Penny For Your Thoughts on the Demise of the Dime Museum and Its Ilk
Say it ain't so. We were alerted by fax to the closure -- this time for good -- of Baltimore's American Dime Museum, that small repository dedicated to "variety and novelty entertainment, including burlesque, carnival, circus, street magic, old-time medicine shows and vaudeville entertainment."
No hoax, this: The museum's official site confirmed the news. Much of the collection will be auctioned off Feb. 26 at 5 p.m at Opfer Auctioneering (1919 Greenspring Drive in Timonium, Md., www.opferauction.com). A preview will be held at the museum itself (1808 Maryland Ave. in Baltimore) on Feb. 23 and 24 from noon to 5 p.m. and Feb. 25 from 1 to 5 p.m.; for more info, contact Richard Opfer Auctioneering at 410-252-5035.
And if there are any other skull-collecting, oddity-obsessed venues you've come across in your travels, play nice and share with the rest of us before they're all gone.
By Anne McDonough |
January 26, 2007; 9:46 AM ET
| Category:
Anne McDonough
Previous: Pre-Boarding Kids: A Thing of the Past? |
Next: Dissed at the Velvet Rope?
View or post comments
Posted by: js | January 26, 2007 10:43 AM
Check out the Mutter Museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. It's a museum of medical oddities, including the world's largest colon. They also have several drawers filled with crazy stuff that people managed to swallow, like safety pins, nails and even a padlock.
Obviously, not for the faint of heart.
Posted by: Tim L | January 26, 2007 10:50 AM
The Timonium Dime Museum loss is a loss of Americana. The subject matter may seem trivial to some people, but such collections provide valuable insight and entertainment. The collection could have been picked up by the Smithsonian instead of being sold off piecemeal. 2007 was ushered in with the loss of WGMS. What next? Will the National Gallery be privatized?
Posted by: Hal Marchand | January 26, 2007 10:55 AM
JS is right that part of the collection did indeed move here to Washington (read about it here). What was left, I believe, and what is now being auctioned off, are the items belonging to Dick Horne, the American Dimer who stayed in Baltimore.
Posted by: Anne McDonough | January 26, 2007 11:12 AM
Everyone should check out the Showbar Palace of Wonders at least once.
It's in the 1200 block of H Street NE. Decent bar, with a slightly disturbing collection of sideshow oddities. Plus, they bring in burlesque dancers, sword swallowers, and the like.
A good time, and certainly more unique than most of the bar offerings around.
Posted by: H Street NE | January 26, 2007 11:14 AM
Abe's last movement was particularly educational. Wonder what it will sell for?
Posted by: crc | January 26, 2007 11:21 AM
Check out this link to the House on the Rock in Spring Green, WI (home of Frank Lloyd Wright)...a classic collection of kitsch...including the world's only mecchanical symphony orchestra and a 40 piece mechanical circus band, and so much more. A perfect new home for the Baltimore collection.
http://www.thehouseontherock.com/html/attraction.htm
Posted by: rclark | January 26, 2007 11:35 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Didn't much of there collection move to DC's Palace of Wonders last year anyway?