Museum Mannequins

I discovered a fun new Tumblr about museum mannequins this month, which has prompted me to go through my photo archives and pick out some of my favourites to share with you!

Out of all the museum mannequins I have photographed, I think these guys on the USS Barry – moored next to the US Navy Museum in Washington DC, USA – have to be my absolute favourites so far. I just love the burger mid air, and somehow the whole tableau makes me want to break out in to a rendition of “In the Navy”!

In contrast, these mannequins at the Olympic & Sport Museum in Barcelona, Spain, look very classy.

I kind of like this action mannequin at the Riverside Museum in Glasgow, Scotland, though his pixelated face reminds me a bit of Hannibal Lector…

The mannequins at the Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann, Germany, are made with great attention to detail, and give you a good idea of what our ancestors might have looked like.

At the Museum of Fire in Edinburgh, Scotland, you won’t just find a mannequin stable boy but also a mannequin horse!

And forgive the graininess of this photo, but how could I not include these firemen mannequins in uniform – everyone likes a fireman, right?

Moving on from favourite mannequins, these ‘children’ at the Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh, Scotland, leave me feeling slightly unsettled, though I can’t exactly put my finger on why.

However, the ‘award’ for creepiest mannequin I have so far encountered has to go to this mannequin at the National Postal Museum in Washington DC, USA. Sorry, guys, I absolutely adore your museum, but what’s going on here?!

To make up for it, I’ve also included these more friendly looking mannequins from the National Postal Museum too. Wouldn’t you like to have your mail delivered by them? Maybe they’d even be more reliable than DHL (sorry, bit on an insider Germany joke there).

At the Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, Croatia, one of the exhibited stories is represented by just a pair of mannequin hands – alongside other objects such as a lobster or a ‘divorce day mad dwarf’!

And finally, I want to leave you with two gems from the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh – these fantastic scenes were captured when a door had been left standing open during a gallery change over. I think it was attracting more visitors than some of the exhibitions :)

Do you have any favourite museum mannequins? Please do share any links, and don’t forget to check out ‘Museum Mannequins‘ on Tumblr.