Vacation vs Vacation: Museum Edition

Competition: Titanic: The Artifact Museum vs Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum vs the Auto Museum

You wouldn’t expect Las Vegas to have many museums, but I suppose they need to cater to those of us who don’t lay out by the pool.

Titanic: The Artifact Museum

Grave robbery, is that what you said? Well, yes, and I was expecting more discomfort about that, but there were very few personal items displayed. Almost everything had been owned by the White Star Line, and they ran into the iceberg, so screw them. There were a number of items that belonged to the passengers, but they were primarily mass-produced things. No jewelry was there, except for a man’s gold pocket-watch. I think they picked out three individuals, one from each class, and showed one or two items they owned. I remember a teacup for first class, perhaps toothpaste for third class.

Replicas: They had a replica of a third-class cabin, and a sobering surprise when you burst through a door out to the chilly, starry promenade deck. The Grand Staircase was disappointingly low-ceilinged and drab.

Interactivity: You could touch a replica iceberg, and laugh if you will, but it was surprisingly cold and slippery. They gave out passenger cards to the visitors, We checked: my second-class lady lived, Gary’s third-class man died.

They displayed the only piece to be raised: the Big Piece, which some people have said is distasteful.

It all made me wonder, how many centuries pass before graves can turn into museums? How old are the pyramids and Westminster Abbey? Is one century enough? Perhaps the issue is the proximity of the bodies to the gift shop, as with the 9/11 museum in New York. (I do kind of feel that if you’re going to move the remains there, that rules out the gift shop.)

Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum

A friend who moved to California just introduced me to the term “Midwest skinny. Damn, maybe I’m looking with Midwest eyes, but celebrities are tiny, tiny people.

As with the Madame Tussaud’s in London, there is still a remarkable lack of quality control with waxworks. One will look dead-on, while the one right next to it looks nothing like.

You’d think there’d be no touching, but instead they encourage you to pose with props and the waxworks. Here’s Hef and a bunny.

The Auto Collections

On one end of the spectrum is the Titanic Exhibit, full of chilly icebergs and passenger adoptees, and then on the other end you have the Auto Collection.

Here’s the layout: car car car car Elvis car car car Fortune Telling machine car car car car Fortune Telling machine car Elvis.

I have NO idea what the random fortune-telling machines are even doing there. A fair number of the cars are owned by one gentleman, I suppose he also collected fortune telling automatons?

Oh wait.

AUTOmatons. The AUTO Collection.

Seriously, it’s been weeks and I just got that connection. But then, why the Elvis statues? They weren’t automated.

Verdict: Don’t get all that cheese so close to the priceless cars.

Winner: Titanic. Of course. So nicely done. Points for interactivity, and none of the cheese.