Natural Bridge Wax Museum, the first wax museum Kim ever visited (at age 10), the first wax museum Elijah ever visited (at age 9 months), and the first wax museum Gwen ever visited (at age 14 months), is closing. We're lamenting the loss of these treasures--the 171+ figures from this site and the wax museum genre in general. Wax museums, like taxidermy displays in natural history museums, inspire imagination in ways supposedly more "interactive" displays do not. In the past year, we've seen the closing of the National Civil War Wax Museum in Gettysburg, PA, too. We suggest you immediately take in a wax museum if you can--introduce your kids to one while we have them. Here's a plus on this one, right now: Before closing Labor Day 2014, the Natural Bridge Wax Museum is offering reduced admission and a great sale on postcards in the gift shop (a penny each!).
The Natural Bridge Wax Museum is an interesting hodgepodge of tableaus with touches of humor. There are Biblical scenes of Adam and Eve in the Garden, of the Last Supper, and of the Resurrection--and the museum owner is an Orthodox Jew. There are two famous displays of wax figure Presidents--and there's a George Bush figure also serving as a security guard. We also swear we saw a figure of former Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis downstairs in the wax figure factory exhibit. Scenes of history include serious scenes of the US Civil War--and a scene of a truly scary "elevator" that once lowered folks down Natural Bridge and of a silly story where a gentleman traded his wife for whisky. Check out our family visiting the museum a few years earlier here.
This article captures the tone surrounding the closure of wax museums, although we're pretty sure it contains an error, as the Harpers Ferry John Brown Wax Museum seems to still be in operation. Yes, you can still buy wax figures, and some will still be made in Virginia. Find out more about Dorfman Museum Figures if you are interested.
If you go, take lots of pictures and/or video (both are encouraged) and talk to the museum staff. We met very friendly workers on this visit, and they told us fun stories like the fact that authorities visit annually to make sure the still in the moonshine scene isn't really making anything! You should also visit the main Natural Bridge gift shop--we hear they are redoing it sometime soon and that it will sell less "kitsch." Therefore, we stocked up on Natural Bridge snowglobes today. Visit here first and you may find some $2 off admission coupons (good if you don't have AAA). You can mail those penny postcards from the Natural Bridge Post Office downstairs in the main gift shop building, too. Of course, there are many other attractions at Natural Bridge, including the splendid bridge itself and caverns, as well as two nearby zoos: the Natural Bridge Zoo and the Virginia Safari Park. If you like to follow the changing landscape of roadside tourism in America, check in here frequently, as there is a move to make the Natural Bridge complex a Virginia State Park.
If you just want to learn about wax museums, the blog Houses of Wax is a good place to start--even if it hasn't been updated in a while. We hear some of the Natural Bridge figures are headed to Bible Walk in Ohio, where some may be repurposed into other scenes. That's always fun--ask Justin if you'd like to be able to spot MASH characters and others from Gatlinburg's former wax museum in Christ in the Smokies displays.
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