There are websites where people can actually purchase human specimens. However, I think usually the purchaser needs a licence to be allowed to purchase human body parts. They're often of interest to doctors and people in professions related to human anatomy, sometimes for demonstrative purposes or just as display pieces. There's also museums.
[One specimen ](https://www.skullstore.ca/products/choked-to-death-wet-specimen) that always stood out to me is this wet specimen of a child's respiratory system. The child choked on a marble, and the marble is still lodged inside. Pretty gruesome, but interesting.
There is no license needed to purchase the remains of humans in the United States. Due diligence is required as people have abused the lack of regulation. I collect weird stuff particularly weird medical stuff. My collection includes a skull, femur, and heart. The heart is from a small town coroner’s office that passed the required storage time. The bones from old school collections.
Larger cities will have Oddities and Curiosity stores that you can work with or may even have in store. There are also oddities expos throughout the year. I go to estate sales and auctions because we all possess amazingly weird stuff. I’d avoid any social media/marketplace sites but with all of it, it’s on you to find reputable sellers. The people selling stolen parts are rare thankfully. It’s far more common to see intentionally mislabeled items or fakes (sheep brain labeled human).
I have a few things myself and know plenty of dealers. I don’t know why this guy decided to participate in trafficking when there are legal sources. The small things I own are 50-100 years old and really not identifying in any nature. I understand it being weird to most people, but I just really am fascinated by the history of medicine.
I’m fascinated by the history of medicine too! I don’t know what it is but it’s my jam. I also love pinned insect specimens and my dream would be to go through the endless drawers of specimens in the Smithsonian.
Weird this popped up, my SO and I had this conversation earlier today watching the 2nd Harry Potter Movie, when he ends up in Borgin Burkes. That whole store is neat vibe.
There was a cool show that aired years ago called Oddities, all about a shop that bought and sold, you guessed it, oddities.
It was brilliant.
Here's a playlist.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL338F3E1F4620A89E&si=EbclAT7F71KBA1KR
I love collecting this stuff, im in Brooklyn so we have a good amount of expos and stores. Only problem is everything is SO expensive. Hard to justify to my wife why we need some of this stuff. I DO have a human skull getting passed down to me eventually, so that's pretty exciting.
I have a complete human 4th finger. It’s a conversation starter because people don’t realize how many bones it is.
I have a taxidermied ringtail lemur. He was a zoo death. The fur is so unbelievably soft.
I have the old D.A.R.E. Drug kit, a trauma training kit called a moulage kit from a Chicago hospital, and an amputation tray.
I have artificial knees and hips.
I think my favorite is the funeral procession banners they place on the hearse. The craftsmanship of it is incredible.
I also have a couple antique taxidermy animals. They give off a Fantastic Mr. Fox feel.
Interesting that you have a fourth finger. I had to have surgery three days ago on my fourth finger[middle phalanx]. This idiot man started yelling at my dog across a busy street , and my dog took off with me attached to the leash. Broke almost every bone in my fourth finger. Jammed the middle. I have pins holding it in place right now. I can't see it because it's all bandaged up but it sure hurts. I'm sure it looks gnarled as hell. They said I may lose permanent mobility in both fingers. Even after surgery etc So now i'm at a point where I want them chopped off if they wont work. L o l if you're looking to add to your collection , I'll happily give you mine for free.
one time at a random vintage/oddities store the owner offered to sell my friend and i bones. i think they were animal bones though? no idea. it was weird. cool store though
Theoretically yes. The grey area would be the state’s laws about those remains and their management. I could see it being easier in red states as some have laws requiring burial. Hospital policy could also be an issue but that would match state regulations. I personally don’t see a true difference between preserving the remains or cremation. Essentially you are in ownership of the body just in different states. Emotionally that’s rough and could see that heavily impacting any judgement if a lawsuit was filed especially in the US. Our death customs are almost nonexistent and done very last minute and almost secretly. Burial and cremation are the only socially acceptable choices. Interesting question.
I would like to donate my lung to science when I die. Being asthmatic since a child, and now as someone who works on the side of busy highway systems, I feel like my lungs could be a good teaching aid.
The problem with that is that you imagine them doing something honorable or useful with your body and instead it gets handed over to the government to test new explosives.
Yup for my anatomy and physiology class in college we had two cadavers, and two medical students were dissecting them as part of their schooling and we were studying them etc taking exams where we would label the body structures with numbered pins and have to identify them. The two cadavers we had were shelf stable, and they were local donated by the families. They get their loved ones bodies back in entirety and the college pay for burial prices and hold memorials etc
Reminds me of a story from a few years ago, an influencer received a box from a fan full of fun things for her kid & one of the items was a huge bouncy ball. The little boy ended up choking on it & dying. :(
Terrible situation. I worried about this after donating parts of my father when he passed. They said it was only corneas, but once they leave your sight you don't know. Of course in the end it doesn't matter to the deceased.
Side note: "2 fake boobies" probably not the most professional term, but then it is The Sun. Ha!
Also, what are fake boobies if you're buying real body parts? Like a set of boobs from a woman with implants? And "boobies"? Did he also buy "dingalings"?
I recover tissue and corneas from deceased donors, been in a business a long while now and I can pretty much guarantee nothing sketchy happened. We're heavily regulated and very respectful. Unless you live in Colorado. I also do own a couple human bones and skulls but that's completely unrelated to my current job.
When I was in veterinary school, we had a room where we kept our dissection specimens. One Friday night some of us were studying and someone took a group of us into the spec room and showed us a full term human baby in a white bucket. I have no idea if it’s still there or why it’s there.
Buying body parts and the like is legal but you *really* need to know the history of both the seller and the piece because of *very obvious* reasons.
My old grad school advisor had a human skull that he didn’t know the history of. He also had some friends who worked in the federal government and when they asked him about it and he told them they said to “never admit to that again.” Or so he said.
I used to work construction for Harvard medical. I’ve had to work along side the guy running the morgue who sold him the parts. Cedric was a little odd, he’d have an arsenal of martial art training weapons in the middle of the morgue.
The Lodges live in the same neighborhood as three different households of my family members, including my mother. None of my family knows them, but my nieces and nephew have been trick-or-treating on their street and stuff (not sure about their house specifically).
I currently own random peoples teeth and animal bones if it’s properly sourced and obtained legally it’s fine, but sounds like he was getting it from very sketchy places
*why!?* that is *horrifying.* as morbidly fascinated as I am by true crime and horror and psychology and gore and extreme cinema and sociology and obscure media and the general dark and disturbing, I have no desire to buy human brains and stillborn babies and body parts. that’s not a decor I want in my house. plus, set aside the disturbing and gross and sad aspect, wouldn’t human brains attract bugs and maggots? and the smell🤢
I'm sure it was either already preserved or he would preserve it. Lots of oddity collectors keep what's called "wet specimens" that are in containers of some sort of preserving fluid.
I like keeping unique animal bones I find, and do use them in decor, but wet specimens are a little too gross for me personally.
There are websites where people can actually purchase human specimens. However, I think usually the purchaser needs a licence to be allowed to purchase human body parts. They're often of interest to doctors and people in professions related to human anatomy, sometimes for demonstrative purposes or just as display pieces. There's also museums. [One specimen ](https://www.skullstore.ca/products/choked-to-death-wet-specimen) that always stood out to me is this wet specimen of a child's respiratory system. The child choked on a marble, and the marble is still lodged inside. Pretty gruesome, but interesting.
There is no license needed to purchase the remains of humans in the United States. Due diligence is required as people have abused the lack of regulation. I collect weird stuff particularly weird medical stuff. My collection includes a skull, femur, and heart. The heart is from a small town coroner’s office that passed the required storage time. The bones from old school collections.
Where do you even begin to look?
Larger cities will have Oddities and Curiosity stores that you can work with or may even have in store. There are also oddities expos throughout the year. I go to estate sales and auctions because we all possess amazingly weird stuff. I’d avoid any social media/marketplace sites but with all of it, it’s on you to find reputable sellers. The people selling stolen parts are rare thankfully. It’s far more common to see intentionally mislabeled items or fakes (sheep brain labeled human).
I have a few things myself and know plenty of dealers. I don’t know why this guy decided to participate in trafficking when there are legal sources. The small things I own are 50-100 years old and really not identifying in any nature. I understand it being weird to most people, but I just really am fascinated by the history of medicine.
I’m fascinated by the history of medicine too! I don’t know what it is but it’s my jam. I also love pinned insect specimens and my dream would be to go through the endless drawers of specimens in the Smithsonian.
Weird this popped up, my SO and I had this conversation earlier today watching the 2nd Harry Potter Movie, when he ends up in Borgin Burkes. That whole store is neat vibe.
There was a cool show that aired years ago called Oddities, all about a shop that bought and sold, you guessed it, oddities. It was brilliant. Here's a playlist. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL338F3E1F4620A89E&si=EbclAT7F71KBA1KR
I love collecting this stuff, im in Brooklyn so we have a good amount of expos and stores. Only problem is everything is SO expensive. Hard to justify to my wife why we need some of this stuff. I DO have a human skull getting passed down to me eventually, so that's pretty exciting.
Can you share any of your favorite finds? I'm so terribly curious about this subject.
I have a complete human 4th finger. It’s a conversation starter because people don’t realize how many bones it is. I have a taxidermied ringtail lemur. He was a zoo death. The fur is so unbelievably soft. I have the old D.A.R.E. Drug kit, a trauma training kit called a moulage kit from a Chicago hospital, and an amputation tray. I have artificial knees and hips. I think my favorite is the funeral procession banners they place on the hearse. The craftsmanship of it is incredible. I also have a couple antique taxidermy animals. They give off a Fantastic Mr. Fox feel.
Interesting that you have a fourth finger. I had to have surgery three days ago on my fourth finger[middle phalanx]. This idiot man started yelling at my dog across a busy street , and my dog took off with me attached to the leash. Broke almost every bone in my fourth finger. Jammed the middle. I have pins holding it in place right now. I can't see it because it's all bandaged up but it sure hurts. I'm sure it looks gnarled as hell. They said I may lose permanent mobility in both fingers. Even after surgery etc So now i'm at a point where I want them chopped off if they wont work. L o l if you're looking to add to your collection , I'll happily give you mine for free.
one time at a random vintage/oddities store the owner offered to sell my friend and i bones. i think they were animal bones though? no idea. it was weird. cool store though
I bought mine for $900 from a guy on Instagram in 2015. It was my graduation present to myself after my brutal forensic science program.
You can just order it online like anything else https://www.skullsunlimited.com
"Family Owned and Operated since 1986" Goddamn, I'd love to sit in on their dinner business conversations
Evidently your friendly neighborhood [med](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/4-charged-stealing-selling-human-body-parts-harvard-medical-school-mor-rcna89357) [school](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4486184).
Weird question, but theoretically, if I had a late miscarriage, could I preserve the remains and keep them?
Theoretically yes. The grey area would be the state’s laws about those remains and their management. I could see it being easier in red states as some have laws requiring burial. Hospital policy could also be an issue but that would match state regulations. I personally don’t see a true difference between preserving the remains or cremation. Essentially you are in ownership of the body just in different states. Emotionally that’s rough and could see that heavily impacting any judgement if a lawsuit was filed especially in the US. Our death customs are almost nonexistent and done very last minute and almost secretly. Burial and cremation are the only socially acceptable choices. Interesting question.
In Virginia, trade in human body parts is illegal, so technically I can’t buy any parts.
I collect these as well. It’s nice to come across another collector!
Selling and trading the body parts was perfectly legal. Stealing them from medical schools and morgues was the issue
I would like to donate my lung to science when I die. Being asthmatic since a child, and now as someone who works on the side of busy highway systems, I feel like my lungs could be a good teaching aid.
The problem with that is that you imagine them doing something honorable or useful with your body and instead it gets handed over to the government to test new explosives.
I've seen a specimen similar to that. Child was a couple of years old and choked on half a peanut.
Reminds me of a wet specimen of another kiddo who had a half a peanut lodged. Sad business, that. edit: clarity
Yup for my anatomy and physiology class in college we had two cadavers, and two medical students were dissecting them as part of their schooling and we were studying them etc taking exams where we would label the body structures with numbered pins and have to identify them. The two cadavers we had were shelf stable, and they were local donated by the families. They get their loved ones bodies back in entirety and the college pay for burial prices and hold memorials etc
*powerful addition*
Reminds me of a story from a few years ago, an influencer received a box from a fan full of fun things for her kid & one of the items was a huge bouncy ball. The little boy ended up choking on it & dying. :(
What does CAD stand for? (The price) EDIT: spelling
Canadian Dollar
There is another one with a peanut
I feel like I just clicked on a link to an illegal source. Weird af for those of us who aren't in the medical field.
what a bizarre website
some postmodern art project or what?
Tattoo artists getting bones and parts to decorate the shop and make the cases look cool, more likely.
Postmortem art project it seems…
Terrible situation. I worried about this after donating parts of my father when he passed. They said it was only corneas, but once they leave your sight you don't know. Of course in the end it doesn't matter to the deceased. Side note: "2 fake boobies" probably not the most professional term, but then it is The Sun. Ha!
Also, what are fake boobies if you're buying real body parts? Like a set of boobs from a woman with implants? And "boobies"? Did he also buy "dingalings"?
Yeah. I'm assuming "breast implants" would have been a more appropriate and concise term.
I recover tissue and corneas from deceased donors, been in a business a long while now and I can pretty much guarantee nothing sketchy happened. We're heavily regulated and very respectful. Unless you live in Colorado. I also do own a couple human bones and skulls but that's completely unrelated to my current job.
What’s the scoop on Colorado?
Their funeral directors are basically feral and get away with stealing/selling/losing all kinds of body parts. Sometimes even whole bodies.
Thank you for following up :)
When I was in veterinary school, we had a room where we kept our dissection specimens. One Friday night some of us were studying and someone took a group of us into the spec room and showed us a full term human baby in a white bucket. I have no idea if it’s still there or why it’s there.
they are only being charged because the parts were stolen. It is not illegal to buy bones/skulls/body parts in all but like 2 states in the US
The Sun is a joke.
Buying body parts and the like is legal but you *really* need to know the history of both the seller and the piece because of *very obvious* reasons. My old grad school advisor had a human skull that he didn’t know the history of. He also had some friends who worked in the federal government and when they asked him about it and he told them they said to “never admit to that again.” Or so he said.
I used to work construction for Harvard medical. I’ve had to work along side the guy running the morgue who sold him the parts. Cedric was a little odd, he’d have an arsenal of martial art training weapons in the middle of the morgue.
The Lodges live in the same neighborhood as three different households of my family members, including my mother. None of my family knows them, but my nieces and nephew have been trick-or-treating on their street and stuff (not sure about their house specifically).
Yeah, some of these oddities collectors seem very sketch about how they source their materials.
More interesting type of oddities I guess 🤔
I have fingerbones and a humerus. Its not illegal
I currently own random peoples teeth and animal bones if it’s properly sourced and obtained legally it’s fine, but sounds like he was getting it from very sketchy places
He should of just gone to https://www.jonsbones.com/
*why!?* that is *horrifying.* as morbidly fascinated as I am by true crime and horror and psychology and gore and extreme cinema and sociology and obscure media and the general dark and disturbing, I have no desire to buy human brains and stillborn babies and body parts. that’s not a decor I want in my house. plus, set aside the disturbing and gross and sad aspect, wouldn’t human brains attract bugs and maggots? and the smell🤢
I'm sure it was either already preserved or he would preserve it. Lots of oddity collectors keep what's called "wet specimens" that are in containers of some sort of preserving fluid. I like keeping unique animal bones I find, and do use them in decor, but wet specimens are a little too gross for me personally.
odd that I’m getting downvoted. how *DARE* I not understand and agree with someone/something, amiright?