Horror? Arcade Games? You’ll Find Both at This Michigan Museum
In Farmington Hills, there sits a museum that's like no other. It's especially appealing if you love oddities and old-school arcade games.
Martin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum originally opened as a family drug store, according to their website, but has since blossomed into a very unique museum showcasing coin-operated arcade games and other oddities you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.
Yes, you'll find modern games in this museum/arcade. But, it's the antiques that seem to draw a crowd. In fact, a few pictures from this museum were recently shared in the Facebook group, Hidden in the Mitten Fun. This picture is what, specifically, caught my attention. It's creepy. It's weird. I had to know more.
But, that's not the only unusual piece in the building. Doing a quick search on Tiktok, you'll be able to find a handful of videos from people documenting their experiences at Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum like this one that challenges you to "cure your fear":
I'm not sure if that cured a fear or was the spark to light a new one.
This Tiktok gives a broader look inside the museum where you can see the many collectibles, RC planes soaring around the museum on a conveyer belt, and mini-machines that create a moving spectacle:
However, their most unique pieces might be The Cardiff Giant and a functioning Mutoscope.
The Cardiff Giant, pictured below, has been named one of the biggest hoaxes of the 19th century, according to History.com. In the late 1860s, George Hull, a cigar maker, commissioned a giant stone statue of a man. He then buried that statue in Cardiff, NY, and "discovered" it, claiming that it must be the petrified remains of a giant that once roamed the area. Yes, people believed it. After all, it was the 1800s. In total, this "man" was ten feet tall and weighed over 3,000 pounds. The stone giant eventually ended up with P.T. Barnum.
I don't know how or what it took for Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum to acquire this literal giant hoax from P.T. Barnum but, regardless, there it sits.
The Mutoscope, on the other hand, is very real. It was also brought to life in the 1800s as an early motion picture device. You drop in a coin, place your face on the viewer, and rotate a crank to watch the picture. The one featured in Marvin's depicts the Hindenburg Disaster:
You can see even more features below:
According to their website, Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum is open to all ages and admission is always free.
You can see their hours, location, and more here.
It's just a hunch but, I have a feeling if you love weird/creepy things like this, you'll also get a kick out of this Zillow listing in Illinois. When you see it...