{"id":1586,"date":"2023-01-26T14:56:59","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T14:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/?p=1586"},"modified":"2025-10-03T15:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T14:38:10","slug":"the-strange-history-of-madame-tussauds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/the-strange-history-of-madame-tussauds\/","title":{"rendered":"The strange history of Madame Tussauds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s probably the only place in the world where you can take a picture with His Majesty The King, chat with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and shake hands with Barack Obama in one day. The home of famous fun, Madame Tussauds, is one of London\u2019s leading attractions<\/a> where you can meet and take selfies with all your favourite celebrities in one building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, maybe that\u2019s not entirely true. They\u2019re just waxworks. But considering they look so real, you still have a slight chance of convincing your friends and family that the photo of you hugging Kanye West is legitimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, it\u2019s almost an honour to be invited for a sitting at Madame Tussauds, where you\u2019ll have around 250 measurements taken, then immortalised in wax and added to a room of famous historians, world leaders, celebrities, and criminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that wasn\u2019t always the case. During the French Revolution, aristocrats – whom we could compare to modern-day celebrities – hated the thought of ending up in Madame Tussauds. Why? Well, it often meant they\u2019d have lost their heads in those days!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Madame<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A business built out of beheadings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Marie Grosholtz, born in 1761, better known as Madame Tussaud, was born into a family of public executioners. Her mother, a widow, was the housekeeper of the famous anatomist and wax maker Philippe Curtius. He taught Marie all there was to know about the art of wax sculpture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It turned out Grosholtz had a natural talent for the craft and was invited to join the Royal Court in Versailles to tutor art to King Louis XVI\u2019s sister, Madame Elizabeth. She sculpted perfect waxworks of many notable figures of the time, including Francois Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rumour has it that shortly after the onset of the French Revolution, Marie began creating plaster casts and death masks of beheaded victims of public executions, many of whom she knew personally. Some were even her own friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, Marie and her Mother were eventually thrown into prison. The Madame Tussauds website states they were \u201cforced to prove her allegiance to the Revolution by making death masks of executed nobles and the King and Queen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Madame<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And she did just that, crafting moulds out of hundreds of severed heads, including Queen Marie Antoinette and Maximilien Robespierre. These \u2018death masks\u2019 were known as revolutionary victories and were paraded through the streets of Paris. In her memoirs, Tussaud said she \u201csat on the steps of the exhibition, with the bloody heads on her knees, taking the impressions of their features.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creepy creations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Marie eventually left France and toured across Europe, showcasing her collection of decapitated waxworks. In 1795, she married Francois Tussaud, and her slightly creepy travelling show became, as it\u2019s known today, \u2018Madame Tussauds\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When her husband left her, she settled in London and opened a waxworks business. She set up a room showcasing her historical and royal figure waxworks and created the \u2018separate room\u2019, home to her eerie death masks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was later renamed the \u2018Chamber of Horrors\u2019, which still exists today. Unfortunately, the museum was partially destroyed by fire in 1925, and over 300 of Tussaud\u2019s original waxworks were lost.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Tussauds of today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

No wax museum can quite live up to the astonishing story of Marie Tussauds and her creepy creations. However, the Madame Tussauds Museum on Baker Street, London, is now one of the most iconic tourist attractions in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are 14 zones, combining glitz and glamour with deep history and culture. Home to over 300 wax figures, it\u2019s the perfect place to get a snap with your favourite movie star or singer, give Prince Harry a cuddle and say hello to the King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We think it\u2019s well worth a visit, so we\u2019ve put together the Merlin Magical Pass<\/a>, which gives you access to London\u2019s top attractions – what are you waiting for?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Madame Tussauds is one of London\u2019s leading attractions where you can meet and take selfies with some celebrities (and politicians)!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[607,1329,1290,587,1836,621],"tags":[1202,1200,1204,1203],"class_list":{"0":"post-1586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-culture","8":"category-british-history","9":"category-family-fun","10":"category-london","11":"category-london-history","12":"category-things-to-do","13":"tag-london-attractions","14":"tag-madame-tussauds","15":"tag-madame-tussauds-london","16":"tag-merlin-attractions"},"yoast_head":"\nThe strange history of Madame Tussauds | Evan Evans Tours<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is the strange history of Madame Tussauds? 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