"A Visit to Madame Tussaud's": Capturing a Child Audience in Victorian and Edwardian England

This essay seeks to reclaim Tussaud's place in the history of museums and childhood. It shows how Madame Tussaud's spearheaded new ways of engaging with child audiences in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, moving from Tussaud's early years where the museum sought to create an inviting and respectable space for families to its later years when Tussaud's adapted their exhibits to reflect new views about children's education and visual learning. Exploring sources from advertising and guidebooks to memories and reminiscences to toys and periodicals, this article illustrates how Tussaud's became an essential part of children's London experience.