What
this world needs is a great Dime Museum!
Nice
words.
My
exact words in the late 90's. My exact words as I built what was
considered by those who saw it one of the finest ever built. It
lasted a year only because I was strong enough in my belief in
those words despite the fact that it did mostly $7 days and the
biggest weekends were $30...the rent was 4 figures a month.
Nice
words.
It had flash it drama it had nostalgia and high tech...it had
hundreds of years of show history...movie props...stunt
vehicles...a HUGE collection of Tin Toys and 60 fully restored
Pedal cars worth a large
fortune...the celebrity collections of Sammy Davis Jr....Bing
Crosby and even Liberace...The Guns Of Al Capone...actual White
House Furniture and many Presidential artifacts...a REAL and
working Robby
The
Robot...Rocket Firing Motorcycles and Cars and Antique Autos...a
Sideshow room to rival any, anywhere with Mummies and a big
Homer Tate collection and a Nelson Giant (Olaf) that had been a
featured at the Seattle Worlds Fair...Antique Quack Doctors
Implements...Movie machines all over the place for 5 cents...
weird inventions...Funny gadgets and joke props from the 1920's
and on and on. Every piece set down and displayed by me...begged
borrowed and bought from other museums and my
own collections.
I put a new face on the old Dime Museum...had interviews on
TV...those that came were stunned.
Those
that came.
I made
a deal with the local school district for ANY teacher to be able
to come FREE any time they wanted and once familiar with the
place to bring their classes FREE.
I
never had a single taker.
Not
one.
Not
ONE Teacher.
Even
so the admission was just $3. So in 1993 it opened and in 1994 I
was dead broke and the trucks came. Eventually I paid every bill
and had the memories for a lifetime of my Dream Come True.
Thing
is...nobody gave a crap.
It was a few steps from the Casinos (a Mistake to note) at South
Lake Tahoe and it was a bad tourist year...ok...but basically
nobody came.
The
opening night which was in all the news (Not to mention the big
gorgeous signage and lights etc), garnered me ONE guy who
happened to be walking by. 3 bucks.
It had it all...knowledge of HOW...Show Biz
experience...Artistic Flair...a Love of Museums of every kind
and working experience in setting up exhibits...I knew how to do
it...I did it...single-handedly...designed built and operated a
large 5,000 sq ft Dime Museum called True Wonders Old Time
Museum...
It was the best and most wonderful thing I ever did...but it
made me broke and hurt very deeply...
I know this...it was written up as better than any Ripley's ever
built...it was visited by a big Toy collector who had a Toy
Museum in the South who had built props for Sid and Marty Croft
who was enthralled
with the place and said it was the best museum he had ever been
to, those folks that went in all said that...and it was...
But nobody gave a crap.
I went back to produce Single-O's that do work and do make money
because the passersby doesn't have any investment in time that
they can't afford to waste on the past or on wonders...just a
glance for a buck?...why not. That's the way it is.
"Say folks...Did you like the gigantic contraption that rattled
and clanged as the marbles made there way through the Rube
Goldberg Mazes?
How about all the WORKING automatons like the life sized Cow
that intermittently performed numerous lifelike actions...or the
Artifacts from the Titanic?
Maybe you were taken by the LIFE-SIZED and HEAVY (Boy do I know
that) hand carved Bear that once belonged to Teddy
Roosevelt...probably you were tickled by the hundreds of working
Tin Toys from every era...or maybe you got a kick out of seeing
the original
Wayne Mobile from Wayne's World or chuckled over the Liberace
collection...the ONLY collection of Liberace's wardrobe to
consist of only BROWN Costumes :-)...I know you enjoyed seeing
the ENTIRE Bing Crosby collection on Display...My
favorites were the High Tech Stunt vehicles from 'Mega Force', I
don't think you missed those in the downstairs area. In the
Sideshow room there were fantastic original banners and
authentic show pieces from the 1800's thru the 1990's. Mummies,
monsters and creatures galore. How about the Fun House mirrors
strategically placed and the many amusement machines and
movieolas...all for a nickel.
Maybe because you were a fan...you appreciated all the sweat and
tears and treasure that went into bringing all this together in
one great show for $3. Those few that came in did...no one left
unaffected or not amazed and yes, educated that there is/was a
world beyond their Tube.
Would I do it all again? Probably not on that scale but it was a
hell of a ride!
Closing shop was the bad part...the good part was I got to live
my dream (how many can say that) and made the most of it I
possibly could...I got to dig deep for a year...actually that
was enough I guess. There were many successes before it and
there have been many since...but that mile post is like the
Washington Monument in the middle of my road...
They way I got to live that dream might be of interest to some
because it carries the best lesson your mother ever tried to
teach you. Do your homework and be prepared!
I had always had a dopey line I used when I met a wealthy person
and got to know them a little bit. In my business in
Broadcasting that meant a LOT of millionaires over the
years...especially in Tahoe.
And my line was this..."You have a few Million bucks right? Give
me ONE."
It was a gag to most but I knew that someday it would get the
following reply..."If I did, what would you do with it?"
Now on a comeback like that, you can't say "I'll get back to you
tomorrow...".
Well, it happened...I was ready, had done my homework so to
speak and got some big backing.
Here's another lesson NEVER have a partner!
Pictures
Robby the Robot
Car from Wayne's World
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