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With displays ranging from amputation saws to Garfield jugs, these Chicago museums don't mind standing out from the crowd.

Thursday Nov 20, 2008.     By Stacy Warden

Travel + Tourism Feed

So, you've stared at "A Sunday on La Grand Jatte" at the Art Institute, spied Sue's skeleton at the Field and experimented your heart out at the Museum of Science and Industry. Think your tour of Chicago museums is complete? Not even close. The list of the city's historical halls is long, and it includes some truly peculiar places.

Museum of Holography
This one will make you feel like a kid again, especially when you slide on a pair of three-dimensional specs. The illuminating glasses are only required for a few in-your-face presentations, but they're ones you won't to miss. The museum also offers guided tours, but before you fork over the cash for a rushed hour of information overload, take a good look around and scope things out for yourself. The four exhibits are well laid out and include the museum's permanent collection, as well as three-dimensional pieces from artists all over the world.

American Toby Jug Museum
Founder and curator Stephen Mullins has turned his childhood collection of Toby Jugs into a quirky Evanston destination. The 4,000 square-foot space holds over 6,000 Toby Jugs, some dating back as far as the early 1700s. The ceramic mugs, once used for pouring ales, are now a historic reflection of Americana at its best. Among the cultural themes represented here are arts, politics and entertainment. While the vintage jugs are undoubtedly the most interesting, current pop-culture figures are fun to look at, too. Even the kids will get a kick out of jugs crafted like Harry Potter, Spiderman, Star Wars characters, Garfield the Cat, Miss Piggy and Dogbert. Tours are free, call ahead for an appointment.

International Museum of Surgical Science
Dr. Max Thorek founded this mishmash of fine art and medical artifacts back in 1935. Today, the space still showcases a couple of its original exhibits like the Hall of Immortals, which contains 12 large stone statues of historic figures in the field of medicine and allied sciences. The Hall of Murals is another popular one, located on the second floor in what was originally the building's dining room (circa 1917). After checking out the infamous Halls, you can make your way through IMSS's other 20 galleries, spanning four floors. Exhibits include artifacts, paintings and sculptures inspired by a full range of medical genres. The bulk of the material here consists of over 7,000 medical artifacts. Be sure to scope out the Austrian amputation saw with a reversible blade, the unique collection of heart valves or and the original X-rays taken by radiology pioneer Emil Grubbe. The space also has over 600 paintings, prints and sculptures. Swing by on a Tuesday when admission is free.

Illinois Railway Museum
This one is certainly more historic than it is odd, but in any case, the Illinois railway Museum warrants an afternoon of your traveling time. And this isn't the kind of history lesson where you're stuck listening to some stuffy tour guide blabber on about timelines and names you've never heard. No, this is a hands-on lesson with full-functioning electric trains and vintage streetcars. Visitors can take a ride on the five-mile-long mainline as well as a quick jaunt on the mile-long streetcar loop. The preserved tracks follow a route around the museum's grounds, allowing guests a fun and relaxing alternative to a walking tour.

Museum of Mourning Photography & Memorial Practice
Next to the Serial Killers Museum in Florence, Italy, this one might be the most morbid we've come across. The intentions of the place are not to induce fear in squeamish types (although it's quite likely to do so), but rather to investigate human ritual by showcasing photographs of the deceased. MoMP is focused on photography as preservation of memory and features over 1,000 mourning photographs and negatives, some dating back to the mid-1800s. Currently, the collection can only be viewed by appointment; the museum encourages guests to schedule 2 to 3 weeks in advance. But if you don't feel like calling ahead and waiting to check out these morbidly fascinating shots, MoMP's website has about 10 percent of its collection available for online viewing and is in the process of transferring all mourning photos to its website.