You might wonder why anyone would pay money to gaze at collections of dog collars, toilets, packets of ramen and mammalian penises in jars, but one thing we’ve learned from this list of weird museums is that absolutely anything can be collected and put on display. These unusual exhibitions range from the bizarre and macabre, like a Peruvian museum of brain abnormalities, to the oddly specific, like Massachusetts’ Museum of Burnt Food.

Icelandic Phallological Museum

On the busiest street in Reykjavik, you’ll find a museum filled with shelf after shelf of animal penises in jars. Iceland’s Phallological Museum started as a private collection in 1974 when the founder received a bull’s penis as a joke gift, and it took off from there. “Some of my teachers used to work in summer in a nearby whaling station and after the first specimen they started bringing me whale penises, supposedly to tease me. Then the idea came up gradually that it might be interesting collecting specimens from more mammalian species.

Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, India

Run by a social service organization that works to protect human rights, sanitation, waste management and social reform through education, New Delhi’s toilet museum showcases the 4,500-year history of toilets around the world, including one disguised as a bookcase and King Louis the XIV’s royal throne, upon which he was said to defecate during court sessions. Sulabh International has been credited with bringing sanitation to India’s poor, and founded the museum to send a message about how important proper disposal of human waste is.

Avanos Hair Museum, Turkey

The names and addresses of over 16,000 women around the world are taped to delicate little samples of hair hanging from the walls at the Avanos Hair Museum, a bizarre treasure tucked into the caves of Turkey’s surreal Cappadocia beside the owner’s pottery studio. The first lock of hair went up in 1979, supposedly as a memento for founder Chip Galip, starting a bit of a trend in which women voluntarily left their locks behind. Every year Galip chooses ten hair samples at random and invites the women to come back for a pottery workshop and to stay in his traditional guest house for free.

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum, Japan

The history of ramen noodles and Cup Noodles is celebrated at the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum in Osaka, a free exhibit with recreations of the ramen inventor’s workshop and thousands of cups and packets of instant noodles on display. There’s also an instant ramen workshop where visitors can make their own noodles.

Meguro Parasitological Museum, Japan

Get up close and personal with tapeworms, mites and other parasites at the world’s only parasitological museum. Located in the Meguro neighborhood of Tokyo, this museum has over 45,000 specimens in its collection, including the world’s longest tapeworm at 8.8 meters. You can even get yourself a parasite-themed souvenir.

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Curious Collections 15 Of The Worlds Weirdest Museums

Most book enthusiasts can recite the biggest names in their collections, but Jozsef Tari is only concerned with the smallest titles. His huge collection is so tiny that if you didn’t know what you were looking for it would be easy to miss it. Tari is a lover of little literature: he has an incredible collection of more than 4500 miniature books.

(all images via: Jozsef Tari)

Miniature books first came into fashion way back in 1475 when the tiny tomes were produced as novelties. After a short time, printers began producing the small volumes to show off their skill.

It obviously took a great deal of technical knowledge and talent to produce these perfectly printed books at such a minuscule size. Books are generally considered “miniature” if they do not exceed 100 mm (3.9 inches) in height, width or thickness.

While you can fit several little books into the palm of one hand, they all contain perfectly legible print just like their full-size counterparts. You may need a magnifying glass to read that print clearly, however. Some of the books even contain surprisingly detailed pictures.

Hungarian collector Jozsef Tari has been collecting miniature books and newspapers since 1972, and he has even published a few mini books of his own. His collection includes books in all types of subjects from art to politics to cooking and everything in between.

Though most of Tari’s collection is Hungarian, he also has plenty of foreign books from places like Japan, America, Canada and Indonesia. The sources of pride in his hugely tiny collection are those with unusual covers made of china, carved wood or tooled leather.

According to Mr. Tari, whose oldest book is more than 100 years old, miniature books are hardly manufactured these days. The majority of the presses that used to produce them have ceased to operate, leaving a tiny rectangular void in the lives of those who long to add to their Lilliputian libraries.