Charles Phoenix’s Slide of the Week: Movieland Wax Museum, Buena Park, 1965
By Charles Phoenix - Friday October 28th 2005 |
Tweet |
Movieland Wax Museum, Buena Park, 1965
Pale wax movie stars embrace at MOVIELAND WAX MUSEUM, BUENA PARK, 1965. If they had a wick you could burn them. They are practically candles.
I’ll never forget the day in third grade when my friend Kevin Moore turned to me and said “I have so much wax in my ear I could make a candle!†Wax is one of the weirdest things on earth. We burn it, we shine our cars with it, color books with it and for a fee licensed professionals use it to painfully remove unwanted body hair. Wax comes from a wide variety of sources. Honey bees make it and so we– in our ears. And there are those among us who model the substance into life-size figurines that resemble famous people and display them in so-called museums.
MOVIELAND WAX MUSEUM is closing its doors for good after 43 years on October 31, 2005. Silent film star Mary Pickford dedicated the original 300 wax figures at the grand opening in 1962. According to the legend she arrived for the ceremony in the gold Rolls Royce that was parked out front for years.
I haven’t been to the MOVIELAND WAX MUSEUM since 1969. I was six. We took relatives there who were visiting from Oklahoma. They were SO impressed and I was SO proud. But frankly, I don’t remember much about the place except for the nude statues that totally embarrassed me and that oh-so elegant facade.
There is no way this place is gonna close without me seeing all those wax wonders for the last time. I wanna see how they’ve all aged! SO, I’LL BE THERE LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON HOPING TO RUN INTO YOU!
Movieland Wax Museum is located at 7711 Beach Blvd., in Buena Park, CA, Just one block north from Knott’s Berry Farm, www.movielandwaxmuseum.com
Here’s to MOVIELAND WAX MUSEUM and YOU
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Charles Phoenix
Visit Charles’ site, God Bless Americana, or join his Yahoo Group.
TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!
CHARLES PHOENIX’S RETRO HOLIDAY SLIDE SHOW
at the Egyptian Theater/American Cinematheque
Begins the night after Thanksgiving!
Fri & Sat Nov 25, 26 Dec 16, 17, 23, 30, 31* – 8pm
Sundays Nov 27 Dec 18, 25, Jan 1 – 1pm
*Special time Sat Dec 31 5pm
Also in Orange County
at the Curtis Theater in Brea
Dec 9, 10, 11 Fri & Sat -8pm / Sun -2pm
Buy tickets now or call (714) 990-7722.
Practically candles, eh? I think I have an idea for a spectacular closing ceremony. Is there a place that sells six-foot wicks? We’ll need about 300 of them.
if these are truly wax, I may have to go out to buena park before it closes. I recently went on an excursion to the hollywood wax museum specifically to see the terribleness therein, and I was not disappointed. My favorite may have been the titanic display: DeCaprio looked like a horribly reworked kurt russel. Big disappointment in that nothing was wax, though. They were distinctly non-wax store mannequins.
That’s amazing.
Wish they’d light ‘em up, rather than tear them down! That would be well worth a trip!
I have been there to; 60′s and then last year. I was the best of all the wax museums I have seen. I have been to Madam Tuseaulds(sp?) London, Buena Park’s Wax Museum sister exhibit in San Francisco, and the different small wax museum on Hollywood Blvd.
I was wondering who bought the facility? I noticed they are auctioning of stuff and will have a auction on March 11, 2006. I would like to maybe attend that event. I wonder if they are going to auction off the autographed cement section in their “Star’s Patio”? Some of those I would like to get some of those.
Any thoughts?
Wow–nice find. Not sure who bought the facility, but I highly recommend everyone check out the auction. How much are these things going to sell for? Who’s going to buy them? Get into a fake bidding war with your friends. This is going to be fascinating.
I can’t be there for the auction; could someone please bid on Buckwheat and/or Spanky for me? Failing that, Gina Lollobrigida will do nicely. You’ll be reimbursed handsomely for your efforts. Grazie.