We are an odd culture

I'm planning for a work trip to Orlando, FL next week. So I was checking out my options of things to do in case I have any spare time. (Not to say that I will have spare time, and yes, Disney is an obvious option. ;-) ) And it occurred to me how many 'museums' we have in this country, and our fascination with looking at 'stuff'. OK- granted, I enjoy a good science museum, but I think we are getting a bit carried away. I started googling things and in my lack of creativity, the only thing I could not find is a museum of 80's clothing. :-) Seriously. But there's a museum of dental history, there used to be a tupperware museum in Florida, Houston has the museum of Funeral History (yuck). In my very own state of Indiana, we have the Wizard of Oz museum, (not to be confused with the Judy Garland museum in Minnesota), the Liberace museum in Vegas is a must see, there's a computer history museum, there's a snowmobile museum in New Hampshire, and there's even a Moist Towelette museum. So the thing is, these wouldn't exist if nobody went to them, right? Why are we fascinated with stuff? And old stuff at that? OH, our fascinations go beyond museums- there's the collection of World's Largest_________" (fill in the blank- ball of twine, pecan, etc. ) But I guess I don't really get it. Are we so starved for entertainment that we no longer know how to entertain ourselves? Do we have such a sense of nostalgia that things of the bygone eras bring us such a sense of satisfaction to have just one more glimpse? Larger than life items are just too good to be true if we don't see them with our own eyes? And do other countries have the collection of museums and attractions that we do?

I don't get it. Help me understand. :)