Timexpo Museum

The Timexpo Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut celebrates the history and craftsmanship of the Timex company, although you would be hard pressed to tell that from the outside which is guarded by a cartoonish Easter Island moai statue. 

The large Timexpo building holds a sprawling collection of timepieces, artifacts and ephemera from Timex’s long past that dates back to 1854. Among the collection are clocks and watches ranging from historic Waterbury clocks, to commissioned military timekeepers, to a whole exhibit centered on the Mickey Mouse watch phenomenon. The Timex exhibits across the three floors explore the fashion and technology that led to the development of their countless products, putting them in the context of the company and the world at large.

While the floors worth of watches and clocks are to be expected from a Timex museum, one large portion of the collection takes hard left thematically. As though the museum designer was simply indulging a personal passion, the “Gallery of Exploration” features a number of exhibits about the adventurer Thor Heyerdahl, and his journeys throughout the South Pacific. There are interactive pieces on sailing and the famed Kon-Tiki expedition. The moai statue in front of the museum is also a reference to this section. However after that strange diversion, it’s right back to watch history.

It seems Timex partly funded some of Heyerdahl’s exploration, but that seems to be the only tenuous link to his inclusion in the site. But whatever the reason, this odd museum may be perfect for those with a short attention span.