Mummers Museum (origins legend of the Mummers Parade)

The Mummers Museum documents the Philadelphia Mummers Parade tradition and houses costumes, photographs, and parade paraphernalia at its location in South Philadelphia. The annual Mummers Parade on New Year's Day is a documented, continuous local procession with roots in 19th- and early 20th-century immigrant and working-class entertainment traditions. The parade's claimed origins draw on a mix of documented cultural influences (including British, Irish, and Scandinavian customs) and popular origin stories; the precise genealogy of those influences is debated among historians. The museum interprets both the material history and the folklore surrounding the parade's beginnings.