Umbrella Cover Museum

The Umbrella Cover Museum in Peaks Island, Maine is a museum that pays tribute to umbrella covers. The museum was created and is curated by Nancy 3. Hoffman, who has collected more than 2000 umbrella covers from 66 countries as of July 2018.[1]

Hoffman is shown playing an accordion while singing "Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella" in the museum. Umbrella covers can be seen in the background.

The mission of the Umbrella Cover Museums states that it is "dedicated to the appreciation of the mundane in everyday life. It is about finding wonder and beauty in the simplest of things, and about knowing that there is always a story behind the cover."[2]

The idea for the museum came when Hoffman was cleaning out a closet and came across seven umbrella covers.[3] The museum began in Hoffman's kitchen and was moved to a larger location as the collection grew.[4] The museum's collection ranges in size from a two-and-a-half-inch Barbie doll cover to a six-foot patio umbrella sleeve. It has hosted special exhibitions including “People and Their Covers” and “New Umbrella Cover Fashions.”[5]

On 7 July 2012, Guinness World Records named Hoffman's umbrella cover collection of 730 at the time to be the largest in the world.[6]

The museum is closed during the winter.[7] Guided tours include Hoffman, who is also a musician, singing "Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella" while playing an accordion.[8]

References
  1. Skelton, Kathryn. "Weird, Wicked Weird: The largest (and only) Umbrella Cover Museum in the world". Sun Journal. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  2. Nancy 3. Hoffman, Director and Curator
  3. ""Umbrella Cover Museum," Eccentric America". Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  4. ""Umbrella Cover Today," Maine Today Travel". Archived from the original on 2006-05-07. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  5. Curious New England by Joseph A. Citro, Diane E. Foulds, Google Books
  6. "Largest collection of umbrella sleeves". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  7. “HAVENS; The Seductions of Fall,” New York Times, September 10, 2004
  8. “Umbrella Cover Museum,” Archived 2008-10-09 at the Wayback Machine Boston Globe, October 9, 2008

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