From Mexico with Love
Instead of a fridge magnet, I went on holiday and bought you something handmade: a pair of Mexican curiosities, made by a busy local mum.
Tucked away up a narrow street in the market town of Tring in the Chilterns, is a charming red brick local museum full of Victorian whimsey. Opened in 1892, the Natural History Museum at Tring was the private museum of Lionel Walter, 2nd Baron Rothschild. His parents thought nothing of indulging his natural history hobby and built him a museum to house his growing collection from all over the world.
It’s a pleasure to potter
Today it is run by the Natural History Museum, London. Thankfully they have adopted a hands-off approach and left the galleries pretty much as they were - glass cases stuffed, gleaming wood with big dusty windows and not a piece of tech in sight.
The galleries are busy, bustling with families looking for items to capture on their trail sheets and clearly enjoying themselves. You don’t have to be five years old to qualify for the free trails. Get involved!
A lost art
On display is more than just stuffed animals. It is a look back at another value system in which our relationship with wild and domestic creatures was very different. Witness the display case of stuffed domestic dogs, a dodo, a rhino, a whale, the 128-year old tortoise and the famous Tring polar bear. We accept the animals were captured and stuffed long ago, but I was surprised to see some dogs ‘donated’ as late as 1970. Perhaps taxidermy is not a lost art after all? De rigour in the days before showing off your pooch on Instagram, you had it stuffed. One skye terrior ‘Wolverley Chummie’, born in 1899 was a superstar of his time.
Back to our busy mum
In wooden cases in the galleries upstairs, amongst exquisite moths and butterflies, you’ll find the dressed-up Mexican fleas. These exhibits were made in about 1905 by the mother of a large family, who sat up late at night to dress the fleas which her children caught for her from the family cats and dogs.
Called Pulgas Vestidas, the fleas’ heads were set on costumed figures and carefully placed in tiny matchboxes to create dramatic scenes, such as a wedding, or a farmer and his wife. They were popular in Mexico for over two centuries and sold to visiting tourists in the early part of the last century.
That’s why they are here in the Natural History Museum collection, part of a Victorian whimsey for those who were lucky enough to travel to far-off exotic locations to buy their authentic locally-produced souvenirs.
You will be in for a treat when you visit.
Quick Links
“Mama, Papa, I’m going to make me a museum…” Victorian heritage at its quirky best at the Natural History Museum Tring.
I thoroughly enjoyed this visit to Tring by comedian Mark Steel - thanks Susan!
Very popular with the locals, the museum is busy at the weekends and during school holidays, so pick your time to visit.
The NHM Tring stands at the crossroads between town and country: Tring Park is a vast green space that merges comfortably with the market town of Tring, in the northern Chilterns.
If it’s sounvirs you are looking for, our Chilterns Gifts could be just the thing. No stuffed animals or fleas though.
There are two other museums I can recommend that are similar in style and presentation: The Horniman Museum & Gardens in south London and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. Are there others to include here? Please let me know.