“There is demand for a museum of this type. Here the collection that afforded its owner so much pleasure, that made them an authority on the subject, that inspired many others with the same hobby, that was the fruit of long hours of… labor, can find its last resting place.”

Otto Lightner, Hobbies—The Magazine for Collectors, August 1947

At the heart of the Lightner Museum are its captivating and eclectic collections. From Gilded Age furniture and vintage typewriters to American Brilliant Era cut glass and Victorian mechanical musical instruments, the museum offers a rich and engaging array of artifacts.

Founder Otto Lightner described his museum as a “collection of collections.” A prominent figure in the early twentieth-century American hobbies movement, Lightner was a passionate advocate for the joys and benefits of collecting. In the first edition of his Hobbies magazine, he wrote:
“Have you a hobby? Certainly if you have not, you should have one. Hours of keen enjoyment await you as a collector.”

While Lightner championed all kinds of hobbies—from stamp collecting and cigar label albums to wood carving and needle point—he also had the means to build a vast personal collection. His acquisitions spanned fine and decorative arts, natural history specimens, and Americana from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

In 1934, Lightner opened the Museum of Hobbies in Chicago. Alongside his own collection, he invited readers of Hobbies magazine to submit their own collections for display. In 1946, after a stay at the historic Hotel Ponce de Leon in St. Augustine, Florida, Lightner purchased the adjacent Hotel Alcazar to serve as a permanent home for his expanding museum.

Today, the Lightner Museum’s collections are housed within the former Gilded Age hotel. The building provides a grand backdrop, enhancing the presentation of the museum’s diverse collections and exhibitions. The result is an immersive and unconventional museum experience that delights and inspires guests of all ages.