The Plum Island Museum of Lost Toys & Curiosities, located in Amesbury, Massachusetts, displays objects collected from a quarter-mile stretch of beach on Plum Island. The museum, established in 2021 by founder Corinn Flaherty, aims to highlight human consumption patterns and the environmental persistence of plastic waste.
Establishment and Collection Origin
Corinn Flaherty, a librarian and weaver, began collecting items in 2015 during a winter period referred to as "Snowmageddon." Her initial discovery was a 1940s-era doll's head found on a beach. This find prompted a broader collection of flotsam and jetsam from a specific quarter-mile section of Plum Island beach, located approximately one hour north of Boston. The accumulated items were initially stored at her home before being relocated to a studio space in Amesbury, where the museum officially opened in 2021.
Exhibited Items
The museum's collection comprises a diverse range of items that have washed ashore, spanning various eras and categories. These include:
- Toys and Recreational Items: Small green army figures, squirt guns, kazoos, components from Lego sets (including a Lego shark), Monopoly houses, and figurines such as The Hulk and Ariel, The Little Mermaid. Historic toys include a 1980s McDonald's Happy Meal transformer toy and numerous dolls, often found without heads or limbs.
- Household and Personal Objects: Broken rusty knives, hairbands, hard hats, 1950s-era hair curlers, lobster bands, plastic forks, and spoons.
- Historical Artifacts: Cracked clay pipes, believed to date from Colonial times, and shoe forms and broken high heels, potentially from 19th-century shoe factories situated upstream.
- Technological Relics: VHS tapes, flip phones, a rotary phone dial, an early Nintendo Game Boy, and a 1970s-era label maker.
Flaherty identifies unfamiliar objects primarily through visitor input. Shotgun shells are reported as the most frequently found items, exceeding the number of collected bottle caps.
Museum Layout and Purpose
The museum is situated adjacent to Flaherty's weaving studio, within a renovated 19th-century horse-drawn carriage factory. Displays are arranged on shelves constructed from driftwood salvaged from the same beach. Some collected items, such as lobster bands, plastic forks, and spoons, are incorporated into wall hangings.
The museum's central purpose is to highlight environmental impact and to prompt reflection on human consumption patterns and the long lifespan of plastic waste. Discussions with visitors often include observations about the materials used in everyday items and their manufacturing choices. Visitors have reported that the exhibition encourages consideration of their own consumption habits. A local rabbi described the space as "bright, colorful, and joyous," noting that its approach conveyed its message without being overtly didactic. The museum prompts visitors to consider the persistence of materials like plastic in items such as shotgun shells and to explore alternatives.