National Mustard Museum

7477 Hubbard Avenue
Middleton, WI
www.mustardmuseum.com

Founded by Barry Levenson, a former Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General, the National Mustard Museum began on what Levenson describes as an impulse shopping trip after his beloved Boston Red Sox went down in defeat. According to the one-time litigator, the mustard “spoke to him” in a Field of Dreams way on this auspicious trip to the market, and he responded by purchasing 15 jars of America’s favorite condiment.

Six months later Levenson spied a unopened mustard jar on a room service tray in a Washington DC hotel hallway. After a brief internal debate on whether the jar was legally fair game — after all her was an attorney — he scooped it up and carried it in his pocket while he argued the finer points of the Fourth Amendment before the US Supreme Court. Justice Anton Scalia and four of his compatriots agreed with Levenson’s arguments and ruled in favor of the state. Levenson considered the jar of mustard his lucky charm; and as the always gregarious barrister tells it, that moment marked the true beginning of the National Mustard Museum.

That was back in 1987, and today the museum boasts thousands of jars of mustard from 70 nations and every state in the union. And although there’s a large gift shop and tasting room upstairs, the museum itself operates independently as a non-profit organization. Truly, it’s more than just a few jars of mustard, and definitely worth a visit.

Accessible parking is located just outside the front door, with level access through the automatic door, and plenty of room to navigate a wheelchair around the gift shop. There’s elevator access down to the well-curated museum, and equally good pathway access around the exhibits. Accessible restrooms are also located downstairs.

Besides the enormous international mustard collection, the National Mustard Museum features recipes, vintage advertisements, Shakespearean citations of mustard, and of course a small exhibit dedicated to horseradish — mustard’s spicy cousin. Round it out with Levenson’s original “lucky charm” from the room service tray, and the world’s only mustard vending machine, and you have a comprehensive — if not eclectic — overview of the condiment. And don’t forget to have your photo taken with the French’s Mustard mascot on your way out, before tasting a few of the more unusual mustard varieties upstairs.