Showing posts with label Winston Churchill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Winston Churchill. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

ANOTHER POST FROM MADAME TUSSAUDS IN WASHINGTON DC

I found a YouTube on part of the process for making a wax figure. The artist was working on a copy of Adele for London's Madame Tussaud. You can find that here. 

At the entrance you will find Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps.


And then a very noble looking Piscataway Indian. I tried to take photos of every marker so that I could read them later.  I missed a few.  The one near this figure said, "The Piscataway Indian was the most powerful and numerous Native American Nation in the Chesapeake area. Traditional enemy was the Iroquois - the two tribes frequently fought over land.  First contact with English colonists in 1608 - later brought disaster.  By 1668 the Piscataway were confined to two reservations.  Some groups fled to Pennsylvania and Canada to escape, while others stayed and assimilated with the colonists, neglecting their Native American Roots.  Chief Turkey Tayac was the last to learn the Piscataway language orally from his family.  He helped reorganize the tribe in the 1970s after years of neglect."   Reading all these markers was a great history lesson for me and, as often happens when I visit various museums, makes me want to find out more.  A great place for children to visit.


While walking around the wax museum, I kept expecting one to have been replaced by a real human for a prank, and a hand to rest on my shoulder. A flight of fancy but you can stretch your imagination in that place.  Some figures were an amazing likeness to whomever they were portraying.  Others you could tell the difference, and then there were those where you wouldn't know if they were exact, because these historical figures are long gone, still bearing a striking likeness to the portraits we have all seen.  All had such incredible detail you couldn't help but admire the people who created them, right down to their clothing.  It would have been an experience to go through the process of each figure's creation.  Another thing I liked was that nothing was behind glass.  You could get up close and examine all the details. There were also chairs for you to sit next to them and have your photograph taken, as in this one with Gregg and Abraham Lincoln depicting the scene of his fateful night at the theater.


Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States.

"Facts: Standing at 6' 4", Abraham Lincoln was the tallest US president.  Lincoln was the first president to be born outside of the 13 original US colonies.  Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1st, 1863."  If you would like to learn more, you can go to this link.


Here is Benjamin Franklin and Gregg is trying to copy his expression.  Did he succeed?  Benjamin Franklin was the oldest of the Founding Fathers and was 84 when he passed away.  His mother was from a puritan family, his father was a candle maker.  Benjamin was one of 17 children and a voracious reader.  I added this link for more info.


Here is a photo of Cuz and me crossing the Delaware, helping George with his navigation.  We did a great job!


Winston Churchill makes an appearance I am very happy to say.  I am quite fond of Winnie, as were my parents.  Check here for info. Has anyone seen The Crown on Netflix?  I have just finished watching and think the actor John Lithgow does a fantastic job of portraying him.  He is a marvelous actor.  In fact, all the actors, in my humble opinion, did a slendid job of each role they play.  It is an excellent series.  When I was in England in 2014 we visited the Churchill War Rooms in London, and in the gift shop I bought a replica of that same bowtie to give to our son. 


I have more from Madame Tussauds, but  will stop here and post another time.