The museum has "odd and outsize shoes displayed behind sideshow-style curtains", according to Harriet Baskas of CNBC.[2] The one-wall exhibit allows guests to view shoes through a stereoscope.[3] It has been described as "the world's largest collection of giant shoes",[4] as well as "likely one of the world's few coin-operated museums".[5]
History
The museum was designed and built by Sven Sundbaum in 1997.[6] Owned and operated by adjacent Old Seattle Paperworks,[7] the exhibit is curated by Dan Eskenazi.[8][9]
Reception
Cody Permenter included the museum in Thrillist's 2015 list of "The 11 Strangest Museums in (and Around) Seattle".[10] Christina Ausley of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer included the Giant Shoe Museum in a 2020 overview of the city's 14 "strangest" landmarks, writing: "Drop a humble 50 cents into a small coin box for the world's largest collection of giant shoes. Nestled a few floors below downtown Seattle's Pike Place Market, approach the flamboyant circus entryway and gaze through the binoculars for a myriad of Herculean hi-tops and a size 37 work by Robert Wadlow."[11]