Themes in American History

Ad for whales and hippopotamus

The Lost Museum shows many exotic and bizarre things that entertains people in 19th century in New York city. It also reminds me of Ripley’s Believe IT or Not. For Barnum, who is an American entertainer and business man, his museum is one of remarkable achievement of entertainment culture of the  United States. One of objects in the Lost Museum that grabs my attention is the advertisement flier of wales and hippopotamus. In 19th century, there were no zoos or other place that people could go and see gigantic or nonnative animals. At this point, in 1861, Barnum shows two live white whales to the public in his American museum. It was a great sensational event that was the beginning of not only a common zoo but also circus.

This 3D museum is a great tool that makes a motivation to learn each object of the history. Even though I had so much fun with touring the Lost Museum, I felt little uncomfortable with the screen size that is a tiny small window view. Other than this, I think it is good experience to know more American entertainment system.

Tags: 19th century, animal, Barnun, entertainment

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Well as I entered the Lost Museum I 1st thought this couldn’t be that difficult to find everything. Well was I wrong because navigating threw the website was work on its own.  One of the major strengths about having this website as a historical tool is it makes it much easier for people to find certain historical information as in having to go to an actual museum. Another pro is that not all the interactive things are exactly the same some are writings or little clips. What did get me a little confused was who was the lady talking once you enter the museum? The weakness as some other people stated was some of the floors were slightly dull. What they should do is make more floors so people can be available to more history. I was really intrigued by the slide show on the huge fires in NYC during those times.

Tags: Barnums Museum, Great fires, lost museum

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The lost museum is the secret of today’s New York City , and broadly, the secret the U.S., that is how the societies and it’s culture had been.I was amazed by walking into the museum,  where I  revealed a gorgeous  past. In the first floor i found “Iranistan”, where P.T. Barnum  got the idea of establishing  an “unique” building by visiting Europe; he was influenced  in “Portraits of P.T. Barnum”, there were several picture; one picture shows Barnum was leering at a dancer: these proves his interest on arts and entertainment. Barnum was an rich business man and he took full advantage of it. His interest transformed a four ears old into a celebrity.

“Scipio Hunted,” Uncle tom’s cabin, 1853, gives the insight of fight between slavery and atni-slavery. Slaves  were treated badly.On that time, white people owned slaves and they had all rights of their slaves, means they could do anything they want, which was against the human rights.  Few states were ant-slavery, but most of southern-states supported slavery. Even the Constitution had been changed by several amendment. In the 14 th amendment slavery was abolished.

In second floor  found the study of Dr. Dutchmen’s on human’s facial expressions. It was immersed that even in that time , people acknowledged  the psychology of human; there were several facial expressions and I think it was the starting of  the today’s psychology.

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The lost museum  is the important place that documented most of the past histories about New York City and  about The United States.In my opinion, the strongest part is that it has maintained a serial sequence of past events and years, and a little details about those event. The weakest part is, it  was not well organized, at least to me. Some pictures needed more details.

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The Barnum museum shows that the entertainment in 19^th century NYC is pretty rich. When I visited the museum, I was impressed by different performers, lecturers, and curiosities. One surprised thing I found is that these performers, lecturers, and curiosities demonstrated various skills and crafts, as well as new technological devices. A continual stream of changing exhibitions ranging from talking machines, panoramas of Niagara Falls, Paris and Peru, ivory carvers, glassblowers, sewing machine operators, and musicians. So I think the entertainment in 19^th century NYC is combined with new technology and new studies. It is not only just entertainment for enjoy people, but also gave new knowledge to people. And this knowledge still affect people live today. In the second floor, I saw an exhibition called The mechanism of human facial expressions which was contributed by French neurologist Duchenne de Boulogne. He combined his intimate knowledge of facial anatomy with his skill in photography and expertise in using electricity to stimulate individual facial muscles to produce a fascinating interpretation of the ways in which the human face portrays emotions. Until today the plates from Mechanism are highly valued as landmarks of photographic history and art.

America was a new and culturally emerging nation. Some amusements as we know them today did not exist at 19^th century. The concept of public entertainment was perceived as questionable and even considered inappropriate as Americans aspired to the highest standards of moral and civil behavior. The opening of the Barnum Museum challenged this popular social ideology. The Museum became a place for family entertainment, enlightenment and instructive amusement. It became a shrine for advancing public knowledge of fine arts, music, literature and the marvels of nature, showcasing natural curiosities alongside artistic and historic exhibitions. It played an important role in cultural history of NYC and even the U.S.

Tags: american history and entretaiment, art, Barnum Museum, facial expressions, knowledge, mechanism

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This museum website is pretty interesting. I say that one would just have to take their time exploring this site, I didn’t find it hard to navigate and I would definitely tell my friends to check it out for themselves when they have a chance.

Tags: 19th century, American Civil War, Heroes, Heroines, lost museum

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Today I took my first trip to a virtual museum, “The Lost Museum.” I entered not knowing what to expect. For the most part I found that the website was able to make me feel like I was actually in the original Barnum Museum.

From the museum I was able to learn that people of the 19th century NYC had a taste in entertainment that was much different from ours. Most people today would tell you that they are interested in technology and the latest innovations. While in the 19th century people were more interested in the unexplained and peculiar. People flocked to see anomalies like a glass steam engine or Siamese twins.

I personally found the glass steam engine to be interesting because of the level of detail it had and the effort and work that went into making it. Since it was class it allowed spectators to see all of the intricate parts and engineering it was made of.

Like many of the other visitors I was disappointed to find that most of the entertainment was on the 2nd floor.  At first it was a little bit challenging to figure out what was a a clickable exhibit and what wasn’t, but after a while it began to feel like a scavenger hunt. The museum taught me a lot about life in the 19th century. However I felt that there could have been more organization of the exhibits and easier interaction. That said it was a pretty interesting historical tool that I feel should be used more often.

Tags: Barnum, glass steam engine, tags

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Fire lecture film ironic since museum was burnt down

When I first visited “The Lost Museum” I got bored and I was not interested. Truthfully, the ground floor did not really capture my attention. So, I decided to move up to the second floor and check out if there was something more entertaining. I was impressed based on what I saw on the second and third floor. I was also surprised to see that this museum was different. It actually had a wide variety of exhibits ranging from those that dealt with history, science, and entertainment. The lecture film about fire caught my attention. I thought it was a little funny and ironic that this museum included a lecture film about fire as both Iranistan (Barnum’s mansion) and Barnum’s American Museum burned down. It was also interesting to see the amounts of fires that destroyed New York City and how fires were such a big problem for the city of New York.

“The Lost Museum” showed me something very important about entertainment in 19th century NYC; that it is not much different than entertainment today. The “freak show” aspect of the museum reminded me of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum in Manhattan. The wax figures in the waxworks room on the second floor were similar to Madame Tussauds wax museum also in Manhattan. Many people in New York City visit both of these museums for entertainment purposes probably the same way others visited The Barnum Museum in New York City in the 19th century.

I thought the interactive aspect of this website was a very effective tool to choose to include. It makes the visitors feel like they are in a actual museum. It is as if they are able to walk through it, move up levels and it keeps your attention and interest. The strength of this website is its ability to depict a form of entertainment in the 19th century and show how similar it is to forms of entertainment today. It also informs the visitors of the website about several different historical facts such as the assault on Charles Sumner by Preston S. Brooks (which actually happened). In my opinion, I feel they should have attempted to make the ground floor more interesting or for it to contain more interesting facts as it would impress the viewers and keep  them in the website to continue o to the other floors so they could learn more.

Tags: 19th century, Barnum, Barnum's American Museum, Charles Sumner, entertainment, fire, firefighter, freak show, ground floor, history, Iranistan, Madame Tussauds, Manhattan, museum, New York City, Preston S. Brooks, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, science, second floor, The Lost Museum, The wax museum, waxworks room

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The “Lost Museum” website leads me to get into the 19th culture history of NYC. Through the video guide of the museum, I can feel that all those art works are the footprints of human from the industrial age to the 19th century, they witness our evolution. In this warm and romantic sitting room, the art of living in every location become touched detail. The woodiness flooring and the soft lights ensure the quietness and the stable room temperature.  The completed information is provided by the Museum website, as the pictures showed on the right hand side. On the 2nd floor, it displays visitor the pictures; and it provides the text  information to people on the 3rd floor. This website has illustrated features . The fire destroyed the Barnum Museum in1865, and it was permanently gone. I believe that it will be forever in people’s heart, because the history it witnessed is indelible.

From the Picture, we can see that  the young men who were standing in front of posters . As result of  wearing a shionable long sideburns,They have been  called Bowery boy or Soaplock.  Their jobs were to attract people to get attention on the posters whcih were behind them.

Tags: New York . Bowery. Intertainment

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While I was exploring “The Lost Museum” I developed my knowledge of the US and the NYC history from the virtual exhibits. P.T. Barnum has created the space where people could see lots of exhibits that inform us what was going on during the era of 1800s throughout the museum. This website gave us the chance to visit the Barnum museum once again and I believe this webpage is great in the way to navigate us the whole museum virtually.

There are three floors in the museum and I enjoyed exploring the whole sections, and the one place that caught my attention the most was the lecture room on the third floor. In the room, there is a monitor and you can view the lecture films “fire” and “etiquette” on the screen. I viewed the film on the etiquette, and I learned that the early nineteenth century was the time when the etiquette became important in the society. People with better manner was thought as people from better class, and it played a huge role in the republican society during the era. It was unavailable to pick the pictures from the film slide and the only picture I could get from the archive was the displaying picture, however from the film and the articles from the archive, you can get a lot of information about the role of etiquette in 1800s.

Tags: Etiquette, P.T. Barnum, The Lost Museum

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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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Half fish, half human (is it possible?)

The lost Museum created by Barnun in the 19th century

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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While exploring the Lost Museum, the first thing we visited is the office of PT Barnum, who’s entitled the Proprietor and General Manager of the Lost Museum. Then, we moved on to the second floor, where we would see so many pictures regarded to the slavery history of US, Mexican-American War and the Civil War. One of the images that caught my attention is “John Brown on His Way to the Execution”.  John Brown played a major role in the start of Civil War, who was a revolutionary abolitionist. The picture showed that John Brown was surrounded by a number of soldiers, a baby held by an African-American woman stand in front of him. The archive states that John Brown pausing on the steps of the jail, and leaning down to kiss the baby holds by the African-American woman. The image fully represents John Brown’s faith of abolishing slavery in the US.

Tags: John Brown, lost museum, slavery history

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The “Lost Museum” website really surprises me a lot as I explore it. I have never seen a museum website like this that gives virtual experiences to its views. In real life, the actual P. T. Barnum’s American Museum does not exist anymore, but the website is a continuation of its missions and spirits. Barnum’s American Museum was considered as a key institution that led to the development of nineteenth-century urban culture. But it was mysteriously burn down in 1865. The website is not complicated, and the instructions are very clear. On the right side, there are floor maps of the actual museum. The screen is right in the middle, and you just have to move your mouse around and click. It is very simple and self-explanatory.

I think one of the strengths of using this website as a historical tool is providing people with different forms of historical evidences. Unlike actual physical evidences, the website gives virtual evidences, which is more accessible and convenience. And the weakness is that the screen is not big enough and lack of captions for many items.

Tags: 3d, Barnum, experience, museum, P.T. Barnum, virtual

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While exploring the museum, I learned that this was a big place for entertainment in New York during the 19th century. It quickly became one of the most visited places before it was burned down in 1865. This virtual museum allowed us to see what was going on in the 1800s such as the invention of the glass steam engine which was a step towards industrialization.

On the second floor, there was a slideshow showing the events leading up to the American Civil War. One of the slides that caught my eye was this poster:

This poster appeared after the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 that said that runaway slaves must be brought back to their masters. I think that this poster is pretty interesting because while the slave owners are trying to catch the slaves that ran up north, the North is trying to help the runaway slaves remain free. This conflict between the north and the south as well as others such as Bloody Kansas, eventually led to the Civil War.

I think that this site is very informative and tells you clearly how life was like in the 19th century.  However, I did not like it at all. I felt like everything was not that organized. Navigating through everything was pretty anoynig. It was a small window on the screen and you would move left and right. There were these sounds on the second floor that I did not like either.

Tags: American Civil War, Bloody Kansas, Fugitive Slave Act

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Barnum was an American showman, businessman and entertainer during the nineteenth century. The lost museum website has been developed; since the museum burned to the ground. The museum was affordable and family oriented; its attractions made it a combination  zoo, museum, lecture hall, wax museum and theater, that was, at the same time a central site in the development of the American popular culture. My tour into the museum has been a thrilling one; one of the most famous was General Tom Thumb a 25- inch tall dwarf. Stratton is the real name of General Tom Thumb, Barnum made him nationally and internationally famous. From a very early age he taught him to sing and dance so that he shines in the show business. Barnum also accompanied him to Europe to perform in the audience, and General Tom Thumb also gained popularity as an international star after the tour.

            New York nineteenth century society unites historians, scholars, artists, philosophers and dreamers. Members volunteer their time and talents to help one another create public events, workshops, lectures, exhibitions etc.

Tags: amusement, exotic, Ford's Theater, General Tom Thumb, lost museum, The Lost Museum

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Barnum provides viewers how entertainment was in the 19^th century. In the 21^st Century, entertainments consist of  TVs and movies, an entertainment realm where our mind can create endless ideas giving birth to stories like Harry Potter and Twilight.  But in  the 19^th Century people were not interested in endless ideas [that style of thinking gains traction during the Victorian era] but interested in the unexplained. The 19^th Century was all about observing people that were different and considered defects. Barnum was able to exploit that interest and provide showmanship for the people of New York. For example Miss Anna Swam was considered different because she was taller than an average male. In the realm of the 19^th Century this will be considered inhuman due to the majority of the population did not experienced

Eight Feet Tall

Anna Swam growth. The citizens of 19^th Century America liked that God world was being challenged. That a human can physically go beyond their limits that seemed only possible if you were Jesus himself, whom turned water into wine. So when Barnum cons the public that Joice Heth was over a hundred years old. That captured public interest that humans can live long or something abnormal is at play. Even to add on to that was her relation to George Washington. Now more people can learn about their first president from someone who lived during his time and had a connection toward him.

The Museum tells me about the Cultural history of New York City was that public was into the theatrics that allowed society to think about themselves and life. And being abnormal or defect was something not to be ashamed of but spirited due to the wide interest.

The museum was good. My opinion is the museum greatest strength if you love history is it gives you a world of our past that is so much different than today. The weakness is that the second floor was where most of entertainment was. The other floor did not have much.

Tags: Abnormal, Barnum, museum

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After taking a short virtual visit to the P.T.Barnum Museum, I understood why it used to be the most visited place of entertainment in New York. I imagined myself walking down the hall of a lost museum, learning more about the history of the US. Such an amazing cultural experience took me back to New York in 19th century.

The museum’s mysterious spirit is attributed to the cultural development of New York. As the population of the city grew, there were more distinct differences between social classes – upper class, working class, and poor. Merchants and artisans, doctors and lawyers represented a fundamental surface of a common society. These people were interested not only in how to make money, but also how to spend them right. That is why museums and theaters were the most popular places of entertainment and amusement. I believe that Barnum museum is a great example of a cultural progression in urban society.It has its own mysterious style that cannot leave a visitor unsatisfied.

The museum itself is represented as a key to scientific knowledge and social amusement with its own mysterious signature. Among the exhibits we can find the waxworks of legendary people, such as Chang and Eng Bunker, conjoined twins; Miss Annie Swan, the tallest lady living in the 19th century; the finest picture gallery; the skeletons of unusual creatures, amusement devises, valuable documents on slavery, civil war, immigration, politics, and so many other interesting aspects of history.

There were a few posters on the wall of the Waxworks room, which is located on the second floor of our museum, that grabbed my attention. The first one, was the message with information about the play, “Our American Cousin”, which had been presented to the audience at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C on April 14 1865. This play had soon become known for the assassination of the president Abraham Lincoln. This historical note in memory of the president Abraham Lincoln demonstrated devotion to his political achievements.

The other poster was issued by the War Department, promising a large monetary reward for a person who could find the president’s assassin. John Wilkes Booth was the name of the killer, who stepped into the President’s box at Ford’s Theater and fired a deadly shot. He became the most wanted criminal of the North in 19th century. It looks to me that P.T. Barnum was a supporter and admirer of president Lincoln, and wanted to capture such historical momentum in his museum, so one day each of us would be able to experience all of it.

Image: www. Lost Museum.cuny.edu / Second Floor / the Waxworks room

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, assassination, Barnum Museum, cultural development, Ford's Theater, John Wilkes Booth, Our American Cousin, waxworks room

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Out of curiosity, I clicked “who burned down the museum” before I explore the museum. That’s how I see, P. T. Barnum, in his office and telling me (perhaps) to solve a mystery while I am exploring the museum. That video makes interested in this website even more. I learn that the original Barnum’s American Museum was burn to the ground in one of the most spectacular fires New York has ever seen on July 13, 1865. This virtual version of the museum may not be exactly same, but it certainly cannot be burn down anymore.

My museum night start with the Barnum’s office, which I truly realize that why some many people hated him so much. One picture on his table catch my attention. He was trying to challenge public’s attitudes about everything was happening in that period. Because his politic interests was focusing on race, slavery, and sectionalism in the period leading up to the American civil war. Therefore, he used the museum as one of his ways to speck to the public, such as he played Uncle Tom’s Cabin to make family entertainment. However, what he really wants to do is much more than entertainment.

Tags: Barnum's office, P.T. Barnum, race, slavery, uncle tom's cabin

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P.T Barnum’s Museum was burned down in 1865 and “The Lost Museum” became a website that gave people the chance to discover what the museum was all about. If your not much of a online computer person, you would have trouble navigating through the website.

I felt like I was Sherlock Holmes trying to solve a mystery. There was much to explore in this virtual museum. This museum was a place where families could go for entertainment. The way the museum attracted people was through a combination of having a zoo, lecture hall, wax museum, theater and a freak show. During this time, it was vital development of American popular culture. What stood out to me was the image below. It is the original “FeJee Mermaid” (a monkey’s head and torso combine with half of a fish) and it was originally brought in the Museum in 1842. It’s purpose was to be attractive and appealing to Americans’ fascination.

Tags: amusement, Barnum, entertainment, exotic, lost museum, P.T. Barnum, The Lost Museum

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The lost museum is a perfect place for knowing important information about the history of New York City in the 19^th century. When I went inside the museum through website music was playing for a short time which was interesting. There are pictures which signify the history of New York City culture in that period. While exploring I found a poster which promoted museum as an educational place. Barnum promises an attraction that is “as amusing as it is instructive”. The Drunkard is one of the most perfect and real pictures of life ever placed before the public. The Drunkard was written in 1844 by William H. Smith. The Drunkard, or, The Fallen Saved is presented with the moral message of temperance. This poster gives step by step and in detail about drinking alcohol. The Drunkard drew large audiences and helped Barnum attract “respectable” middle class women to his museum in an era when theatre attendance had been the sole province of working-class men. At the end of the poster instructions are given that intoxicated drinks are not allowed inside the museum.

Tags: 19th century, Barnum, Drunkard, entertainment, museum

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