About National Mustard Museum
Middleton has an entire museum devoted to mustard. Not condiments generally. Mustard.
Founder Barry Levenson traces the collection to October 1986, after his beloved Boston Red Sox lost the World Series. Wandering through a supermarket late at night, he found himself in front of the mustard section and decided collecting mustard would become his new mission. It was an unusually productive response to sports disappointment.
The collection grew from that grocery-store moment into more than 7,000 mustards from all 50 states and over 70 countries. Displays explore mustard containers, advertisements, history, ingredients, production, and the remarkable number of ways people have packaged essentially the same condiment.
Levenson first opened the collection to the public in Mount Horeb in 1992. The museum later moved to Middleton, where admission remains free. A tasting area and store allow visitors to encounter mustard in a form considerably more useful than simply staring at thousands of jars.
Most museums begin because somebody recognizes the historical importance of a subject. The National Mustard Museum began because the Red Sox lost a baseball game and one disappointed fan wandered into the correct supermarket aisle.