Harriet Baskas – författare

The definitive collection of Washington's odd, wacky, and most offbeat people, places, and things, for Washington residents and anyone else who enjoys local humor and trivia with a twist.

While there are more than 15,000 museums in our country, visitors get to see only about five percent of any institution's collections. Most museums simply don't have room to display everything they've got. However, there are a wide variety of surprising and intriguing reasons that, for example, the Smithsonian Institution doesn't display its collection of condoms, Florida's Lightner Museum locks up all but one of its shrunken heads, and a world-class stash of Japanese erotica (shunga) art was kept in the Honolulu Museum of Art's storage until only recently. Each item or collection included in this volume is described and placed in context with stories and interviews that explore the historical, social, cultural, political, environmental, or other circumstances that led to keeping that object or group of objects out of public view--the ultimate museum buff's voyeuristic experience. Color photographs of the artifacts are included.

While there are more than 15,000 museums in our country, visitors get to see only about  five percent of any institution’s collections. Most museums simply don’t have room to display everything they’ve got. However, there are a wide variety of surprising and intriguing reasons that, for example, the Smithsonian Institution doesn’t display its collection of condoms, Florida''s Lightner Museum locks up all but one of its shrunken heads, and a world-class stash of Japanese erotica (shunga) art was kept in the Honolulu Museum of Art''s storage until only recently. Each item or collection included in this volume is described and placed in context with stories and interviews that explore the historical, social, cultural, political, environmental, or other circumstances that led to keeping that object or group of objects out of public view--the ultimate museum buff''s voyeuristic experience. Color photographs of the artifacts are included.

Fuelled by caffeine and powered by rain, Seattle is chock full of the odd, the unusual and the endearing. This book will lead you to its treasures. Revised and updated edition.

Seattle has fueled the hopes, dreams, and imaginations of countless individuals throughout its history. Their energy, ideas, and inventions have influenced the city’s skyline, the evolution of air travel, the music and art worlds, and even the very coffee we drink. They are the reason Seattle is gifted with so many unusual, offbeat, and truly compelling places for explorers to discover and enjoy, from a coin-operated attraction filled with enormous shoes, the world’s greenest commercial building, and urban old growth forests, to a haunted staircase and museums dedicated to pinball, dialysis machines, and rubber chickens.111 Places in Seattle That You Must Not Miss invites and inspires locals and visitors alike to seek out the Emerald City’s hidden treasures, overlooked gems, and charming curiosities.