Weird and Everyday Items at Vermont Museums
June 27, 2026
Vermont’s museums are filled with extraordinary, odd, and mysterious objects.
From a replica of Phineas Gage’s skull to a tiny mitten that once ended a romance, you can find unusual artifacts at Vermont’s museums.
These objects, some weird and others ordinary, offer a window into Vermont’s history, folklore, and way of life.
-No one knows where this stone came from in Royalton. -courtesy photo
A Mysterious Stone in South Royalton
The Royalton Historical Society’s Town House museum is home to a mysterious stone found somewhere off of Route 110. It was found many years ago and brought to the town library.
The stone was stored in the library’s attic and forgotten until 1968, when the collection was given to the newly formed Royalton Historical Society and then moved to the Royalton Town House.
The stone was apparently found in a wooded area on a hillside overlooking a farm. Where exactly the stone was first discovered remains unknown.
“It’s a mystery,” says John Dumville, president of the historical society. “No one was living in town on the date on the stone.” (4184 VT-14, South Royalton)
-Bread and Puppet Museum showcases more than 60 years of creations from the Bread and Puppet Theater in Glover.
Giant Puppets in Glover
The Bread and Puppet Museum in Glover is known for its collection of giant papier-mâché puppets, masks, banners, and political artwork.
Located inside an old barn, the museum preserves more than 60 years of creations from the Bread and Puppet Theater, founded by Peter and Elka Schumann in the 1960s.
Giant puppets, some reaching 20 feet tall, fill the barn. Nearly every puppet was created for performances exploring themes like war, peace, the environment, and social justice that document decades of activist theater. (753 Heights Road, Glover; breadandpuppet.org/museum)
-Miniature mittens were once used in New England to officially break off romantic relationships. -courtesy photo
A Tiny Mitten in Middlebury
In the 1800s, there was a popular saying in New England that when you broke up with someone, you “gave them the mitt.”
The gesture apparently began during New England winters, when someone would hold the hand of someone they were interested in. But if they pulled their hand away, out of lack of interest, all you would be left with was their mitten. This evolved into individuals sending miniature mittens to officially break off their relationships.
The Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History has one of these tiny mittens in its collection.
“This seemed like a funny and quirky ritual that is so far removed from modern dating,” says museum curator Alexandra Weimer. “People would go out of their way to make and send these tiny mittens, whereas today we simply ‘ghost’ one another.” (1 Park Street, Middlebury; henrysheldonmuseum.org)
-Phineas Gage was a 25-year-old railroad foreman who suffered a severe brain injury in Cavendish in 1848. -courtesy photo
A Replica of Phineas Gage’s Skull in Cavendish
Phineas Gage was a 25-year-old railroad foreman who, on Sept. 13, 1848, suffered a severe brain injury when a tamping rod pierced his head during a blasting accident near Cavendish.
The Cavendish Historical Society Museum has an exact replica of Phineas Gage’s skull, complete with tamping rod. It rests atop the mortar that Dr. John Harlow used to treat Gage.
Even though Gage survived and eventually recovered physically, doctors observed significant changes in his personality and behavior.
The case provided some of the earliest evidence that the brain’s frontal lobes play a critical role in decision-making, emotional regulation, and personality. (1958 Main Street/Route 131, Cavendish; cavendishhistoricalsocietynews.blogspot.com)
-Built in Shelburne in 1906, the Ticonderoga once operated as a day boat on Lake Champlain. -courtesy photo
The Steamship Ticonderoga in Shelburne
The restored 220-foot Ticonderoga steamboat at the Shelburne Museum is a National Historic Landmark and the last surviving walking-beam side-wheel passenger steamer.
Built in Shelburne in 1906, the Ticonderoga (fondly known as the “Ti”) operated as a day boat on Lake Champlain, serving ports along the New York and Vermont shores until 1953.
In 1955, it was moved two miles overland from the lake to Shelburne Museum in a remarkable engineering effort that stands as one of the great feats of maritime preservation. (6000 Shelburne Road, Shelburne; shelburnemuseum.org)
-A dollhouse with a spooky side is on display at the Museum of Things Tiny and Found. -courtesy photo
A Creepy Dollhouse in Brattleboro
A refurbished 1890s dollhouse with a creepy vibe can be found at the Museum of Things Tiny and Found in Brattleboro.
Museum curator Dory Hamm has written a fabricated story about a cursed family, the Vandergrims, who live in the Victorian dollhouse. The dollhouse is presented as a place with its own history, personalities, mysteries, and ongoing stories. (139 Main Street, Brattleboro; museumoftiny.com)
-Any idea what this machine is? The American Precision Museum would like to know. -courtesy photo
A Mysterious Machine in Windsor
The American Precision Museum has an item the staff calls the Mystery Machine. The machine was a gift to a museum staff member from a friend who said, “I’ve had this for long enough; now you can have it.”
But no one knows what the machine is, says Dave Eastman, the museum’s director of development and communications.
“We get many visitors, including history buffs and engineers alike, and no one has yet to identify it,” he says. (196 Main Street, Windsor: americanprecision.org)
-You can learn about the legend of the Randolph Panther at the local historical society. Courtesy photo by Jessamyn West
Cast of a Panther Foot in Randolph
A plaster cast of a panther foot, authenticated by the American Museum of Natural History, can be found at the Randolph Historical Society Museum.
The animal has long been part of Randolph’s local lore. In 1941, Randolph drug store owner Laurence Leonard and several residents discovered large cat tracks in a Braintree field and sent plaster casts to the American Museum of Natural History.
The museum said the tracks were likely those of a puma or mountain lion.
Experts say that the so-called North American catamount/panther never appears in black, and that if a large cat is black, it must be either an African leopard or South American jaguar, neither of which is likely to survive a Vermont winter. (34 Highland Avenue, Randolph; randolphvthistory.org)
-Garden chairs once owned by a former East Hardwick resident are now on display at the Museum of Everyday Life.
Chairs in Glover
What makes the Museum of Everyday Life so special is its celebration of all things ordinary, like chairs, clocks, whistles, and rope.
The Glover museum’s 2026 exhibition, Deep Seated: Chairs and the Stories They Tell, showcases tiny stools, rocking chairs, lawn chairs, and even a pink toilet.
A set of mosaic garden chairs is on display outdoors behind the museum. The chairs were once a fixture on the lawn and back deck of Meredith Holch’s house in East Hardwick. People sat in the chairs for deep conversations, informal music sessions, and New Year’s Eve stargazing.
After severe flooding in 2023 and 2024, the fate of Meredith’s house was uncertain, and in 2025, she died suddenly. Her chairs were donated to the museum, and the house in East Hardwick was sold to the state and will be demolished this year. (3482 Dry Pond Road/Route 16, Glover; museumofeverydaylife.org)
-This bench created 18 years ago is a nod to Brattleboro’s history. -courtesy photo
A Bench in Brattleboro
The Brattleboro Museum and Art Center’s “Wrench Bench” was created in 2008 by sculptor John Tagiuri.
Made of cast fiber and resin, and painted fire-engine red. The bench sits just outside the museum’s front doors and is a fun nod to the building’s original role as a train station and the area’s industrial history. (10 Vernon Street, Brattleboro; brattleboromuseum.org)
-A discovery in 1848 of the fossilized remains of a woolly mammoth in Mount Holly confirmed this giant creature once roamed Vermont. -WikiCommons Photo
A Woolly Mammoth Tusk in Mount Holly
An ancient woolly mammoth tusk and a cast of the tooth are on exhibit at the Mount Holly Community Historical Museum’s Perkins House.
Both items were uncovered in 1848 by a railroad construction crew. The prehistoric remains were found at an elevation of 1,415 feet in a muck basin that was carved into the bedrock. (Tarbellville Road, Belmont; mounthollyvtmuseum.org)
-A strange sculpture of Abraham Lincoln stands outside the Bennington Museum. -courtesy photo
Abraham Lincoln Sculpture in Bennington
Outside the Bennington Museum is a sculpture of Abraham Lincoln Wearing a long cape and top hat. Next to him are a nude boy and woman.
Nudity in art is common, but viewers find the combination of naked and clothed figures in this sculpture strange. When museum curator Jamie Franklin polled the staff about the museum’s weirdest item, the Lincoln sculpture won by a mile.
The Lincoln Trilogy illustrates how changes in society can alter our responses to art. In 1928, Vermont artist Clyde du Vernet Hunt was invited to participate in the Paris Salon. Hunt submitted a grouping of three sculptures he had previously created as separate pieces: Lincoln, Nirvana (the female figure), and Fils de France (the boy).
The Lincoln sculpture, which was subject to vandalism a few years back, has since been conserved and moved to a new spot, still visible from the front of the museum, but not quite as front and center in the newly built entrance court, Franklin says. (75 Main Street, Bennington; benningtonmuseum.org)
-Main Street Museum has no shortage of quirky items. -courtesy photo
Many Oddities at The Main Street Museum
In White River Junction, The Main Street Museum stands out as one of Vermont’s quirkiest art and history museums. Inside, you’ll find an assortment of oddities: taxidermy specimens, the fabled skeleton of the Connecticut River Monster, a self-playing piano from the 1930s, and other curiosities.
Which item is the most unusual? That’s up for you to decide. (58 Bridge St., White River Junction; mainstreetmuseum.org)
-A complete skeleton of a small lynx at the Ethan Allen Homstead Museum. The skeleton is not currently on display. -courtesy photo
Not on display, but worth mentioning
Ethan Allen Homestead Museum in Burlington
The Ethan Allen Homestead Museum houses a complete skeleton of a small lynx recovered during an archaeological dig in the early 1990s.
The lynx used to be on display in the museum, but now sits in storage. It could return to public view if it aligns with a future exhibit.
Waterford Historical Society
A baking peel from a tavern in Upper Waterford, a small village now submerged beneath Moore Reservoir, is in the Waterford Historical Society’s collection.
A baking peel is a long-handled paddle used to slide bread or other baked goods in and out of a hot oven. It’s part of a tiny collection the Waterford Historical Society keeps in the town vault (there is no historical society museum).
The tavern, built as a residence in 1823, once stood in this former part of town. In the late 1920s, the tavern served as a men’s dormitory for workers on the Comerford Dam. The tavern burned in 1930 from a chimney fire while owned by the Streeter family.
The baking peel was passed down in the Streeter Family and finally made its way back to the Waterford Historical Society when a descendant from Woburn, Mass., retired to senior living.
Estey Organ Museum in Brattleboro
A zinc electrode from a crowfoot battery was recently discovered in the attic of the Estey Organ Museum’s old office building. It once powered telegraph communications connecting the former Southern Vermont organ factory with the outside world.
The crowfoot battery was an early gravity-cell battery invented in the 1860s. Widely used to power telegraph systems and railroads, it played a key role in long-distance communication before modern batteries.
Have you come across an offbeat museum item in Vermont? Let me know at [email protected]
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