From Slapstick to Stoogeabilia: Inside the World’s First Three Stooges Museum
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Asia Tabb
AIRED; September 29, 2025
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For fans of classic comedy, the Three Stooges have long been a source of laughter, from their slapstick antics to their timeless humor. In Ambler, Pennsylvania, one man has turned that love into a museum experience unlike any other. Gary Lassin, founder and executive director of the Stoogeum, has curated the world’s first museum dedicated entirely to the Three Stooges.
“I don’t think your broadcast is long enough for the answer, but I’ll try to give you the short version,” Lassin laughs. “When I was a kid growing up, we only had three television channels. One of those channels always had the Three Stooges on it. We all fell in love with them—they were like watching cartoons, but human.”
Lassin’s passion for the Stooges deepened when he started dating a woman who happened to be related to Larry Fine, one of the trio. “I met her grandfather, who had some memorabilia, and the snowball started rolling down the hill. I started collecting more stuff, and a chip went loose in my head,” he recalls. That collection has since grown to nearly 100,000 pieces, housed in a 10,000-square-foot, three-story building complete with interactive exhibits, a research library, and an 85-seat theater.
Visitors to the Stoogeum are often amazed by the scope and quality of the collection. “Most people are expecting very little. They get here and it’s laid out like a real museum—professionally designed displays, crammed with Stoogesabilia,” Lassin says. Among the most unusual items are props from classic films, Shemp Howard’s 1917 army discharge for bedwetting, and a miniature “flying submarine tank” from The Three Stooges in Orbit.
The museum also features interactive experiences, including a Three Stooges pinball arcade game and a touchscreen exhibit called Stoogeology 101, where guests can explore biographies of the Stooges and their supporting cast.
Beyond the museum, Lassin oversees the Three Stooges Fan Club, which boasts roughly 2,000 members worldwide. “Typically, it’s an old guy, like myself, who grew up in the late ’50s and early ’60s. But we do get some young fans from time to time. Parents introduce their children, and we’re trying to pass it along to the next generation,” he says.
Lassin describes the enduring appeal of the Stooges: “They’re funny. There’s something about slapstick humor—a guy slipping on a banana peel—that was funny hundreds of years ago and will still be funny in a couple hundred years.”
With decades of collecting under his belt, Lassin continues to hunt for new treasures, scouring online auctions and visiting shows in search of rare artifacts. “Very little gets sent to me. It’s basically me going out and looking for the stuff,” he notes.
The Stoogeum not only preserves the Stooges’ on-screen legacy but also documents their lives off-screen, maintaining contracts, photographs, and other memorabilia. “Our mission here is to preserve the stuff for future generations. Hopefully they’ll continue to enjoy the Stooges into the future,” Lassin says.
For fans of comedy history, the Stoogeum offers a rare glimpse into the world of Moe, Larry, and Curly—an opportunity to celebrate the legacy of laughter that continues to resonate decades after the first slapstick routines aired.