Themes in American History

My whole experience during my visit to the “Lost Museum” was interesting, but pretty confusing in the process because of the virtual tour. The amount of content available is substantial, but I assume it is fitting considering it replaces the actual museum that burned down. The archive section proved to help guide me through each exhibit better than the virtual tour. Overall as a historical tool I believe that it serves its purpose of sharing a piece of history from New York for free and easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

Something I found interesting was the Chang and Eng exhibit. They were not the earliest recorded conjoined twins but I learned that the term “Siamese Twins” was coined by them. Back in the 19th century, a sight such as two men attached to one another was something that have been a strange to many people. Because of the high cost of caring for 22 children, 33 slaves and their wives, Chang and Eng Bunker returned to P.T. Barnum’s museum for a limited engagement.

The museum highlighted a wide array of exhibits which displayed topics such as proper etiquette, the importance of firefighters, different types of amusement devices, as well as abnormalities of humans. While browsing through everything it seemed that entertainment from the 19th century was not solely based on imaginative aspects. Some of the exhibits had an overall goal to push change in society, while others were for pure curiosity of the unknown. Technology was basically nonexistent in this era so entertainment needed to be seen in person. P.T. Barnum enabled this in such a way where he could capture many forms of entertainment in one location.

Tags: Chang Bunker, Eng Bunker, Siamese Twins

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