Not Your Average Gift
There are so many types of gifts we buy this time of year. Big gifts, little gifts, meaningful gifts, gag gifts, useful gifts, have a laugh and regift gifts. With online shopping some of it is easy, but to find just the right gift, and just for your own sanity, it is a good idea to walk out the door and go somewhere. If you’re going to a museum you can either just pop into the museum store to shop and run, but if you have an extra hour (but even 30 minutes is something) take some re-group time and explore the museum it’s the perfect kind of holiday therapy to stroll through a museum. Museums and gift shops are not only places you can visit in person, but in a pinch you can shop online too. The USS Constitution Museum shop provided a necklace and nautical socks from their gift shop for review.
If you are going for a big gift, a membership to one of the museums is a wonderful (and generous) gift. We are in an age of decluttering and museum memberships take up no space and add no clutter. If you want to give a “thing” then you can always find something little to go with the membership in the museum shop. Another advantage of many museum memberships is that they are reciprocal and can be used when you travel to different cities. We love to visit the museums over February vacation so those museum memberships gifts get lots of use right off the bat!
This anchor necklace, for example is a classic nautical necklace that I know my daughter would love. My husband’s aunt would love it too. It isn’t just a beautifully designed necklace though. It isn’t a piece of jewelry that you could just pick up anywhere. This necklace is made from reclaimed copper from the frigate of the USS Constitution. I think that’s pretty cool for a fellow Bostonian, a Boston gift basket or someone who is a history buff.
Boston Area Museums: Just To Name a Few
When you mention museums everyone thinks first of the bigger more well known ones, which can be pricier but you don’t have to stop there. Whether it is for a membership or shopping for a unique gifts you have to look at all the different museums to cover everyone’s interests. Also, an art museum may not be just for the artists. There are artifacts, special exhibits that may work for those interested in music, theatre, pop culture, culture, travel, anime, history and science all in what one would typically think of as an art museum such art the Museum of Fine Arts.
Well Known
Museum of Fine Arts
memberships start at $75 / free via University Membership Program
Institute of Contemporary Art
memberships start at $65
Museum of Science
memberships start at $90
Boston Children’s Museum
memberships start at $160
Harvard Museum of Natural History
memberships start at $50/ $35 student –
membership is for all four Harvard Museums of Science and Culture
New England Aquarium
memberships start at $109
Peabody Essex Museum
memberships start at $70
Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum
memberships start at $70
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
memberships start at $45
MIT Museum
memberships not available
Lesser Known
USS Constitution Museum
Discovery Museums
Boston Fire Museum
National Heritage Museum
Concord Museum
Danforth Museum of Art
deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum
MIT List Visual Arts Center
Museum of African American History
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Even Lesser Known
Armenian Museum of America
Fruitlands Museum
Longyear Museum
Larz Anderson Museum
Metropolitan Waterworks Museum
Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History
Plumbing Museum
New England Quilt Museum
Tower Hill Botanic Gardens
Harvard Museum of Scientific Instruments

Museum Gifts Many Ways
The obvious gift is a membership or something meaningful from the museum gift shop, but you can also get creative. A day at the museum together with lunch and a little spending money for the shop could be the perfect present for a parent-child, grandparent-child, parent-grandparent, best friend. Pick up a brochure from the museum and print out a lunch menu or you can get creative and design your own gift card.
Museums & Gift Shops Online
This week many of us will be doing our last minute shopping online and lucky for us, the museum shops are online too. USSCM Shop, MFA shop, ICA shop, and Boston Children’s Museum shop are all online just to name a few.
I like the ceiling at JFK library!
Didn’t @Deliamary take such a great shot of that?!