Traci Muldoon

Muldoon 1

Mel Opotowsky
Communications 334
25 February 2015
Entertainment Venue: The Jurassic Museum of Technology
Squeakkkkk! The door couldnt seem to stay shut, as people kept entering and coming
in and out of the building. I stood there, in the dark, small and overly crowded room,
eager to start my tour. Then slam. More people.
For a building so small that one almost
misses it while driving by, you wouldnt expect that
this small and windowless storefront to be the hot
spot of a flourishing city.
The Museum of Jurassic Technology,

The front door of The Museum of Jurassic

Technology. Photo Courtesy of Traci Muldoon

located on the border of Culver City and Los

Angeles, California, is an educational institution dedicated to the advancement of
knowledge and the public appreciation of the Lower Jurassic inventions from the 16th
century and serves as a educating and entertaining facility for Culver City.
The museum contains private collections of strange and rare inventions such as
micro mosaics, radiographs and documents that portray the inventions of the thinkers
from the 16th century. While the museum is called a museum of Jurassic Technology,
the phrase Jurassic Technology, is satire and is not meant literally. Instead, the museum
exhibits an era of natural history when museums were closer to Renaissance cabinets of
curiosity.
As I stood there in the lobby before I went inside the exhibit room, curiously
looking at all of the exhibit examples and facts, I desperately wanted to yell, What kind

of place is this?? walked down the dark room, there were screens on
the walls, projecting just a bit of light to be able to see, cases of
displays of bones, and then to my left, an a large display radiographs.
I wandered down the hall, which took me to another room, which
then lead me to another room, as if entering some sort of Alice in
The Laughing Fox Head
exhibit. Photo Courtesy of

Wonderland.
Other display cases show a scale model of Noahs Ark, a

microscope that has supposedly accidentally shattered a specimen dish, a fruit pit carved
with an image of the Crucifixion and, mounted on the wall, was a kind of horn that is said
to have grown from the back of a womans head.
Opened in 1988, by David Wilson the creation of the museum was based on
Lawrence Weschlers book, Mr. Wilsons Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned
Humans, Mice on Toast, And Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology, in which the author
revisits the 16th century "wonder cabinets" and inventions
of natural world. Drawing inspiration from the book, Wilson created the museum as a
meta-museum to wit or challenge the very nature of what a

A strand of hair with glue with creations of wild

animals on it. Photo Courtesy of MJT.org

museum is and how it should be.

With its various displays such as the practices of a ducks breath cure, mice on
toast, and the malevolent uses of scissors, the Museum of Jurassic Technology caters to
Culver City as a form of both entertainment and education.
I didnt think Id like it, but Im learning a lot. At first, it
seems like a small a museum that cant be taken seriously, then
you look and behind that strange idea contains a pure brilliance.
My favorite displays are the laughing dog and the display of a
hand held cradle, states 28-year-old, Stephanie Jinn.

Fruit Stone Carving. Photo Courtesy of

MJT.org

According to the museums event coordinator, Jed Lackritz, 33, the museum
attracts over 23,000 visitors a year from around the world. While the museum is kid
friendly and does not have a n age restriction, according to Lackritz, a majority of the
visitors are adults, who either come on touring or for educational purposes.
Im out here visiting my family and just had to come see this place. Im not sure
if my kids are old enough to enjoy it, but I know I could stay here all day. states tourist
Daniel Tongerson, 31, of Grantsville, Utah.
The Museum of Jurassic Technology is not just a great place to stop for
entertainment, but it has a significance to the city as well, as it informs people of a
scientific time era that they are not aware of.
Its pretty unique. It gives people the
opportunity to see collections and to see something that
isnt in a modern museum. The history of this museum
Inhaling of a duck that was once used to cure
disorders. Photo Courtesy of
Smithsonianmag.com

reflect the history of the museum business more than

any other museum, states Lackritz. We get so many

people. Its become like a destination.

Besides its service in displays, the museum also puts on various events open to
the community. Every month we have a concert. We do not do a lot of publicity for them
since we are still small, but they are open to the public, says Lackritz.
The museum also hosts special observatories for specific documents and exhibits
that arent normally on display in the museum, which can be found on the museums
official website.
Making my way to the upstairs portion of the museum, the dark movie theatre, old
fashion tea longue, the wall of dog heads, all made me slowly grab a grasp for the
brilliance behind the museum.

While the museum may not give you the same thrill of a night out at the club,
the Museum of Jurassic Technology is unique because it challenges the very nature of
what a museum is or should be, while also taking its place as one of the most fascinating
attractions in the entire city.

The Museum of Jurassic

Technology
9341 Venice Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 836-6131

Website:
http://www.mjt.org/
Email:
info@mjt.org
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/
pages/Museum-of-Jurassic-Technology/36912681316
Hours: 2-8 p.m. Thursdays; noon to 6 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays Cost: $8
general; $5 for ages 12-21, students, seniors 60-plus and unemployed people; $1.50 for
disabled people and active-service personnel in uniform; free for children under 12.

Sources

"Collections and Exhibitions." The Museum of Jurassic Technology. The

Museum of Jurassic Technology, 1996-2009. Web.
<http://www.mjt.org/exhibits/exhibitsnew.html>.
The Museum of Jurassic Technology
9341 Venice Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 836-6131
Contacts:
Jed Lackritz, Museum Events Director, 33 years old
Contact number: (310) 836-6131 (Museum desk phone number)
info@mjt.org
Daniel Torgerson, Culver City Tourist and Resident of Grantsville Utah, 31 years old
Personal Cell Phone Number: (801) 927-8755
Stephanie Jinn, Culver City Resident, 28 years old
Personal Cell Phone number: (718) 344-9391