The Traveling Museum of Memento Mori

07/03/2025

Surprise! You might be wondering why this page has been so quiet lately… museum curator, Amanda, is having a spooky baby this fall!

As of right now the museum is on hiatus, but don’t fret! We have lots of new artifacts we can’t wait to share with you!

02/14/2025

If you’re not a fan of Valentine’s Day, might we recommend some Vinegar Valentine’s?

These nasty little greeting cards were all the rage in Victorian times, complete with caricatures and insulting verses to send to your enemy or unwanted admirer. The worst part? Many times, the receiver had to pay the penny for postage, not the sender… talk about adding insult to injury!

02/08/2025

A huge thank you to Timeless Babez for inviting The Traveling Museum of Memento Mori to the shop. It was a busy night filled with great questions, unstoppable curiosity, and unforgettable conversations. Thank you to everyone who came out to support us! 🥀🪦

02/07/2025

We are all set up at Timeless Babez! We’ve got new pieces you haven’t seen before… Free and open to all! 5-9pm

02/05/2025

Will we see you this Friday at Timeless Babez?

Mark your calendars! We’ve got a FREE show open to all ages coming to Timeless Babez in a few weeks!

01/18/2025

Mark your calendars! We’ve got a FREE show open to all ages coming to Timeless Babez in a few weeks!

01/15/2025

We were so excited to be able to bring a portion of the museum back to The Merry Shelley. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and supported the museum and the bar. Until next time 🥀🪦

12/23/2024

It’s the most wonderful time of the year?

A lot of our holiday traditions stem from the Victorians including sending Christmas cards! With the beginning of the Penny Post almost anyone could send a Christmas card. Many of the designs were morbid, frightening, and downright bizarre. These whimsically macabre designs were both a nod to the olden days of holiday debauchery and a reminder that Christmas used to be the most frightful time of year.

12/09/2024

Dating back to the 1720s, green turtle soup became popular when sailors brought the turtles back from the West Indies. The soup was an instant hit and the upper class (particularly the royal family) became so obsessed with this exotic and expensive new dish that the turtles were nearly hunted to extinction.

Less wealthy families in England and America opted for mock turtle soup that eventually became more popular than the original green turtle soup (Heinz and Campbell’s even made commercialized versions in a can).

Mock turtle soup was served at Abraham Lincoln’s first inauguration. It was considered the ultimate comfort food appearing on most tables not just at Christmas time but throughout the years until its popularity died out in the 1960s.

Make this 1845 mock turtle soup recipe with me! Don’t worry… no turtles were harmed in the making of this video… You can find this recipe and others (as well as some scary ghost stories!) in Amanda R. Woomer,’s book, A Very Frightful Victorian Christmas 👻🎄

Get your copy here: https://spookeats.etsy.com/listing/1114499842

12/07/2024

Coming soon to : Faces of the Past. This all new exhibit includes artifacts that incorporate photography such as postmortem photos, memorial cards, hair work artwork, photo buttons, portraits, and more, giving us a glimpse into the lives and deaths of the Victorians.

Mark your calendars: we’ll be setting up this special exhibit on January 14, 2025!

12/06/2024

Hi… it’s us. After all, you can’t talk about Victorian mourning culture without mentioning Spiritualism!