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world. The popularity of Peale’s American Museum and Cabinet of attaining the knowledge on display while keeping it well within the
Curiosities in Philadelphia had proven the public’s willingness to pay means of ordinary citizens. As told in the Museum’s promotional
for the novelty and entertainment of going to a museum. materials, “Ever desirous to please and entertain the Public,” Peale
hoped to inspire all Americans to elevate their thinking by sharing “the
PEALE’S AMERICAN MUSEUM beautiful uniformity in a variety of things.”
An accomplished painter, Peale’s portraits of heroes of the American
AND CABINET OF CURIOSITIES Revolution appeared throughout the museum, reminding American
visitors of the sacrifices and triumphs of the war for independence. His
establishment was among the first to include painted backdrops of
The Artist in His Museum (Peale’s self-portrait, 1822) landscapes and habitats of the specimens he exhibited, and his eclectic
is displayed at the Pennsylvania Academy mix of the natural and the man-made included objects as diverse as an
of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia
electrical machine and, by 1802, a mastodon skeleton Peale had
excavated near Newburgh, New York. Thousands flocked to his
museum, which he moved with great fanfare to the Philadelphia State
House (Independence Hall) in 1802. By 1815, over 40,000 people
visited each year. When his museum went out of business in the 1840s,
P.T. Barnum eagerly snapped up items for his own museum, soon to
be opening in New York City.

SCUDDER’S AMERICAN MUSEUM

Scudder’s American Museum in
the New York Institution

The first half of the 19th century in America saw new types of
public museums springing up as tourist attractions in both big cities
and small towns. For the most part, they offered a patchwork of One of the most popular museums of the early 19th century was
oddities, the bizarre, art and scientific specimens, collected and Scudder’s American Museum in New York City, that was open from
displayed with no real order, agenda, or organization. One of the 1810 to 1841. The Museum was started by John Scudder with the
earliest and most noted was Charles Willson Peale’s American Museum acquisition of some smaller museum collections and soon relocated to
and Cabinet of Curiosities, which opened in 1786 in Philadelphia. a five-story building at Broadway and Ann Street where he could grow
The Museum was part of Peale’s determination to enlighten and
educate rising generations of the New Republic. In contrast to the old his collection and add new attractions and displays. Patrons could pay
a small price to see an 18-foot live snake, taxidermy dioramas, a
elite cabinets kept by and for the well-to-do, Peale’s museum charged a two-headed lamb, magic lantern slides, bed sheets from Mary, Queen
nominal 25 cent admission intended to emphasize the value attached to
of Scots, and some macabre curios like a wax figure cut by a guillotine.
It was even open until 9 p.m. to wander by candlelight. The museum
also had a forest scene in its large showroom with 80 stuffed animals
and over 160 glass cases, with 600 specimens. In 1823, John Scudder,
Jr. authored A Companion to The American Museum as a guide to
his collection.

Scudder's American Museum, St. Paul's Chapel,
and the view down Broadway.

The Peale Museum. It was created in 1814 by Charles Wilson Peale and Rembrandt
Peale. It was the first building designed as a museum in the United States. This site
was selected for Endangered Maryland in 2011.

18 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles