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Icelandic Phallological Museum

SFGate.com

reported

―

Fire and Iceland Raucous nightlife and volcanic vistas keep

things hot on this glacial island. In an alley off Laugavegur, I visited one of the

city

‘

s more unusual cultural institutions. Sigurdur Hjartarson opened a wooden,

penis-shaped cash box to give me change for

my admission to his Icelandic Phallological

Museum. The elderly, suspender-clad

Hjartarson is a local high school teacher who

has collected penis memorabilia for more

than 30 years. Besides hundreds of

knickknacks like penis mobiles, corkscrews

and salt and pepper shakers, the museum

houses 150 penises that once belonged to

almost all the land and sea mammals found

in Iceland. From the 5-foot-long sperm whale

member to those of polar bears and seals,

each is professionally labeled.

‖

When I read the above article, I decided to investigate and learn more about the

corkscrews in the Icelandic Phallological Museum. My first stop was the

museum website where I found no mention of corkscrews in the collection.

Digging a little deeper, I found a picture of Sigurdur showing off something in a

jar but it wasn

‘

t a corkscrew.

In August, 2000

Time Europe

reported seeing

―

A birchwood penis mini-bar that

holds glasses, corkscrew and bottle.

‖

There was no picture.

I learned from

ananova.com

that a British tycoon was considering a bid for the

museum. They reported

―

Sigurdur Hjartarson has historically received an annual

grant from the City of Reykjavík to maintain the museum. But this year, Mr.

Hjartarson did not receive any funding, which he said was

‗

strange

‘

, so has put

the museum up for sale .... He says it will be a

‗

shame to sell the museum abroad

‘

and see it leave Iceland, as it

‘

s the most talked-about museum in the country and

the only one of its kind in the world.

‖

Still no mention of corkscrews.

After a lengthy surfing session, I gave up the hunt.