Everyone has heard of Madame Tussauds. The museum displays life-size and 3D wax replicas of great figures from sport, arts, politics and history. It started in London and is now present in 14 cities: New York, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Berlin, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Blackpool, Sydney, Vienna, Bangkok and Tokyo.
It was at the Washington branch that I came into contact with the famous wax figures. So, in case you’re not expecting it yet, I can tell you that this post will be an invaluable festival of all my silliness, which makes it almost a second post of jacu photos. The silliness was exercised for the sake of fun and good photos, of course. Even if you think visiting this museum is a bit silly, know that the story behind it is quite interesting.
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Madam who?
Madame Tussauds was a Frenchwoman born in 1761. She grew up in a doctor’s house, where her mother worked as a housekeeper. This doctor, Dr. Curtius, also modeled wax. In 1770, he opened a museum with life-size wax figures, which became very famous in Paris. Madame, who at that time was just a girl named Marie, became the doctor’s apprentice. Eight years later she created her first wax replica of French writer and revolutionary Voltaire. Two years later, she became an art tutor for Louis XVI’s sister (aka Marie Antoinette’s husband) and therefore lived in Versailles for 9 years.
With all the confusion of the French Revolution going on, Dr. Curtius called Marie back to Paris, where she worked making wax masks of people who died from guillotining in the revolution. As a result, the doctor’s museum continued to be very successful and, when he died in 1794, Marie took over the exhibition. She married a few years later and had two children. In 1802, with the Napoleonic Wars and the museum’s popularity waning, she gathered up her children, left her husband and moved to England.
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For 33 years, she traveled around the UK presenting her wax figures. Tired of the itinerant life and already quite famous there, in 1835 she opened a new museum in London. She stayed there until 1850, when she died, aged 89. Her legacy was continued by her children and today, almost 200 years later, Madame Tussauds’ museum is famous throughout the world. Much of this is also due to the fact that a large entertainment group, the second largest in the world (after Disney), purchased the attraction.
The figures in the exhibition vary from city to city. The London branch, which is the biggest, has everything, even Bollywood. In Washington, where I went, they focus a lot on the issue of politics. There is a gallery with all the presidents of the United States and a lot of historical stuff. But there is also no shortage of Hollywood stars and music celebrities.
From wax to person
To make the figures, which are almost perfect (with some bizarre exceptions), the artists responsible for Madame Tussauds evaluate a few dozen photos of people from as many different angles as possible. When the person is alive, they go to them to be photographed, measured to the millimeter and evaluated – so that their wax copy is perfect. The number of people who have already died is based on past information. To this day, they use the same techniques to “bring life” to wax that Madame Tussauds learned in the 18th century. Artists also send pieces of clothing and jewelry to the museum so that copies of the garments in the exhibition can be made.
How much does it cost to visit Madame Tussauds in Washington
I took a look at the official website and tickets vary in price and also according to the city. For example, in London it costs 33 pounds and in Berlin 21 euros. In New York it costs 39 dollars and in Washington around 23. But a very valuable tip is to buy the ticket online, as the discounts are really good. Another tip (buying online) is to opt for the ticket after 4pm. I made this choice and perhaps that’s why I found the museum emptier. Which was great for me to be able to throw myself into the art of interacting with famous inanimate figures – you can see it in the photos, right?
*The image highlighted is from Madame Tussauds DC
