Themes in American History

I am unsure if Barnum’s American Museum would be a fair indication of the definition of entertainment in the 19th century, but what I am sure of is the fact that is was very popular. Personally, I was not sure what to expect. I had already heard about some of the “attractions” at the museum – such as the 25 inch midget and the mermaid from Fiji – and was very curious to get to the site. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed at what I discovered on the website – it did give me a lot of information about the attractions at the museum but lacked a certain “wow” factor, which I am certain was what made the museum very popular. But from an educational point of view, the online museum hits all the right marks. The archive is very informational and entertaining. The image I posted is a perfect representation of Barnum’s Museum to me. Even though it is in the 19th century, I think it was perceived as a colorful place to visit, with weird and larger than life attractions. The total tickets sold will also support the tag of the Peoples Favorite,  even though it is very clear that the museum had its fair share of critics.

With the introduction of the NY Herald in 1835, the culture in NYC was already changing. People were now being intrigued and entertained by reading about murders, suicides and rapes. I am uncertain if Barnum seen this culture change as the perfect opportunity of open the museum in NYC or he would have done it either way, but NYC was now rapidly expanding and accepting to new means of entertainment. I think from an historic point of view the website does a good job giving the viewer all the information it had in a fun method, but visually and interactively it could use a lot of improvement. Continue Reading »

Comments Off on Barnum’s American Museum

Barnum’s American Museum was located at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street in New York, from 1841 to 1865. The museum was mysteriously burnt at that time and the Lost museum was recreated to have people in modern time to visit and experience culture in the 19th century through website.  The museum offered both strange, and educational attractions.

Barnum opened his museum  to create a place where families could go for wholesome, affordable entertainment, but his success drew from the fact that he knew how to entice an audience. At its peak, the museum was open fifteen hours a day and had as many as 15,000 visitors a day. The museum was a spectacular place for people coming to enjoy it in 19th century.  People came to this place with their families and socialize with other people.  The cultural history of New York was people gathered in one place and watch other people’s show and share their opinions with each other while they were exploring the museum.

In my opinion, the strength about the website as a historical tool like Lost museum is that it helps people to experience and have more understanding about the historical facts that were really exist and greatly affected people but been destroyed. The weakness was it was mimicking the historical event, the accuracy would be affected.

Comments Off on The lost Museum

When I think of P.T. Barnum I think of the showman.  Tom Thumb is one of people who I most readily associate with Barnum.  Barnum understood what attracted people and he was a master of exploiting it.  The people of the buttoned up Victorian Era were as interested in sensationalism as people are today.  This website is helpful in drawing parallels between entertainments in the 19th century and today.  Although I am a bit skeptical of museum exhibitions compiled by a man who said, ” there’s a sucker born every minute”, I can see why his attractions would be just as successful today as they was in his own lifetime.

The Lost Museum was an interesting web site to explore.  As a teacher I think it can be a great tool to help students to explore the cultural history of the 19th century.  I also liked how the archives provided a jumping off point for additional research into artifacts on display.  An artifact can make a event or time period so much more engaging than just text about it.

Comments Off on Kid, I’ll make you a star

The tour of The Lost Museum was a very informative experience. I didn’t really know what to expect when I entered, but as I progressed and explored all the three floors I came out with a decent sense of the history of New York City. It wasn’t really like the museums nowadays, but it had a very good feel of what a typical 19th century museum would be like.

The one thing I found that was attention grabbing was the presentation on “The Great Fires of New York City.” The American Revolution ended with a fire in the city destroying many buildings and injuring people. Many more fires followed till the mid 1800s. The firefighters were the main heroes in these situations. They had the hardest, most dangerous jobs. Until the late 1800s, being a firefighter was voluntary, but after the Barnum Museum burned in the fire the legislature made changes and firefighters were then paid.

In addition to the presentation on the fires in NYC, I thought the portrayal of what entertainment was like in NYC in the past was very interesting too. Nowadays, entertainment means tv, movies, sports, etc. In the 1700 and 1800s, I learned that entertainment for them mainly were plays that acted out domestic dramas. Many people went and watched people perform live on stage for entertainment, for example “The Drunkard or the Fallen Saved.”

With its strengths, the museum came with weaknesses as well. The museum had very small floors. It could use addition of floors to spread things out and inform people more about the history of NYC. Also, some of the information was very vague. Many things could have been explained more for a better understanding.

Comments Off on The Devastating Flames

During my visit of “Barnum’s American Museum” I was fascinated by 3-D virtual reconstruction. Barnum purchased this museum in 1841 and it was United States most visited museum until it was burned in 1865.The lost Museum includes wax work, art work, animals, aquarium, and pictures depicting different events. In 19^th Century the sources of entertainment were limited so people were taking advantage of places like Lost Museum. In 19^th century events like Baby shows in which finest babies get rewards were popular. The Museum was full of strange things and paintings. The 8 feet tall sculpture of Miss Anna Swan also draws my attention. Which is one example, why people get attracted to that Museum. Different Articles and letters from Lost Museum tell us about the history of slavery. Although NY State abolished slavery in 1827 but colored people were still unable to visit public places. “New York Tribune” newspaper in which Barnum allowed colored persons to visit his museum only for one day is also very important in history of museum. Unfortunately museum was burned to ground in 1865. The picture below is depicting burning of Museum.

The Museum is full of mysteries, in every corner there is part of history laying. It feels good to visit museum by sitting at home. Although few paintings were unclear with lack of information but overall the visual tour was good experience. The Lost Museum website is really great effort of preserving history.

3 Comments »

The Lost Museum, a digital recollection of the past, enables the audience to browse history with only a few clicks and drags. The experience allows the audience to click and search with past advertisements of recreations and events of the time, to really understand and be apart of the world of the past. The site does a good job of grabbing the attention of the users by stimulating this mysterious question of “who burned the museum” which entices the audience by setting an overall theme to the entire experience of visit. In my opinion, the museum is certainly an applicable method of pertaining to today’s internet era by creating this online museum. The weakness however derives from the lack of graphics with numerous cliches and outdated maneuvers. The archives is the actual beauty of the entire website because of the massive collection of historical artifacts and documents. The museum’s virtual tour allows the audience to get a good sense of the past by portraying a cultural aspect with pictures and artifacts of events that happened inside and out of the museum.
The 3-D attraction lacks in it of itself because it pretty much was 2-D, but the content of it all seemed to educate the audience through the idea of curiosity and amusement. The museum needs a little bit of more organizing because it seems to be a bit confusing and scattered but all in all was a amusing experience with new things learned and understood. One thing that interested me was the ad of the Baby Show that went on during the events of the museum. What lacked was the in-depth explanation of what really went on during the Baby Shows.

1 Comment »

The Lost Museum ,based of my first glance on the website, seemed like chaotic yet fun way to spend a day back in the 19th century. By going on this website you can tell what kind of spectacles people back in the 19th century did that was considered as their entertainment. Somethings ranging from having wax figurines of caged women all the way to hosting BABY SHOWS! These are some things that if were done today would probably be considered illegal and/or taboos! Some other things they showcased in the museum was the worlds tallest person at 8 feet tall.  And also showcased Joice Heth as an African American slave who was 161 years old as she claimed she was a nursemaid to George Washington. But when she died it was made clear she was no older than 80 years old. Regardless, The Lost Museum can be considered as a mix of today’s Ripley’s Believe it or Not and even The Guinness Book of World Records based of the items they showcased for entertainment.

Comments Off on The Original Ripley’s

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.

6 Comments »

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.

Comments Off on Losing Myself in The Lost Museum

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.

1 Comment »

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.

Comments Off on The Museum Of the Abnormal

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.

Comments Off on Attracting Museum

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.

Comments Off on Drinking alcohol is like inviting death

Barnum’s museum served an important function by allowing the middle class to develop a sense of their own daily life in contrast to that of the “freak”, keeping New York gazing in wonder for decades. Under the disguise of entertainment and education the Barnum Museum became the foremost house of spectacle of popular culture in the 19^th century. Barnum’s combination of the freak show along with educational displays such as animals and a aquarium (which unfortunately couldn’t see because it was closed L ) and morality plays (located on the third floor which also showed tips about etiquette and fire prevention/solution) ensured success for his museum because it created a spectacular space in which entertainment, wonder, and education appeared together in one place. Unfortunately not everything looks as good as it sounds. Some people were complaining about the conditions in which the animals were living in describing how cruel it was. The complaint letter stated that the animals did not have any ventilation and that was also very dangerous to the visitors if a fire may occur.

Looking around the Lost Museum’s website I found a picture of a white lady with afro hair. I clicked in the archive’s link and found out something really interesting. That woman in the picture was Zalumma Agra, one of Barnum’s Circassian Beauties. Many Circassian women, prized for their beauty, were sold into slavery. The primary requirement for women who played Circassians was that they be attractive and it seems, according to the website, that Zalumma was not really a circassian woman because her English was fluent and she didn’t know almost anything about that place. So it could have been any local girl with just teased hair paid to pose as a “harem refugee”. However, what it was most intriguing to me was that these women were looked as “examples of racial purity”.

12 Comments »