The Hattiesburg Pocket Museum got its start in August of 2020 when the city's Convention Commission decided to create something "delightfully unexpected" in an otherwise unused alley that would serve as a way for people to get outside and venture downtown safely.
"We operate a number of indoor facilities, like the theater, that were closed during the pandemic, so we started looking at what we could do to use this time productively over the summer of 2020," said Rick Taylor, executive director of the Hattiesburg Convention Commission. "We wanted to take the alley and make it something of interest instead of just a dark, dingy place that people avoid."
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Working with an $800 budget set for the project, a boarded-up window in the rear storeroom of the theater was converted into a cabinet displayed behind security glass, a single speaker was installed, and a small sign was hung. With that, the Hattiesburg Pocket Museum, unbeknownst to most, was born.
"We made it a point that we weren't going to tell anybody that we had done it,” said Taylor. “We put up the sign that you could barely see from the street, and we put some picnic tables out, and then we just kind of waited. We wanted it to be something that people just discover and then they could tell others. We thought 'Let's just try to create something and see if it gets a life.'"
Isn't this lovely?Provided by Rick Taylor of Hattiesburg Convention Commission
The Pocket Museum's first exhibit? A collection of unique pocketknives, of course, provided by Taylor. After that, the museum showcased more than 100 rubber ducks, displayed alongside a diorama Ernie, of "Sesame Street,” sitting in a bathtub as the “Rubber Duck Song” played. Some of its past displays include fairy houses inside gourds made by a local artist, a collection of McDonald's Happy Meal boxes through the years, nesting dolls, vintage Smurfs, LEGO creations, I SPY scenes and more.
In addition, several other museums have loaned collections to be showcased, including remembrances of love lost fromThe Museum of Broken Relationships in Croatia, artifacts touching on Hattiesburg’s own history as an atomic testing site fromThe Atomic Museum in Las Vegas and literal dinosaur poop from thePoozeum.
The exhibits showcased at the museum change each month, which Taylor admitted can be challenging, but it’s also what makes the Pocket Museum continue to draw onlookers eager to see what will be on display next, and – given all the obscure and some would say bizarre exhibits it has already featured – that truly could be anything.
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An exhibit at the Pocket Museum.Provided by Rick Taylor of Hattiesburg Convention Commission
"Part of the fun for us was that, since it was done during the pandemic, it was a lot of novelty and not a lot of expectation," said Taylor. "That left us without many rules, so we decided we were going to just make it as weird as possible," said Taylor. “This is sort of a chance for our entire staff to do things creative and whimsical; we can push boundaries. I think that's what a lot of people like about it. It only lasts a month, so worst-case scenario, if someone doesn't like it, they can just not visit for a month.”
More than 200,000 people are estimated to have visited the alley since the museum’s inception, and as its popularity continues to grow so does the alley’s appeal as the Hattiesburg Convention Commission continues to add new, pocket-size attractions to the alley.
That includes the Pocket Theater, which consists of a modified view master that displays videos tied to that month's exhibit, as well as The Pocket Art Gallery, which was made from an old newspaper stand and serves as a place where visitors can both take and leave a tiny piece of art. There’s also one-of-a-kind artwork and ever-changing miniature model dioramas placed among the utility boxes, electric meters and otherwise ordinary sights you might expect to find in an alley.
Taylor said that while originally, they thought the museum would end when the pandemic did, it has become such a beloved part of downtown Hattiesburg that they plan to continue it as long as people continue to visit – and if its current following is any indication, that’ll be for a long, long time.
"We sort of feel like we have a tiger by the tail now,” said Taylor. “We weren't sure we were going to keep it going. We don't derive income from it, but everyone loves it so much now we can't quit. It's just sort of taken this life of its own.”
Another exhibit at the Pocket Museum.Provided by Rick Taylor of Hattiesburg Convention Commission
