Welcome to the Museum of Aquarium and Pet History

Welcome to The Museum of Aquarium & Pet History: the world’s most comprehensive collection of artifacts relating to aquarium and pet keeping. This museum includes a huge depository of over 3,000 items that were historically used to keep pets. These items would be antique aquariums, fish bowls and stands, bird cages, squirrel cages, dog, cat, bird, and fish foods and medications, pet advertising signs including neon and automation, pet product shipping wood crates, metal fish shipping cans, etc., etc. The museum also has a library with over 1,000 aquarium and pet books, 5,000 aquarium and pet magazines, and hundreds of original letters from pet companies, pet publishers, aquarium & pet hobbyists, pet stores, etc.

It took four decades to build this collection and it is currently being housed in six buildings. Building number 1 (display building) houses over 200 antique aquariums and fish bowls plus over 200 bird cages along with dog & cat food items, plus antique pet advertising signs and more. Currently we are online only and have monthly articles published on pet history by the best pet historians worldwide. We also have a YouTube channel with a new major release monthly plus new 5-minute weekly videos. We hope to have a building open to the public with rotating exhibits of our collection by 2027. To stay up to date, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and newsletter.

One of the features of our museum website is to showcase the history of pet companies and aquarium hobbyists. We welcome outside contributions on company history from anyone who may have worked at a company no longer in business, or one still in business that has been in business for 25 years or more. We also would like any historical information on tropical fish farms or aquariums, birds, dogs, cats, etc., and hobbyists that have contributed significantly to pet & aquarium keeping.

How you can help the Museum of Aquarium and Pet History:

  1. Donate. Become a monthly donor or give as you can.
  2. Donate old pet products you may have such as old aquariums, pet magazines, pet catalogs, old invoices, etc.
  3. Write an article on your company, or do a Zoom interview!
  4. Write an article on a historical pet subject that you are an expert on.
  5. Send us samples of products from your company along with your company’s history to keep on file at the museum.

Thank you for stopping by and stay tuned for lots more aquarium & pet history in the months ahead!

OCTOBER 2026 Video of the month

Warning! Warning! Unboxing Video approaching. This month we navigate the dangers of space, peanuts, and antiques while we explore new items added to the museum.

When will the physical museum open?

Lots of people ask us if we have a physical museum they can come and visit. The short answer is “not yet”. We hope to have the physical of the Museum of Aquarium & Pet History (MOAPH) open by the end of 2027. In the meantime, the attached video is our trial run small MOAPH museum we spent 2 years putting together during the COVID times. If you have not seen this video, please have a look and know that the new museum will be 3 times as large, with a coffee shop and gift store.

We greatly appreciate all our donors, whether it is monetary or vintage pet products you have lying around that you would like to see go to the MOAPH museum. Thank You!

MOAPH 5 Minute Video series

The Museum of Aquarium and Pet History just released a new 5-Minute Video! Tune in every Wednesday for a short video featuring a unique artifact from the museum, OR an “unboxing video” for a new treasure just arriving at the museum.

OCTOBER ARTICLES

Those Amazing Pet Graveyards!

Those Amazing Pet Graveyards!

In this article, Jessica explores the history of pet cemeteries and the ways people have honored their animal companions in death. From Britain’s first dedicated pet cemetery in 1881 to ...
Scholze & Pötzschke Part 2: A Penthouse with a Glass Roof – Prominent Customers, the Turmoil of War, and a Second Splendid Catalog

Scholze & Pötzschke Part 2: A Penthouse with a Glass Roof – Prominent Customers, the Turmoil of War, and a Second Splendid Catalog

Part 2 of the series dives into the years Scholze & Pötzschke (i.e. Schopö) spent at their penthouse facility during and after World War I. The Nazi regime affected every ...
On Some Early Publications of the Boston Aquarium Society. Part Three: 1933. The Home Aquarium [AKA THE BALANCED AQUARIUM.]

On Some Early Publications of the Boston Aquarium Society. Part Three: 1933. The Home Aquarium [AKA THE BALANCED AQUARIUM.]

In part 3 of the Boston Aquarium Society series, Lee shares his findings on a rare publication titled “The Home Aquarium”/”The Balanced Aquarium” ...
The Epilogue - Wilde Tiere Frei Haus (Wild Animals Free Delivery)

The Epilogue – Wilde Tiere Frei Haus (Wild Animals Free Delivery)

Presented here is “Wild Animals, Free Delivery - The Epilogue” about the Ruhe company, written by Alex Haro, a talented writer in his own right and someone we miss at ...
New Angelfish Varieties

New Angelfish Varieties

A short 4 page synopsis on who developed some of the beautiful strains of angelfish we see today. I had the opportunity to visit Chuck Ash’s (developed the marble angelfish) ...
A Visit to Lloyd's Crystal Palace Aquarium

A Visit to Lloyd’s Crystal Palace Aquarium

Reprinted courtesy of the The Crystal Palace Foundation ...
Fish-Ade 1960 Ad

Fish-Ade 1960 Ad

Fish-Ade was originally a small “stand alone” company that sold out to Gro-Wel. Gro-Wel was rolled into the Aquariums Incorporated Group which eventually became Metaframe. From the July 1960 edition ...
Penn-Plax Mini Compresser 1970 Ad

Penn-Plax Mini Compresser 1970 Ad

When Penn-Plax made a mini-compressor air pump. A rare and hard-to-find vintage pet item. From the August 1970 edition of PETS/SUPPLIES/MARKETING ...
New Pet Products 1970 Ad

New Pet Products 1970 Ad

A full page of “new release” pet products in the August 1970 edition of PETS/SUPPLIES/MARKETING. Anyone ever seen the “Dine-a-Matic” from Aquarium Stock Company? The Wardleyburger was a short-lived new ...
1925 Melox Ad

1925 Melox Ad

A 100+ year old advertisement for Melox Dog Food. Notice that this food is endorsed by an Airedale dog breeder. For the Xmas 1925 edition of The Dog World Annual ...
At Wardley's It's The Silver Years

At Wardley’s It’s The Silver Years

Wardley’s 25-year silver anniversary in 1975. Wardley’s is no longer founder-owned, and LongLife Products was sold to Hartz Mountain. Originally published in the July 1975 edition of Aquarium Industry ...
Crystal Palace Aquarium - Just the Ticket

Crystal Palace Aquarium – Just the Ticket

Reprinted with permission from The Crystal Palace Foundation ...
Turtle Races - Victorian Style!

Turtle Races – Victorian Style!

When I first saw this illustration, I knew this must be a fake.(children riding tortoises!) But after reading the text on the following page, I do remember several large shipments ...
Brooklyn Aquarium Society Certificates

Brooklyn Aquarium Society Certificates

Two Certificates of Award from the Brooklyn Aquarium Society in 1958. Both for “Top Breeders Tropical Fish Exhibit,” May 3rd through May 11th. Lloyd Clyne for Albino Severum and John ...
1930s Hexagonal Brass Aquarium

1930s Hexagonal Brass Aquarium

A beautiful hexagonal brass aquarium. This tank has dolphins at the base of each panel and brass “waves” as a top crest. We are guessing this was made in the ...
An Interesting Tobacco Card

An Interesting Tobacco Card

This month’s trade card comes from Lee Finley’s personal collection. The card shown here is one of a group of 50 which were published by the American Tobacco Company under ...
Show Windows of the Deep - Miami Seaquarium

Show Windows of the Deep – Miami Seaquarium

The oldest continuously operating oceanarium in the U.S. The Miami Seaquarium was opened in 1955 and officially closed in October 2025. Originally founded by Fred D. Coppock and Captain W.B ...
1940s-1950s North Star Dog Food Can

1940s-1950s North Star Dog Food Can

A rare paper container from the 1800s for “Imported Mixed Bird Seed” from the Austin, Nicholas & Co. of New York. A giant 50 pound size metal dog food can ...
Victorian Era Wood & Wire Birdcage

Victorian Era Wood & Wire Birdcage

An incredibly beautiful “wood & wire” hand-crafted birdcage. Notice the two canaries on the door, the wood detail on the roof, and the colored glass base the cage sits on ...
Collectors of Aquarium Literature - Number 51 October 1993

Collectors of Aquarium Literature – Number 51 October 1993

In this Issue: 1. The Canadian Terrapin Association by Robert Harris 2. The Three-Toed Box Turtle in Central Missouri, Part II by Charles W. and Elizabeth R. Schwartz and A ...

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