Umbrella Cover Museum

The Umbrella Cover Museum in Peaks Island, Maine, is a museum that pays tribute to umbrella covers. The museum was created and is curated by Nancy 3. Hoffman, who has collected more than 600 umbrella covers from over 30 countries.[1]

The mission of the Umbrella Cover Museums states that it is "dedicated to the appreciation of the mundane in everyday life. It is about finding wonder and beauty in the simplest of things, and about knowing that there is always a story behind the cover."[2]

The idea for the museum came when Hoffman was cleaning out a closet and came across seven umbrella covers.[3] The museum began in Hoffman’s kitchen and was moved to a larger location as the collection grew.[4] The museum’s collection ranges in size from a two-and-a-half-inch Barbie doll cover to a six-foot patio umbrella sleeve. It has also hosted special exhibitions including “People and Their Covers” and “New Umbrella Cover Fashions.”[5]

The museum is closed during the winter.[6] Guided tours include Hoffman, who is also a musician, singing Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella while playing an accordion.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “Umbrella Cover Museum,” Boston Globe, October 9, 2008
  2. ↑ Nancy 3. Hoffman, Director and Curator
  3. ↑ “Umbrella Cover Museum,” Eccentric America
  4. ↑ “Umbrella Cover Today,” Maine Today Travel
  5. ↑ Curious New England by Joseph A. Citro, Diane E. Foulds, Google Books
  6. ↑ “HAVENS; The Seductions of Fall,” New York Times, September 10, 2004

External links

Coordinates: 43°39′22″N 70°11′53″W / 43.65606°N 70.19796°W