JR's Appliance Museum—aka the "The World's Largest Small Electrical Appliance Museum"—looks super cool, and I'm putting it on my Roadside Attraction bucket list. The museum is located in Diamond, Missouri. Their website describes the collection, which as of 2020, according to the Columbia Missourian, currently boasts over 10,000 rare electrical appliances including toasters, coffee percolators, razors, waffle irons, and much more:
Owner, Richard Larrison states, "There are "pinchers" and "perchers," "droppers" and "floppers," "tippers" and "flippers," not to mention the "swingers," "walk-throughs," "flatbeds" and of course, the ever-popular "pop-ups."
The website also describes the history of the museum:
Richard Larrison's interest in small electric appliances began over 35 years ago. His brother-in-law, Dennis, collected antique electric fans and ask Richard to look for some in the Midwest. A hobby quickly formed and it was not long before Richard had amassed his own collection of about 125 fans.
As his interest grew, he purchased some books on the appliances and their history. The more he read, the more excited he became over the different small appliances and their manufactures. Richard began shopping at flea markets throughout the Midwest and made use of EBay when it emerged.
Soon his hobby had outgrown his basement. It was moved into the building attached to JR's Western Store. Richard has spent countless hours creating his displays and continuing to grow his collection.
Lindsay B. posted this great review of the museum on Roadside America in 2015:
One man's epic collection of small electric appliances, available for viewing at no charge during business hours. Richard Larrison has 7,000+ small electric appliances, including percolator coffee pots, waffle irons, hot plates, blenders, mixers, razors, hair dryers, popcorn poppers, and fans, all in a clean, well organized space. We had a blast walking through by ourselves, but when the owner popped in to "talk toast" and show off some of his favorites, it was even better.
I'm sold! Let me know if you've been there. And in the meantime, check out a video tour of the museum, below!
