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Waxworks lost in time5/18/2023 This tradition of what academics call "dark tourism" endures today: there is something morbid about peering at Amy Winehouse's skinny but healthily waxy arms. When she settled in Britain and opened a museum in Baker Street in 1835, her most popular exhibit was the "chamber of horrors" featuring murderers and criminals. Tussaud inherited Curtius's models and her travelling exhibition of waxworks became the touring newspaper of the day, providing vivid impressions of contemporary events, particularly the revolution, in a time before photographs. They moved to Paris and she created figures for a waxwork exhibition, narrowly escaped the guillotine in the French Revolution, and ended up making death masks of guillotine victims. Madame Tussauds may be its most unlikely success story.īorn in Strasbourg in 1761, Marie Tussaud studied model-making under Dr Philippe Curtius, a doctor who became highly skilled at making anatomical models from wax. Last year it reported visitor numbers up by 10% across its attractions with a 16% jump in profits to £239m. Tussauds' owners, Merlin Entertainments, is the world's second largest leisure group after Disney, with a portfolio of fun that includes Alton Towers, the London Eye and Legoland. Gok Wan is set for Blackpool, while the much-requested Justin Bieber will arrive in London, New York and Amsterdam next month. Almost every month, a new celebrity is added to the waxen lineup. Another, the 12th Madame Tussauds in the world, will be added in Vienna. After the venerable London attraction's busiest ever year, next month sees the opening of a new Madame Tussauds in Blackpool. But Madame Tussauds is more popular than ever. In an era of virtual reality, interactive Wiis and 3D TVs, it is difficult to imagine a more anachronistic attraction than a crowded dark room peopled with static wax models. Is Mike Tyson marauding through the building? The diminutive French president is unceremoniously wheeled away for some TLC with molten wax. There's a commotion outside No 10 Downing Street: the top of Nicolas Sarkozy's right ear has been chewed off. Who does he want a photograph with? "All of these bastards," he says, making a beeline for George W Bush. "Where is Tony Blair?" asks a tourist from Afghanistan. A Kuwait scarf is draped around Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai. A bloke peers up Marilyn's billowing skirt. J ohnny Depp is getting a peck on the cheek.
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