Themes in American History

My visit to the website of the Lost Museum was like a walk through a carnival maze with eyes closed and hands reaching forward. I suppose it is appropriate for P.T. Barnum’s museum. After opening the home page, I clicked “explore the museum”, music blaring through my speakers, Flash animation rotating images of what the museum floor plan popped up. I clicked on each image, as my cursor turned into a question mark. I click the question mark and VOILA! Another page opens which provides further information on the image. It took me quite some time to navigate the website and find particular information. I would have much more appreciated a simpler table of content and clearer instructions. There is literally a web-page dedicated to how to use the website, and that’s never good. What I did learn from the Barnum museum, is the elaborate forms of entertainment that were available in the 19th century NYC. This was a time before movies were even invented, however PT Barnum found ways to use technology and stagecraft to entertain people. These included “lantern slide shows, cosmoramas, and panoramas that presented images in new ways.” As seen in this image- in his program of amusements, Barnum listed a company of dwarfs, a mammoth fat infant, a beautiful circassian girl and glass blowers.

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