"The lodger"
Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes
For my second primary source, I have found an advertisement for Madame Tussaud’s Waxwork Museum. I felt like this would work perfect for the assignment because it relates so closely back to the book. The author of the advert is unknown, however according to the British Library Online it was printed by “Grant & Co.” on 9/11/1893. Madame Tussaud’s was used in the book, they even call it by name. In the book this is where we see The Lodger last. In fact, the Chamber of Horrors that Daisy is so excited to go through is a replica of the spooky London Streets that Jack the Ripper terrorized. It’s quite funny that the Lodger would want to go to bring Daisy and Mrs. Bunting to such a weird place. Besides for the Chamber of Horrors, other attractions in Madame Tussaud’s include death masks from people that were executed, masks like these ones were referenced in the book when Joe Chandler brought Daisy and Mr. Bunting to the Black Museum to see the historical evidence confiscated by the London Police. Another attraction at Madame Tussaud’s are the wax figures. These wax figures referenced in the book by Mr. Sleuth, when asking Mrs. Bunting to accompany him and Daisy at Madame Tussauds, he claims that he had never seen them before but had heard about the famous waxworks all his life. It’s hard to say exactly how large the audience was that would’ve gotten this advertisement, but I’m sure that because of the time anything handed out on the streets was given a decent amount of attention, either way Madame Tussaud’s was still quite popular. The creator of the museum and the waxworks, Marie Tussaud, was an art tutor for the sister of King Louis XVI. Before the museum Marie traveled England showing the exhibits and although her waxworks weren’t the biggest attraction, they were still very popular. Marie settled her exhibits on Baker Street in 1836. This museum on baker Street is the one that Mr. Sleuth brought Mrs. Bunting and Daisy. Madame Tussauds museum is still alive and well, in fact more have sprung up, including places like Orlando, New York, and Las Vegas. All of them featuring famous waxworks of famous and influential people
Citation:
Madame Tussauds 1893. 1893. British National Archives, London. Web. 16 May 2016.
Madame Tussauds 1893. 1893. British National Archives, London. Web. 16 May 2016.