The Ruby Slippers, Madonna's Bra, and Einstein's Brain

I remember looking at the test tube that purportedly contains Thomas Edison's last breath. It's on display in a case in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. And if you're wondering, as I was, how whoever collected it knew that it would be the great inventor's terminal exhalation, the placard explains. Edison's son collected several of his father's dying breaths, and gave the final one to his best friend Henry Ford.

Okay, it's just a test tube. The air inside is invisible, and no one will ever be completely sure it was ever drawn into Thomas Edison's lungs. It doesn't matter. The display itself is what arouses interest and connects us to the intellect that so fundamentally shaped our modern world.

Chris Epting's newest book, The Ruby Slippers, Madonna's Bra, and Einstein's Brain, is a treasure trove of such marvels. Well known for his guides to the locations of pop culture events (James Dean Died Here, Marilyn Monroe Dyed Here, and Elvis Presley Passed Here), Epting has this time tracked down the locations of hundreds of artifacts, mementos, and structures associated with the people and events of America's popular history. From the lantern Paul Revere used to warn colonists that the British were coming to Elton John's platform shoes, this book is both a guide for those who would actually like to stand in the presence of significant souvenirs as well as those who enjoy reading about all the weird and wonderful stuff preserved inside museums and along roadsides across the continent...[More]