Memento Mori: Oddities from Old Newbury on All Hallows Day

On All Hallows Day—a time set aside for remembering the dead—the Museum of Old Newbury invites you to a rare, behind-the-scenes experience. For this one-day-only event, the museum will offer three special guided tours of the Cushing House and Perkins Archive and Research Center at 11:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 3:00 PM.

Led by our knowledgeable guides, each tour will introduce a curated selection of seldom-seen artifacts from the museum’s vast collections, including:

• Victorian memento mori, such as intricately woven hair jewelry, reflecting love, loss, and remembrance
• Bones, preserved plants, and food relics, linked to war and the daily perils of life in earlier centuries
• A rare object from the Old Gaol, bearing witness to incarceration across time
• Unsettling yet fascinating medical implements used by practitioners of the past
• Shipwreck salvage from the hazardous New England coast
• And other curiosities that illuminate how past generations faced death, survival, and memory

Each tour reveals unusual stories and hidden treasures, offering a haunting yet compelling window into Newburyport’s past.

Exclusive Keepsake

Every guest will receive a frameable print of the 19th-century image from our collection of Lunt Undertakers & Embalmers on State Street—a memento perfectly suited to the day’s theme.

Event Details

?? Saturday, November 1
?? Museum of Old Newbury, 98 High Street, Newburyport, MA
?? Tours at 11 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM only
?? $15 for MOON members, $25 for non-members

Capacity is limited—reserve early to secure your place on this rare All Hallows Day exploration of Newburyport’s most curious and haunting relics.