Themes in American History

The Barnum Museum is a display of the rich historical art of the 19th century. The virtual tour is so realistic that it’s almost like being there in person. The entertainment during that era was a combination of music, drama, literature and art. The introductory music to the virtual tour of the museum was upbeat and soulful. Entertainment in the 19th century New York was class segregated. The thriving entertainment industry had a lot to offer to its audience such as theatre, circuses and exhibition. The upper class New Yorkers enjoyed Italian Opera.
The museum mostly consists of wax statues of human and animals. It also has a display of paintings and weapons. Each and every artifact displayed, comes with information describing it making it easier for its viewer to understand and relate to it. The museum has three levels: the first level, second and third. When I clicked on the first floor I entered into P.T Barnum’s office. By clicking on the images a detailed caption appears with all the relevant information. The second floor consists of all the wax works, paintings and weapons of the 19th century New York. The third floor was called the ‘lecture Room’ or the theatre where Shakespeare’s dramas were held. The museum is actually a portrayal that the 19th century New Yorkers loved entertainment. Even though it was class segregated each class enjoyed the entertainment that was available to them.
The museum was destroyed by fire in 1865 but Barnum quickly reopened a second one in a different location and unfortunately it was destroyed as well. Barnum’s American museum was the only place where immigrants, native-born, working class and middle class, men and women could come together.

Barnum used this image to advertise his controversial 1842 exhibition of the FeJee mermaid. Once inside the American Museum, visitors were doubtless surprised by the actual appearance of the so-called mermaid; the astonishment engendered by such misleading promotion came to be an expected part of the American Museum experience. A similar image of a bare-breasted mermaid with flowing hair adorned an eight-foot high color banner on the outside of New York's Concert Hall, where the mermaid debuted before transferring to the American Museum

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