Download Weird and Wonderful The Dime Museum in America Andrea Stulman Dennett Books

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Dioramas and panoramas, freaks and magicians, waxworks and menageries, obscure relics and stuffed animals--a dazzling assortment of curiosities attracted the gaze of the nineteenth-century spectator at the dime museum. This distinctly American phenomenon was unprecedented in both the diversity of its amusements and in its democratic appeal, with audiences traversing the boundaries of ethnicity, gender, and class. Andrea Stulman Dennett's Weird and Wonderful The Dime Museum in America recaptures this ephemeral and scarcely documented institution of American culture from the margins of history.

Weird and Wonderful chronicles the evolution of the dime museum from its eighteenth-century inception as a "cabinet of curiosities" to its death at the hands of new amusement technologies in the early twentieth century. From big theaters which accommodated audiences of three thousand to meager converted storefronts exhibiting petrified wood and living anomalies, this study vividly reanimates the array of museums, exhibits, and performances that make up this entertainment institution. Tracing the scattered legacy of the dime museum from vaudeville theater to Ripley's museum to the talk show spectacles of today, Dennett makes a significant contribution to the history of American popular entertainment.

Download Weird and Wonderful The Dime Museum in America Andrea Stulman Dennett Books

"Although the author's vernacular can be redunant or unnecessary at times, the book clearly demonstrated the ramifications of Dime Museums in not only the time period they emerged in, but also today's society and cultural values."

Product details Paperback 200 pages Publisher NYU Press (October 1, 1997) Language English ISBN-10 0814718868

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Weird and Wonderful The Dime Museum in America Andrea Stulman Dennett Books Reviews :

Weird and Wonderful The Dime Museum in America Andrea Stulman Dennett Books Reviews

• This is a wonderful book, the only book about the history of dime museums in America. I bought a paper back copy to read and trade and a hardback for my collection. I was VERY disappointed with the hardback for the following reasons; First, the price was close to $100.00 which i do not mind if there were no problems with the book, Second, no dust jacket! Could have been issued w/o jacket but that was not made clear in the ad copy. And, Third, the big problem was price and bar code stickers glued to the book, removing the cover sticker caused minor damage to the book but the one on the inside of the back cover resulted in a torn flyleaf page.I don't know why makers and sellers do this but it needs to stop. In the future I will ask about this before dropping big money on a book
• Although the author's vernacular can be redunant or unnecessary at times, the book clearly demonstrated the ramifications of Dime Museums in not only the time period they emerged in, but also today's society and cultural values.
• This is a thoroughly researched book and although encyclopedic, quite easy to read and enjoy.
• This book was a great read and provided the information I was hoping to learn about nineteenth century dime museums. All the information on the subject seems to be scattered about and often lacking. This book ties it together in a succinct yet informative text.
• Dime museums, which offered a variety of amusement for one ticket price, originated in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and experienced the height of their popularity in the latter half of the 19th century after the Civil War. Dime Museum exhibitions were not about authenticity; illusions, hoaxes and humbuggery were common and anticipated, creating an intellectually gratifying activity for visitors to investigate. Based on the principles of variety and the stimulation of curiosity, exhibits aspired to the weird and wonder inspiring – including curiosities, menageries, theaters, and “freak” shows – which could be terrifying, exotic, and titillating, even sexually erotic; most often exploiting a sense of “otherness.” Experiential and multisensory in nature, sophisticated exhibitions included textured experiences highlighting the visual, but also combining sound, live performers, and even auto-matronics .
  Dime Museums were motivated by profit and relied on ticket sales, and many “freak” performers were financially successful and earned great celebrity. Nevertheless, some dime museums purported to be educative, though most rarely were. Still, some dime Museum entrepreneurs, such as P.T. Barnum, were social reformers, and temperance was a popular cause within the museums. Varying in size and quality, dime museums were “democratic” in the sense that the museums were frequented by all social classes and ages, Dime Museums were predominantly urban places (with the greatest proliferation in NYC), but also traveled. Miles Kimball and PT Barnum are two of the most notable and influential Dime Museum entrepreneurs.
  Dime Museums declined with the advent of the circus, movie industry and amusement parks at the turn of the twentieth century, to be briefly revived during the Great Depression in the form of Ripley’s “Believe It or Not.” Cultural vestiges remain in popular attraction to fear, thrill, and horror, as well as in voyeuristic experiences, such as those offered by reality television.
• This is a highly detailed history of an unusual topic American dime museums. Dennett does a good job of examining an institution which combined a thirst for `useful knowledge' with amusements and entertainment. Her discussions of the economics of running a dime museum are especially interesting.
  I would, however, have liked more cultural analysis and less fact-listing; more conclusion and less premsies.
• Weird and Wonderful is a well researched and very readable account of the (mostly) 19th century phenomenon commonly known as dime museums. While they were themselves short-lived, the influence of dime museums extends far and wide throughout our culture - from Discovery Channel programming and blockbuster museum exhibits to freak show revivals and viral videos.
  
  The book should prove interesting to readers of American social history, and particularly enjoyable for museum and entertainment professionals.
• Very unique information. I have read many books on the topic of freak shows, dime museums and circus's. This book had lots of info that was new to me.