THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, ADD A LITTLE BIT OF CULTURE TO THE GIFT LIST
Philly’s Celebrated Cultural Centers Offer Stylish Holiday Gift Alternatives

PHILADELPHIA, August 30, 2004 – When was the last time you went to a museum to visit the…gift shop? In an area as chock-full of distinguished, distinctive cultural centers as Philadelphia, museum stores offer specialized, one-of-a-kind merchandise, perfect for holiday gift giving. For the future physician, the American history buff, aspiring paleontologist or stylish sister, look no further than the region’s famous museums, where shopping is not only about unique wares, it’s also about supporting great culture. And, there’s no better time to do it than during the holiday season.

• Oddities on Tee-Shirts and in Coffee Table Books: Somewhere between gross and gorgeous is the Mütter Museum’s new book of medical oddity photographs, featuring images selected from the museum’s once-famous yearly calendar. ($50) Also for sale: Tongue-in-cheek tee-shirts displaying the museum’s notorious exhibits, including original Siamese twins Chang and Eng or giant and dwarf skeletons — perfect for those fascinated with medicine and unshockable teens. ($15-$16) Also available online. 19 S. 22^nd Street, (215) 563-3737, www.collphyphil.org
   

• Mini Thinkers and Architectural Ornaments: Rodin’s famously thoughtful sculpture, The Thinker, comes in colorful blown glass at The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s (PMA) expansive gift store. ($30 in blue, green and gray) Brancusi's famously romantic The Kiss sculpture gets its small glass reproduction glittered too. ($30 in gold, clear, gray, purple and red) Popular holiday trinkets include 3D metal replicas and glass tree balls handpainted from the inside out with the PMA’s famed classical façade. (All $20) Also available online. 26^th Street & the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, (215) 763-8100, (215) 684-7960, www.philamuseum.org
   

• Colonial Toys, Kitschy Snow Globes and Classic Ornaments: Teach kids about 18^th-century life with games like “Made for Trade,” which puts children in the shoes of Colonists (ages 8 and up, $25); and “Jacob’s Ladder,” a hand-forged iron tavern puzzle ($7.95), available in the Independence Visitor Center gift shop. Timelessly fun plastic snow globes enclosing a miniature Liberty Bell or Independence Hall make great stocking stuffers ($3.95 each), as do gold-flashed brass or pewter ornaments of Philadelphia monuments ($7.95-$14.95 each). 6^th & Market Streets, (800) 537-7676, www.independencevisitorcenter.com
   

• Funky Umbrellas and Pigment-dyed Napkin Sets: Celebrated architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown created the black-and-white composition notebook design for the Fabric Workshop and Museum’s stylish, wood-handled umbrella ($78.50). Italo Scanga napkin sets are pigment-painted with landscapes, animals and vegetables on one-of-a-kind cloths ($50). 1315 Cherry Street, (215) 568-1111, www.fabricworkshopandmuseum.org
   

• Permanent Art Lavender Soaps and Barnes Arboretum Honey: Typically, images printed on bars of soap wash away with use. That’s not the case with the beautiful collection of soaps available at The Barnes Foundation. Featuring images created by Renoir, Monet, Manet and Seurat, the vegetable-based, lavender-scented, no-fade soaps are sold in the basement gift shop of the Barnes. (Package of three for $12) A jar of flower honey gleaned from the surrounding Arboretum’s beehives is a great treat for art-loving gourmets. (One-pound jar for $7.50) Also available online. 300 N. Latch’s Lane, Merion, (610) 667-0290, www.barnesfoundation.org
   

• Authentic Fossils: Each unique piece of earth is a unique piece of the earth’s history at the Academy of Natural Sciences’ gift shop. Non vertebrates, fish and prehistoric critters called Trilobites are etched forever in fossils gleaned from near and far. Authentic minerals, fossils and shark’s teeth are priced according to age and rarity, starting at about $10. 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, (215) 299-1000, (215) 299-1186, www.acnatsci.org

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC), Philadelphia's regional tourism marketing agency, is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to building the region's economy and positive image through tourism and destination marketing. For more information about travel to Philadelphia, call the new Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676, or visit www.gophila.com. For information about arts and cultural attractions in the region, click on the CultureFiles link.

Note to Editors: For photos of Greater Philadelphia, visit the photo gallery of gophila.com/pressroom.  

September 2004

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