The Museum of Interesting Things (advance appt only) - New York, New York

marissa vergnetti

I was looking for something different to do with my young adult boys during a meet up in NYC and thought we would try The Museum of Interesting Things! It turned out to be less of a typical "museum" and more of an authentic NYC experience! I easily connected via email with the amazing host and historian extraordinaire, Denny and secured an appointment time. Upon entering, I knew we were in for a special treat. Denny presented us with many different objects from the 19th and 20th centuries, many related to film, sound and photography accompanied by the historical background and a chance to try out the objects ourselves! Denny is knowledgeable and personable, with a delightfully quirky sense of humor. If you are interested in going back in time, or a nostalgic trip down memory lane, don't miss this! My only regret is that we didn't have enough time to go through each item in his apartment! I saw some gems hiding in there!

Jon Howell

A hidden cache of fascinating, where the artifacts are interesting and the docent bringing them to life is twice as interesting. You need to call or write ahead to schedule your visit, but be assured you'll have the best seat in the house. This visit is unlike anything I've ever done, an evening well spent. Thank you Denny!

Vince Cuadra

A unique and fun experience like no other!! Definitely worth a visit!! And if you can please consider going the speakeasies! We were in town for the circus speakeasy, got to play with some cool toys and watch amazing and fun circus films. The museum is hosted by and run by Denny who is very knowledgeable and welcoming! He gives a tour of a few antiques from his extensive collection and puts them in your hands! Very hands on, intimate, and fun experience! I learned so much and will definitely be back!

Minh T. Nguyen

What a small little gem. This is basically a private person's personal collection of old, vintage things covering music, photography and videography. You have to book in advance for a private showing of his stuff in his own private apartment. I went here with my 5 and 7 year old kids and both them and myself had a really great time.

Denny, the owner, is an animated man, telling the backstory and background of all the items he showed with lots of humor and energy. He interacted a lot with the kids and made them laugh - I can imagine his tours being popular at schools. We saw an early Edison cylinder phonograph (got to hear it as well), various apparatuses to capture photos or view photos, a old camera obscura, old projectors, flip-book like private movie watching devices, musical instruments, just really fascinating stuff. We all got to try these items ourselves and the roughly one hour tour ended with us even unboxing other things he recently ordered (a photograph/postcard of an old, giant calculator).

Truly fun experience. I have to come back without the kids to ask many more questions or come to the Sunday public speakeasy exhibitions.

Annie Yu

Fantastic experience! Denny was such a friendly and knowledgeable and passionate host. A visit to this museum would be great for anyone hoping to learn interesting facts, spend a quirky afternoon with friends, have a fun activity for a date, or go on an educational family outing. Denny has such an amazing collection of items and the positive energy he radiates is contagious. He has so many interesting items to show and so many great stories to share!

The museum would be particularly exciting for those interested in the development of media technology.

Zachary Brass

The Museum of Interesting Things was easily one of my top 5 favorite museum experiences of all time. It’s set up in an apartment and not only is everything out in the open but Denny (the person that runs the museum) hands you stuff to touch and try out. When I visited, some of the incredible items included original Edison cylinders, an original 3D photo of Abraham Lincoln, a Nickelodeon that has been opened up so you can see the mechanism, the Hobbit game for Commodore 64, and time card machines made by IBM before they were IBM. And everything has a story. We even unboxed some new donations to the museum. Even for the items I was familiar with, I LOVED how he recounted the history of the items. Denny’s charisma and passion for his work shines through. Why walk through a large museum devoid of personality where everything is behind plexiglass when you can experience the dynamicism of the Museum of Interesting things. 11/10 amazing experience.

Jeremy Elson

Visiting Denny and his collection was an interesting, unique experience, and while I enjoyed it quite a lot, it's not for everyone. This is not a traditional museum or exhibited collection; if you are expecting a large space with items on display that you can examine at your own pace, you will be disappointed.

The "museum" is actually the curator's home, an ordinary apartment stuffed to overflowing with an extraordinary collection of things from a bygone era. Over the course of a couple of hours, we stood in Denny's entryway as he would repeatedly pick an object from his enormous collection, bring it to us, and regale us with its stories. In many cases he would invite us to hold or even operate these artifacts that were often over a hundred years old. For each, he would tell us its history and how it came to be part of his collection.

In the two hours we were there, we saw perhaps a dozen or so things, many of which were centered around the theme of photography: an old stereoscope, a "magic lantern" projector, old chemical camera flashes, an old-time flip-book "movie" viewer showing the instantly recognizable "Le voyage dans la lune", an old Camera Obscura, the first edition of a book written by Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame arguing for the existence of spirit photography; a first edition book by Harry Houdini refuting Doyle's book.

For someone who has spent enough time in New York that the traditional tourist attractions are now old hat, this was a fun and offbeat way to spend a Sunday morning.

muse joseph

Excellent way to spend an afternoon, like walking into a regular lower Manhattan apartment and stepping into different periods in history. Lots of great items to peruse and interact with here, particularly if you're a photography buff. Denny is a great, knowledgeable host who keeps the proceedings going with a steady stream of anecdotes, did-you-knows, and historical facts. Cool highlight was getting to see the original equipment used by Tim Burton on his first feature film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Be sure to call ahead of time to secure a spot as space is limited. Thanks, Denny!