Wax museum

From ArticleWorld


A wax museum is a collection of waxwork portrayals of famous personalities or the manifestations of fictional or historical events and characters. Collections of these waxwork models are housed within a large building in which the public can traverse around the exhibits, which are often based on a theme or in character. Many popular wax museums have developed a section dedicated to the gory past, when torture and general depravity were ingrained in society; these sections are generally called the chamber of horrors.

Madame Tussauds

The most popular and arguably the most popular wax museum is Madame Tussaud’s. The original museum was established by French exile Marie Tussaud in 1835 on Baker Street, London. In 1884 the museum moved to it’s current location on Marylebone Road and remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in London. The Madame Tussauds franchise has expanded internationally to incorporate museums in Amsterdam, New York, Las Vegas and Hong Kong.

US Wax Museums

Wax museums may have been popularised in the 19th Century by Madame Tussaud, but today they are as popular as ever and examples of different types of museum have been created throughout the world. In the United States one popular exhibit was The Movieland Wax Museum in Anaheim, California situated near Disneyland. The museum was established in 1962 and offered patrons the chance to get close to lifelike models of their celebrity heroes. However in October 2005 the museum was closed due to reduced crowd numbers. New Orleans, Louisiana houses another of the United States’ popular wax museums, the Musee Conti Wax Museum. This museum depicts the history of the city as well as a gruesome ‘Haunted Dungeon’ which houses famous horror characters from literature and movie history.