THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY BEHIND MADAME TUSSAUDS WAX MUSEUM

1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries Podcast

Jon Hagadorn

Society & Culture, History

4.4 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 22 September 2024

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Millions of people enjoy visiting Madame Tussauds Wax Museums each year, but only a very few know the macabre history behind the first one that opened in London in 1831, containing the death masks and wax figures of actual victims of the French Revolution on 1789-1793- which were made by a 20 year old young lady named Anna Marie Grosholtz who had trained to be an artist and sculptor of wax and worked in the employ of her uncle at his shop in Paris. Through that work she became close with the sister of the King, and when the revolution broke out she was sent to prison- soon to be released with the agreement that she would provide death masks and lifelike wax figures of the often royal victims of the guillotine including Marie Antionette, Robespeirre, and many others. She later parlayed her horrific experience into a business which has lasted to this day.

Transcript

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0:00.0	And the Welcome back everyone to
0:33.0	one thousand one heroes, legends, histories, and mysteries podcast. This is your
0:37.4	host John Hagadorn. I'm betting that most of you are aware of Madam
0:42.2	Toussoid's Wax Museum.
0:44.4	There are 24 of them worldwide.
0:46.7	They entertain millions of visitors every year, and they're owned at last check by a British company
0:51.5	called Merlin Entertainment.
0:54.0	Inside you'll be treated to a Hollywood-esque
0:56.3	glitzy panorama of lights and twists and turns,
0:59.8	all leading to incredibly real-looking wax figures of the top celebrities of
1:04.0	yesterday and today. Political figures, movie stars, the A-list of people in the news,
1:10.7	and each location has some of their local favorites as well
1:14.1	from Sydney to Vegas to Hollywood to Hong Kong. The location of our story today is
1:20.3	the original Madame Touss in London, where many people come to see the
1:25.3	stars having been warned that there is a very dark area beneath the facility
1:29.7	that exists to remind people of the evil that mankind is capable of.
1:34.0	It contains the death masks and the wax creations of murderers and the murdered,
1:39.0	going back as far as the French Revolution in 1792. It's called The Chamber of Horrors.
1:46.0	The rock walls and below ground walkways contain the grisly reminders of a violent past.
1:52.0	In the Pathane newsreel we're about to share, you can join the
1:56.0	night watchman on a solitary search for those few who try to hide past closing, supposedly
2:01.3	for the thrill of spending a night with the merchants of death and the victims of a bloody revolt.
	...

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