Madame Tussauds Wax Museum: Past and Present

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum is often called a "tourist attraction" - huge queues and a lack of tickets involuntarily paint such a picture in the imagination. What is strange here? Millions of people want to see a unique collection of exhibits created by a talented wax sculptor. What is the history of the museum? Where did it all begin? What exhibits await tourists today? Let's find out.

A bit of history: who is Madame Tussauds?

The founder of the museum, Marie, was born in Strasbourg in the 18th century. She did not have a father, she was raised by her stepfather, Philip Kyurtus. The man treated the girl well, he replaced not only her father, but also a teacher and mentor. After the family moved to Paris, Philippe began to make small busts out of wax. Indeed, in those days there were no cameras yet, and if someone wanted to capture himself for centuries, then he ordered just such figures, busts. This pleasure was not for everyone.affordable, but it has become very popular. Marie was so interested in this activity that she joined it with great pleasure and showed considerable talent.

What happened next?

Once Philippe and his stepdaughter made a bust of Voltaire, the great philosopher. After some time, Voltaire died, and Marie and her stepfather became the only people who had a wax cast of a famous person made during his lifetime! They put the bust of the philosopher on public display in the window of their shop. Of course, such a sculpture attracted many buyers. By the time Marie became quite an adult, she married Francois Tussauds. However, the marriage turned out to be unsuccessful. Marie looked for help and support, understanding from her husband, but he drank a lot and was too fond of gambling. The two sons they had were unable to reunite their parents. Marie's collection of wax figures grew steadily, and the marriage fell apart at the same rate. When the cup of patience was already full, Marie left her husband, keeping his last name and taking her sons. They moved to London, where the woman began to make all her desires and dreams come true.

And in such a case one cannot do without difficulties

Yes, everyone faces problems sooner or later. This fate did not bypass Marie. One day, a steamship carrying wax figures to an exhibition in Liverpool sank. This not only did not knock Marie down, but even inspired her: she restored them with double speed, sewed new ones.costumes, modeled hairstyles. This simply titanic work deserves respect and recognition, which, in fact, Marie received. She restored several dozen figures, and her exposition was awaited in all places with impatience and enthusiasm. Marie was quite satisfied with the nomadic lifestyle, but her sons were not. They offered to make a stationary exhibition, for which they bought a building in the center of London, which everyone today knows as Madame Tussauds wax museum. Today, Marie's great-grandchildren continue this business, open branches and create new masterpieces.

Wax Museum London

Throughout her life, Marie had to make figures of all kinds of people. Her first creations included not only the bust of Voltaire, but also the figures of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Benjamin Franklin. And during the French Revolution, the sculptor was trusted to make masks of influential people, rulers, criminals, victims of that time. You can see all these figures in London, and their value lies in the fact that all casts were made from life. At the moment, the exposition includes more than a thousand creations of the past and present. The Wax Museum, photos of which you can see here, is open daily. Actors, politicians, Hollywood directors, roy alty, and scientists will appear before the eyes of tourists. Everyone can take a photo of the exhibit they like. Just imagine, Napoleon and Robespierre were sculpted by Madame Tussauds from nature! And what are the smells, sounds and even moving figures!

Horror Room

This is a place in the museum that attracts people in particular. The fact is that in her life Marie often had to deal with death. Since she was a famous master in Paris, the leaders of the revolution instructed her to make casts of the faces of the victims of the guillotine, who had already been beheaded. The horror room presents not only these, but also other types of punishment, crimes from history.

Museum in London today

Not only busts and figures from the past include a wax museum, there are plenty of modern music and film stars. What are the charming and feminine Audrey Hepburn, the unforgettable Elvis Presley, the courageous Bruce Willis, the muscular Arnold Schwarzenegger! Particular attention should be paid to Brad Pitt and his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Aniston.

The thing is that the masters work on each exposition almost every day, because people change, which means that the sculpture must also be transformed in order to show the real state of things. When Brad and Jennifer were together, the sculptors created the perfect wax couple. They stood next to each other, even hugging a little, showing their love. After the separation of young people in real life, the sculpture became irrelevant, they had to be separated, which cost the museum a tidy sum.

The Wax Museum is especially proud of the composition on the theme of Christmas - the birth of little Jesus. The roles of Joseph and Mary were entrusted to David and Victoria Beckham. This decision was not spontaneous, it was made by visitors in the process of filling out special questionnaires. According to the majority opinion, George Bush, Tony Blair and the Duke of Edinburgh became the Magi. The angel here is Kylie Minogue, and the shepherds are Samuel Jackson, Hugh Grant and Graham Norton.

Where are the branches of the main museum?

According to 2013 data, the wax museum has branches in 13 locations: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Washington, Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney and also in Canada. Each of them is a real show, where the sculptures move and talk in the spirit of the past.

By the way, it is worth discussing the question of why many believe that there is a wax museum in Paris. In 1881, Arthur Meyer, a journalist, had a burning desire to arrange something like an exhibition of Madame Tussauds. He wanted to create those people who were written about in his newspaper. Today, there are approximately 500 figures here, and the place is also popular with tourists.

And the wax museum is now a London landmark that everyone wants to see!