Can you match these 8 curated curiosities to their Atlanta museums?

These artifacts range from global maladies to pint-sized chairs
2007
Photographs: John E. McDonald; Capitol museum: Courtesy of Georgia Capitol Museum Collection, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
Photographs: John E. McDonald; Capitol museum: Courtesy of Georgia Capitol Museum Collection, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies

1 David J. Sencer Museum at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
This may be the only museum in Atlanta requiring a vehicle inspection upon entry, but the security somehow heightens the experience. Named for the CDC’s longest-serving director, the gallery traces the homegrown agency’s history and its role in waging war against malaria, smallpox, HIV, Legionnaires’ disease, and other global maladies. Try on a lab safety suit, see an exhibit on venereal diseases, and watch footage of Guinea worm extractions—you’ll be thankful for the hand sanitizer near the exits. Free, 1600 Clifton Road

2 Collectible & Antique Chair Gallery 
Two decades ago, a nurse named Barbara H. Hartsfield went shopping for a doll and chair and stumbled upon a passion for pint-sized seating. In 2008, Guinness World Records certified her collection the largest, at 3,000. The next year, Hartsfield opened her gallery in a quaint antebellum home in Stone Mountain Village. The sorghum-sweet sexagenarian’s tours feature chairs made of toothpicks and clothespins, chairs in bottles, and chairs that function as bird feeders. $5,994 Main Street, Stone Mountain Village

3 The Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking
This trove of insights into writing material—from ancient clay tablets to high-tech machinery—is located in the Renewable Bioproducts Institute at Georgia Tech. You’ll find tools, machines, manuscripts, elegant watermarks, and even displays on paper’s environmental impact. A tiny gift shop offers origami papers and elephant dung turned into baby “paper” elephants. You can also learn how to make and marble paper in the many workshops. Suggested donation $3, 500 10th Street

4 Georgia Capitol Museum 
The State Capitol actually houses creatures sprouting two heads—and they’re not lawmakers. A two-headed calf and snake are among the souvenirs that have been kept in the museum since the 1890s. Also find campaign buttons and flags, maps, postcards, tie tacks, and state symbols from fossil (shark’s tooth) to veggie (Vidalia onions). Take in the displays on turpentine production and peach packing, or go on a tour—you might even learn something about the legislative process. Free, 206 State Capitol

5 National Museum of Decorative Painting
This little brick building on the Westside houses the national museum for the niche art of hand-painted platters, boxes, and other decorative objects from around the world. An exhibit of Russian trays currently takes up most of the gallery, but the entire collection can be viewed in the stacks. Some of it is historical, some contemporary, some kitschy (Santas, baby animals), some fine art. Our favorites are the vibrant, ’40s-era cupboards by folk artist Peter Hunt. Free, 1406 Woodmont Lane

6 Waffle House Museum
Located in the Avondale Estates building where the first Waffle House opened in 1955, the shrine to the omnipresent franchise features a circa-1950s diner, replicated right down to the signs for 20-cent hash browns. One side is lined with displays of old uniforms, flatware, and photos dedicated to WaHo’s ascent to cult status. Call 48 hours ahead or check Facebook for quarterly openings. Free, 2719 East College Avenue, Decatur, 770-326-7086

7 Crime Lab Museum
Among the fingerprint kits, autopsy saw, and DNA analysis at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Decatur headquarters is a jar containing a dead monkey. In 1953, three men rendered the beast hairless, painted it green, and left it on a rural Georgia road to prank cops. But even creepier than the “Monkey from Mars” is the forensic display: an ultraviolet light box containing a napkin beneath a sign that asks, “Can you detect the seminal fluid stain?” Free, 3121 Panthersville Road, Decatur; to visit, call Bradley Martin at 404-270-8349

8 Madame C.J. Walker Museum
Walker was an African American entrepreneur in the early 1900s who launched a beauty shop empire. This shop, just off Auburn Avenue, opened in 1950. Ricci de Forest moved his salon here in 2004 and acts as curator of the artifacts—vintage hair combs, curling irons, hair dryers—left by the previous tenant. He’s also digitally resurrecting the first black-owned radio station in America, WERD, housed upstairs from 1949 to 1968. More than 10,000 vinyls are on display. $5, 54 Hilliard Street

Answers: 1 A, 2 E, 3 F, 4 B, 5 C, 6 G, 7 H, 8 D

This article originally appeared in our February 2015 issue.

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