Wax Museum at Fishermans Wharf facts for kids
The Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco was a popular place to visit. It had more than 270 lifelike wax figures! Thomas Fong started the museum in 1963. He got the idea after seeing wax figures at the Seattle World's Fair. His family ran the museum until it closed in 2013. The museum attracted over 400,000 visitors every year.
Meet the Founder: Thomas Fong
Thomas L. Fong was born in Canton Province, China, on January 4, 1913. He grew up in a small village. When he was 17, he moved to San Francisco. A family friend helped him come to America. By 1938, he owned a jewelry store. He also started building new properties.
In the early 1960s, Thomas Fong bought an old grain mill. It was near Fisherman's Wharf. He decided to open the Wax Museum there. The museum first opened its doors on May 12, 1963. It was a big success! Because of this, his family bought another wax museum. This was the Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, California. They ran it from 1985 until it closed in 2005.
By 1989, Thomas, known as Tommy, decided to let his son Ron Fong and grandson Rodney Fong manage the museum. Tommy passed away on November 26, 2000, at 87 years old.
A New Home for the Wax Museum
The original Wax Museum building was torn down in 1998. Over 10 million people had visited it since it opened! In its last year, almost half a million people came to see the figures. The museum reopened two years later in a brand new building. This building was huge, about 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2). It was designed by MBH Architects. The design looked like old French buildings. It cost $18 million to build. The new building also had shops and a restaurant.
The Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf officially reopened on July 13, 2000. It was located in the basement of the new building. This part of the museum was actually nine feet below the bay level! In 2008, Rodney Fong said the museum was getting 250,000 visitors each year. About 10% of these visitors came from other countries.
The Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf closed for good on August 15, 2013. In 2014, a company called Merlin Entertainments took over the building. They invested $35 million to open a Madame Tussauds Wax Attraction. Madame Tussauds San Francisco opened in June 2014. It features a new collection of wax figures.
Amazing Wax Exhibits
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The museum often showed a few wax figures in the lobby. These were figures of people who were popular at the time. The lobby was open for everyone to see from the street. The bodies of the wax figures were made from wood, fiberglass, papier-mâché, and beeswax. It took about two or three months to make each figure. Then, it was ready to be shown.
Many of the sculptures were made by Gem's Wax Figures in London. Some were made by Ron Fong. Others were created by Henry Alvarez, a wax sculptor from Los Angeles. The museum also had its own sculptor, Kahn Gasimov. He used to work at London's Madame Tussauds.
The main exhibits were underground. They had more than 270 figures and scenes! You could see famous scenes like The Last Supper and Wizard of Oz. There were also figures of King Tut and a "Chamber of Horrors." This chamber had scary-looking figures. You could also find famous sports stars and important historical people. There was a display of leaders like Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Hideki Tōjō.
One display showed generals from World War II. It even had a real World War II Willys jeep! You could hear sounds of explosions and machine-gun fire. A section for scientists included Galileo, Albert Einstein, and Bill Gates. Other displays featured famous music composers, artists, and current celebrities.
