The Museum of the Philadelphian just popped up on Facebook Marketplace for $65,000. Interested?
Brian Adoff’s delightful ode to Philadelphianism concludes its six-week run next week.

Looking to own your own museum?
Has Brian Adoff got a deal for you.
In a Facebook Marketplace post last week, Adoff — the founder and creator of the popular pop-up “micro” Museum of the Philadelphian — extolled the virtues of potential museum ownership.
“Museum, lightly used,” read the listing, which offered the museum’s contents for the “quite frankly bargain price” of $65,000. “Would also make a great Christmas or … Anniversary gift for that special someone in your life.”
Reached Tuesday, Adoff insisted that the listing is no joke.
“Dead serious,” he said.
The 300-square foot Museum of the Philadelphian — which is located in Fishtown and pays homage to such Philadelphia lore as greased poles and murdered robots — will conclude its six-week pop-up run on Nov. 1, at which point its eclectic collection will be placed into storage.
Unless, that is, Adoff can find a new home for it.
Ideally, that would include some sort of public display, said Adoff, who is currently exploring a variety of options.
He says he can envision the collection in the lobby of a local building — a hotel or the Comcast Center, perhaps — or a permanent or long-term venue, if funding were to materialize.
“I’m looking for partners, sponsors, funders that might want to see this somewhere,” he said. “In a perfect world, it continues — if possible — to bring people joy.”
Angela Val, president and CEO of Visit Philly, is among those who’d like to see the museum continue its run.
“Knowing how popular it has become, we’d love to see it become a permanent museum,” Val said. “I think one of the best things about this place is the fact that people who visit here want to see and experience the people — and this museum gave them a way to do it.”
Indeed, from the moment it was announced earlier this year, Adoff’s museum (tag line: “No one likes us, we don’t care”) has been a local darling, the subject of news reports and social media musings.
Among the museum’s eccentric collection: the rearview mirror of the car tipped by Phillies fans after the team’s 2008 World Series title; a “register” of notable Philadelphians (think Alexander “Chicken Man” Tominsky, who once consumed 40 rotisserie chickens in 40 days); and a papier-mâché bust of Jason Kelce depicting his 2018 Eagles Super Bowl speech.
Already, Adoff says, he’s received one offer for his collection.
“We didn’t get into (financial details),” he said, but “it was a legitimate offer.”
“Lovely guy,” Adoff added of the potential buyer. “It just shows people are interested in having this around.”
Whatever becomes of the museum’s contents, it’s been “delightful” to see the way the venue has resonated with visitors, Adoff said.
There was the local grandmother who brought her teenage grandsons from North Carolina, giving them an education on Philadelphians’ penchant for celebratory pole-climbing.
There were the several people who cold-called Adoff to offer their own pieces of Philadelphia ephemera — and the ones who, on occasion, introduced Adoff to new pieces of city lore.
One woman, upon seeing a display honoring the infamous courtroom located beneath the old Veterans Stadium, asked why there was no mention of “the holding area for children, where they gave them lollipops” while they waited for their fathers to be processed.
“Is this firsthand knowledge?” Adoff asked.
It was.
The final days to visit the museum in its current form — which is free, though advance reservations are recommended — are Friday from 5-8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon-5 p.m.
After that?
Anyone’s guess.

















