Themes in American History

I think that Barnun’s entertaiment in the 19th Century was original for the time. He was trying to combine what he thought about American History and a Freak show at the same time. Let’s be real, what is that fish thing in the picture above. He had a collection of birds and beasts living in the same cage happily that is odd. Besides I believe that if one went missing he replaced it right away. What I really liked a lot was the “Glass Steam Engine” even though, there is no clear picture of it, from an angle it looks amazing. The museum also have a small theater where there was different types of shows.

The museum tried to entertain and educate with exhibits on natural history, American history, and with attractions of enormous nature. What shocked me was that everyone was allowed to enter to the museum with the exception of African Americans until the Civil War. New Yorkers of diverse ethnic, gender, and class identities mingled in the museum’s shared cultural space. People likes entertainment of all types and shapes and this shows it.

One of the strengths of the museum website as a historical tools is that this museum was real. It entertain people in the 19th century. The main weakness is that most of the pictures that are available to see doesn’t have any type of description so people like me doesn’t know who they are or what they did in history.

 

Maria Leon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: 19th century, american history and entretaiment, Barnun, lost museum

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