CBS visits the Museum of Broken Relationships in Los Angeles, where mementos of jilted lovers, shattered romances and broken marriages are on display.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. How many objects are there in the museum?
2. What happened to the reporter at college?
3. What is there in the pickle jar?
4. How did L.A. attorney John Quinn get the idea for the museum?
5. How much is the entrance ticket?
6. How does Alexis Hyde, the museum's director, find beauty in a breakup?
In Hollywood, heartbreak has always been easy to find. And now, it has an address: It’s the museum of broken relationships. Think of it as emotion under glass: a hundred or so ordinary objects that mean absolutely nothing to you and me, and everything to the people who gave them up.
There’s the blue silk blouse a woman wore the day her husband left her ... the wedding cake toppers someone kept after their marriage fizzled ... a dried-out prom corsage from a long-lost love ... the butterfly wings a guy made for his fiancé’s Halloween costume before she cheated on him and fluttered away.
Okay, I don't know about you, but when I was spectacularly dumped by my college boyfriend, the last thing I wanted to do was to save a little something to remember that moment by. But a lot of people do. Like this woman who was divorced but couldn't bear to throw away her silk floral wedding dress, so she kept it and crammed it in a pickle jar.
The man behind all this is L.A. attorney John Quinn, who discovered the original museum in Zagreb, Croatia, a little over a year ago, a place with its own collection of relationship rubble.
We all came out of it thinking, that was extraordinary, very thought-provoking, very moving in a way. And I thought more people should see this.
And now they can, at eighteen dollars a head. Love notes, big, small and very small. The cheerleader outfit one woman bought because her ex was a Nebraska fan ... and the silicone implants another had removed after she dumped the guy who talked her into getting them. It can all be a little sad, but the people we met seemed to be taking it remarkably well.
It's amazing, I love it. It's wonderfully cathartic to see people shedding the memories of their breakup and moving on and letting go and allowing other people to share in what happened.
Have you had a broken heart?
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah.
Alexis Hyde is the museum's director.
So, bottom line, can you find beauty in a breakup?
I think so. Hopefully, you know, you can look back and think fondly and know that even if it didn't work out, it contributed to who you are today. And we're all failing together and we're all trying to get back up together. And that, I think, is very beautiful.
We were just reading one that might be one of his ex-girlfriends!
This is a little embarrassing, because I've seen three things so far that describe my last three relationships to a tee.
That's a pretty common reaction: the museum already has enough material to change the displays every few months. But, like love itself, there's always room for more.
So this is very weird for us, 'cause we hope we don't end up in here, so…
But we easily could.
Really?
Key:
1 a hundred
2 she was dumped by her boyfriend
3 a wedding dress
4 he visited the original museum in Zagreb, Croatia
5 $18 per person
6 it contributed to who you are today
