St. Pete - London Wax Museum
by Jonathan Morrill
Original - Sold
Price
$300
Dimensions
16.000 x 20.000 x 0.500 inches
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Title
St. Pete - London Wax Museum
Artist
Jonathan Morrill
Medium
Painting - Acrylic On Canvas
Description
This acrylic painting pays tribute to the now defunct
"London Wax Museum", which used to be at 5505 Gulf Boulevard
in St. Pete Beach.
The painted montage shows the wax effigy likenesses of
Jose Gaspar, Ben Franklin, F.D.R., Abraham Lincoln, Julius Caesar,
Walt Disney, Al Capone, Queen Victoria, Napoleon, W.C. Fields, and Freddie Krueger.
All of these figures were displayed at one time or another
at the "London Wax Museum" on St. Pete Beach.
On March 2nd, 1963, Tussaud's London Wax Museum opened its doors at
5505 Gulf Boulevard, St. Petersburg Beach.
The museum was initially quite popular, and would eventually showcase more
than 120 wax figures in elaborate scenes from history, entertainment,
and a rather gory chamber of horrors.
The museum was the brainchild
of Canadian T. Alec Rigby, a partner in the Ripley's Believe It Or Not! museums.
Rigby also built several other Wax Museums and expanded
the Ripley's chain into Canada as well as new American markets.
Although many people remember the name of the museum as
Madame Tussaud's, the original signage and advertising read
"From Josephine Tussaud of England",
with "London Wax Museum" being the primary business name.
At some point in the 1970's it became "Louis Tussaud's London Wax Museum,"
after Rigby acquired rights to that name.
Both Louis and Josephine were descendants of the famed Madame Tussaud;
her first name was actually Marie.
Ripley Entertainment still uses the Louis Tussaud name today
for their chain of wax museums,
while Madame Tussaud's Wax Museums (including the London original)
are part of the Tussauds Group.
A Josephine Tussaud's Wax Museum operates in Hot Springs, Arkansas,
but is not part of either company.
John E. "Ted" Stambaugh, a former Saint Petersburg Beach city commissioner and mayor, had been involved in the original real estate deal for the wax museum's site
and had stayed on as its manager.
He bought the museum from Ripley's outright in 1978.
Stambaugh tried to keep the place current, adding new, pop-culture figures
like Freddie Krueger from "Nightmare on Elm Street" and Rambo,
but modern children used to the movement of Disney's Audio-Animatronic figures
showed little interest in wax still-lifes.
Tourism in the area and attendance declined.
Stambaugh tried to update the collection adding figures of Rambo,
Freddy Kruger, and Michael Jackson.
Despite number slowing due to the pull of tourists to
Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and EPCOT CENTER
the museum still was doing well.
But development was in the air of St. Pete Beach and sadly it would lead to the Museums unplanned (and unexpected closure).
It had been announced in the Fall of 1988 that the London Wax Museum
would close at the beginning of the next year so the property could be redeveloped
as the BAYSIDE VILLAGE MARKETPLACE.
The plans called for a new museum to open as a part of the new venture,
but after months and months of delays, mainly over the recreation of
the Wax Museums iconic Big Ben sign, the wind was blown from Ted Stambaugh's sails.
Jan 15th, 1989, turned out to be the museum's final day of operation.
Plans had originally called for the museum building to be demolished
to make room for the Bayside Village Market, where a new,
relocated version of the museum was to be opened eventually
alongside the retail stores.
But a dispute with the local government over the size of the new museum's sign
halted work on the relocation and the London Wax Museum never reopened.
Eventually he would sell a majority of the collection to the White family,
which owned and operated Potter's Wax Museum in St. Augustine, Florida.
Uploaded
May 12th, 2019
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