"museum" news and stories

The San Francisco Chronicle recently ran a short profile of The Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia. According to the Chronicle, the Burlingame museum is the only one of its kind. Apparently curator and shop owner Gary Doss has a specimen of each of the 627 official Pez dispensers ever made. The museum's site has several photographs of the collection, annotated with names and years of production. Also, a comment to a Pez-related post on Candy Addict suggests that there may also be some unofficial releases in the museum's back room.

Why would Fiat cover one of their Cinquecentos in white chocolate? Beats me. What I do know is that it will be on display in Seto, Japan at the Seto-Gura Museum in mid-March. The chocolate-covered Italian ride was a hit at the Aichi Expo last year as well, according to a recent story in the Mianichi Daily News. Apparently the car lives at a museum in Aichi Prefecture for the rest of the year. If anyone knows the story behind this choco-mobile, please share with the group.

A new exhibit at the Civic Museum of Monsummano Terme, just north of Florence, explores the history of chocolate in Europe. The show pays particular attention to the ways in which the patronage of the Medici dynasty furthered the art of chocolate making in much the same ways it advanced the areas of art and architecture. Cosimo III de Medici commissioned new chocolate recipes in order to compete with those of the Spaniards and to impress other aristocrats. One of the results was a jasmine-infused chocolate drink, often presented to visiting dignitaries as an example of the Medici splendor. The exhibit, "Chocolate: from Spanish perfection to the exquisite courtesy of the Tuscan court" continues through April 30.

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