I was thinking about something that our NAHA tour guide said to us while we were in the Wright Brother’s Bicycle Shop. He mentioned that he has become more interested in the Wright Brother’s and Ohio’s aviation history in part because the enthusiasm exhibited by visitors to the museum. Because they are enthused, he has been inspired to find more information to share with them on his tours.
In a somewhat reverse scenario, this made me think of a story about a man who was so passionate about cleaning that he started the first ever cleaning museum. It’s true. Don Aslett’s Museum of Clean in Pocatello, Idaho is a real thing. In this scenario, instead of visitors inspiring Aslett to find out more information on the history of cleaning (seriously, I bet no one was interested), he built the museum and chose to inspire visitors himself. At first, you’re probably thinking, how can cleaning history ever be interesting, but Aslett’s pure enthusiasm for the subject is contagious. One particular object in his museum caught my attention immediately: vacuum powered by a rocking chair. This piece of equipment is so ridiculous it transformed my entire opinion on cleaning history, and now if I ever come close to Pocatello, I will have to make a detour.
Unfortunately,
the official website for the museum is under construction, so I could not find
any recent information on the museum, but I have attached the main website and
a link to an article about the museum itself. Check it out and share what you think. Would you visit the Museum of Clean?
This sounded bizarrely niche and random, so I took a look at the museum's Facebook page, and it goes a little deeper than dusting: it appears to be a religiously motivated museum. Like, they're promoting the idea not just of cleaning, but of "cleanliness." It talks about how "clean" is second only to faith in its capacity to solve the world's problems.
ReplyDeleteUnder the their mission it says:
"The theme, purpose, and value of the museum will be to sell the public on the value of clean."
Not just cleaning. "Clean." Interesting.