.

And lest you think there's nothing high-brow about all this:

test yourself - answers below

The Bard mentions mustard,
not ketchup

Is there such a report? And is this really in it?

Sadly, I went on the IVth 

On National Mustard Day, Culver's (known around here for their ice cream) makes a frozen mustard custard.  And since 1994 the museum has hosted a World-Wide Mustard Competition, with entry selected each year as the Grand Champion.  (All this is enough to make me want to move nearby.)

Apparently showing that they aren't narrow-minded, they brought in a relative - mustard's cousin, horseradish.

they're not neglecting the relatives

sounds farfetched, but so is our language

In the store upstairs, they have Confidential Condiment Counselors to help you find compatible mustards.  They claim to sell more different mustards than anywhere else on the planet, and I believe them.

This museum is on the National Registry of Hysterical Places, and I can attest that when I saw that vending machine, I couldn't help but laugh - and neither could several people nearby.

Speaking of laughter, I'll give "Pogo" the last word.

(You probably thought I'd forgotten about the quiz.)

see Shakespeare quiz above