Themes in American History

When exploring “The Lost Museum”, I indulged at the museum as if I was someone coming from 19^th century.  Established for the purpose of creating a place that entertained people, this Barnum Museum was a success in the 19^th century in New York City. It attracted a lot of audience at that time because of its various content, mirroring the entertainment people enjoyed at that time. As a museum, it combined a waxworks room where interesting wax figures were shown, a picture gallery including a lot of paintings, a “Lecture Room” which functioned as a theatre, and even a zoo. The founder, Barnum, opened this museum in order to feed people’s eager to see exotic animals from around the world. The living white whales, hippopotamus, and elephants were examples of these exotic animals. This museum, therefore, was not only regarded as entertaining but also educational. However, in the 19^th century, fires occurred frequently in such a crowded city. This museum was also burned down by a fire, including all of these animals. Thus, a web version of museum was established. The advantage of this online museum is that people from different time and every part of the world can understand the entertainment in New York City in the 19^th century. With a clear navigation and a comprehensive archive, this website is a great source to study 19^th century themes in New York history. However, making it as popular as it was in the 19^th century seems to be less likely.

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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.

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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.

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