The idea of studying roadside museums sounds interesting.  Perhaps you
should decide right off the bat what you mean by "roadside" and
"museum."  I know that sounds simple, but consider: museums are usually
beside some sort of road.  Do you mean museums that are tourist traps
located off major highways and on routes that used to be major before
interstates made them backwaters?  Or could relatively out-of-the-way
places be included too?  As for what you mean by museum, I wonder if the
current AAM definition applies to the surreal cowboy art shrine?
 
That said, I have a favorite -- even though I've never been inside it.
In Breezewood, PA ("The Town of Motels"), there is a place called, I
think, Butler's Museum & Gift Shop.  This institution is at the
confluence of the PA turnpike and interstate 70 leading to Baltimore and
Washington, D.C.  But
as I said, I've never been inside.  Usually I blow through Breezewood at
top speed, only stopping for a soda or bathroom break, but one day when I
have some time (and a few dollars to presumably toss away for the sake of
curiosity), I'll swallow my Fear of Hokey Museum Ripoffs and take a look
inside.  I have no idea what I'll find.
 
Maybe there are some very good roadside museums, but I tend to think of
corny tourist traps itching for your dollar and in return permitting you
to glimpse the World's Largest Ball of Cheez Wiz.
 
Good luck!
 
Doug Lantry
History of Technology/Museum Studies
University of Delaware
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