Weird and wonderful
Subtitle: the dime museum in America
By: Andrea Stulman Dennett.
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 200
Subjects: Barnum, P. T. 1810-1891.; Barnum's American Museum.; Museums -- United States -- History.; Dime museums -- United States -- History.; Curiosities and wonders -- Museums -- United States -- History.; Eccentrics and eccentricities -- Museums -- United States -- History.; Popular culture -- United States -- History.
Description: 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 curio halls housing upwards of ten thousand exhibits to meager converted storefronts displaying 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 theatre to Ripley's museum to the talk show spectacles of today, Dennett makes a significant contribution to the history of American popular entertainment.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-191) and index.
Table of contents: title: The origins of the dime museum, 1782-1840; title: Barnum and the museum revolution, 1841-1870; title: The peak years : from the Civil War to 1900; title: Freaks and platform performers; title: Lecture room entertainments; title: Waxworks and film; title: The dime museum reconfigured for a new century.