0:00:02 > 0:00:04- Allez-y, mon cher. Ecrivez. - Mm-hm.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06Madame Tussaud serait nee en Suisse a Berne...
0:00:06 > 0:00:10At the age of nearly 80, a remarkable woman set out
0:00:10 > 0:00:14to dictate her memoirs.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18- TRANSLATION:- Madame Tussaud was born in Berne in 1761.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23Since coming to England,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26she has taken full advantage of its benefits.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35Her talents have been appreciated by a generous and enlightened public.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42In an astonishing life,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46that spanned both of the French and Industrial Revolutions,
0:00:46 > 0:00:48this extraordinary mother and entrepreneur
0:00:48 > 0:00:52travelled across the Channel to England to create a unique brand
0:00:52 > 0:00:56based on famous people, modelled in wax.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58Ecrivez, ecrivez!
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Determined to leave an account of who she was,
0:01:01 > 0:01:05and the time she lived through, her memoirs, letters and papers
0:01:05 > 0:01:09offer a unique insight into the creation of the world-famous empire
0:01:09 > 0:01:13which bears her name - Madame Tussaud's.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Madame Tussaud, I think, was an amazing businesswoman.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21To me, Madame Tussaud represents a creative force.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30..epargnee par les massacres, liberee de la prison...
0:01:30 > 0:01:35'But what she said about her life is not necessarily the truth.'
0:01:35 > 0:01:42So I feel that in her hands, the truth itself is as molten as wax.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05In 1838, at her home in Baker Street,
0:02:05 > 0:02:10Madame Tussaud dictated her memoirs to her friend, Francis Herve.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15Written in the third person, she sought to create a lasting legacy.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18- TRANSLATION:- Her father, who died before her birth,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20was of the military profession,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23and his name, Grosholtz, was renowned.
0:02:23 > 0:02:29Marie Tussaud seemed to mind about her social status
0:02:29 > 0:02:36to the extent that she rather embellished her family background.
0:02:36 > 0:02:42So, for example, even something as straightforward as place of birth,
0:02:42 > 0:02:47and parentage, as presented by her,
0:02:47 > 0:02:49proves to be incorrect.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Marie Tussaud's story begins in Strasbourg,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01not the well-to-do Berne as she claimed,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04where she was born into a far from illustrious family.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54When Marie's father died before she was born,
0:03:54 > 0:03:57her mother turned for support to her brother-in-law,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00a local doctor and anatomist turned wax modeller in Berne.
0:04:04 > 0:04:09Philippe Curtius is crucial to her story for the following reasons.
0:04:11 > 0:04:17He employed her mother as a domestic housekeeper.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20He became very attached to the young girl,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23and he clearly taught her her skills.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33Philippe Curtius was something of a celebrity in Berne.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37He was consulted for his magical and anatomical knowledge,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39and his wax models were very much in demand.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Philippe Curtius had learned anatomy,
0:04:46 > 0:04:51and taught himself to make wax anatomical models because,
0:04:51 > 0:04:58in the mid-18th century, it became less easy to secure dead corpses
0:04:58 > 0:05:02to chop up. So people started to make wax models
0:05:02 > 0:05:07to learn about anatomy and to teach about anatomy.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14In the Tussaud Museum's workshops in London,
0:05:14 > 0:05:16the same techniques are still in use today.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25First, the head is sculpted in clay.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29Then the modeller makes a plaster mould and pours in hot wax.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34After the wax has set, the mould is broken open,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37and the wax head removed.
0:05:37 > 0:05:42Finally, the head is painted to give it a realistic, human appearance.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46The techniques we use are the same techniques employed
0:05:46 > 0:05:48for the last 200 years.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50We've tried different materials to sculpt in,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53using sort of Plasticine materials,
0:05:53 > 0:05:57but they just don't have the same flow that clay has.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00And, also, using the techniques
0:06:00 > 0:06:03that have been employed for the last 200 years,
0:06:03 > 0:06:07means that there is a pride in the craftsmanship and, I think,
0:06:07 > 0:06:10that's reflected in the quality of the figures.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15And it's fantastic to be part of a tradition which stretches back
0:06:15 > 0:06:18right from the...
0:06:18 > 0:06:20from the first days of sculpture.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31'During that period, modelling in wax was very much in vogue.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36'Representations were often most beautifully executed,
0:06:36 > 0:06:38'and to such perfection.'
0:06:43 > 0:06:49So Marie, as a small child in Paris, watched Curtius,
0:06:49 > 0:06:55he allowed her to try out working with wax,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58found that she was a very apt and quick learner,
0:06:58 > 0:07:00and taught her the trade.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06He was an extremely accomplished modeller,
0:07:06 > 0:07:12and the tinting of the wax so that it replicated flesh,
0:07:12 > 0:07:18he passed that skill on to her, so she was an apprentice, almost,
0:07:18 > 0:07:20to this enigmatic man.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25As his fame grew,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28Curtius decided to open a second exhibition
0:07:28 > 0:07:30in the Boulevard Du Temple.
0:08:00 > 0:08:01Alongside the criminals,
0:08:01 > 0:08:06Curtius placed busts of the celebrities of the day,
0:08:06 > 0:08:10a formula that would later make Marie Tussaud world-famous herself.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22'During Madame Tussaud's residence with her uncle,
0:08:22 > 0:08:26'she had early imbibed the greatest taste for that art
0:08:26 > 0:08:27'in which he so much excelled.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37'To her, was confided the task of taking casts
0:08:37 > 0:08:41'from the heads of the principal characters of that period,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43'who most patiently submitted themselves
0:08:43 > 0:08:45'to the hands of the fair artist.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51'The cast which she took from the face of Voltaire
0:08:51 > 0:08:53'was only two months before he died.'
0:09:36 > 0:09:38There is only one surviving example
0:09:38 > 0:09:41of the wax models made by the young Marie,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44at the Musee Carnivale in Paris.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Now an accomplished model maker, Marie was fully involved
0:10:55 > 0:10:57in the making of the waxworks.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03As her skills increased, so too did her reputation,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05at least according to her memoirs.
0:11:07 > 0:11:08Francis, je continue.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12Parmis les membres de la famille royale...
0:11:12 > 0:11:15- TRANSLATION:- Among the members of the Royal family,
0:11:15 > 0:11:17who would often call in at the apartments
0:11:17 > 0:11:20and admire Curtius's works and those of his niece...
0:11:27 > 0:11:31..was Madame Elisabeth, the King's sister.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35CONTINUES IN FRENCH
0:11:36 > 0:11:39Wishing to learn the art of modelling in wax,
0:11:39 > 0:11:44she asked the young Marie to teach it to her.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46The Princess ended up liking her so much,
0:11:46 > 0:11:50that she asked Monsieur Curtius to permit her to join her
0:11:50 > 0:11:51at the Palace of Versailles.
0:11:56 > 0:12:02So she could permanently enjoy her pleasant company.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06This seems extremely unlikely.
0:12:06 > 0:12:12She appears nowhere in official records, Marie Grosholtz,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14the name is nowhere.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33Even a cursory look at the formality
0:12:33 > 0:12:39of this very codified and controlled hierarchal system
0:12:39 > 0:12:42which was the household,
0:12:42 > 0:12:47someone who was making money out of a commercial exhibition
0:12:47 > 0:12:54in Paris with Curtius, would never have access to that intimate circle.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58But it's very amusing in her memoir,
0:12:58 > 0:13:00because she says things like,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03"The king is said to me, 'Don't get up, my dear.'"
0:13:03 > 0:13:05Well, you know, again, this is extremely unlikely,
0:13:05 > 0:13:07to put it mildly.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11The memoirs then take a dramatic turn.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16The young Marie's life was about to be turned upside down.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21'Few events in history have ever caused so intense and permanent
0:13:21 > 0:13:27'a sensation throughout Europe as the French Revolution of 1789.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31'The records of this short but exciting period teem with examples
0:13:31 > 0:13:33'of the most diabolical ferocity.'
0:13:44 > 0:13:48Rumours of trouble brewing soon reached the waxworks workshop.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53Like Marie, Philippe Curtius was a monarchist,
0:13:53 > 0:13:55but, as a savvy businessman,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58he knew he had to change his style to survive.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08On the 14th of July 1789, the Bastille was stormed.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11It was now too dangerous for Marie and her uncle to keep
0:14:11 > 0:14:13the busts of the Royal family on view.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32'The first event that may be cited
0:14:32 > 0:14:35'as the sanguinary commencement of the revolution,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38'Madame Tussaud but too well remembers.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48'The public began to assemble in the streets,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51'demanding the busts of the idols of the people.'
0:14:51 > 0:14:53SHOUTING OUTSIDE
0:14:53 > 0:14:55WINDOWS SMASH
0:15:04 > 0:15:08'They were persuasive petitioners, whose appearance was certainly
0:15:08 > 0:15:13'such as plainly indicated they were not to be denied.'
0:15:38 > 0:15:42This was the way in which people knew what was happening
0:15:42 > 0:15:44in the revolution.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48It was a bit like the ten o'clock news on television today.
0:15:48 > 0:15:53Instead of having that, you would go to a wax exhibition
0:15:53 > 0:15:57to see who was in charge now in the revolution.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59It was a fast-changing environment as well.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02So he had to keep swapping their heads around.
0:16:03 > 0:16:09In January 1793, Louis XVI himself was guillotined.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14In March, the Revolutionary Tribunal was created.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20In September, the Reign of Terror began,
0:16:20 > 0:16:24with mass executions plunging France into a bloodbath.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29Encore une fois. Voila! Parfait!
0:16:29 > 0:16:30Merci. Bon!
0:16:32 > 0:16:36'A decapitated head would be immediately taken to Madame Tussaud
0:16:36 > 0:16:40'whose feelings can be easier conceived than described.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44'Shrinking with horror, she was compelled to take a cast.'
0:16:46 > 0:16:49Marie tells us, in her memoirs,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52how she sat on the steps of the exhibition,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55making wax models of decapitated,
0:16:55 > 0:16:59guillotined victims of the revolution.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03It sounds amazing that Marie could do that.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05And you think, this is a tall story. Load of rubbish.
0:17:05 > 0:17:13But actually, it's substantiated by accounts that other people gave.
0:17:13 > 0:17:19And we know that the exhibition did, indeed, include the heads of...
0:17:19 > 0:17:22wax models of the decapitated revolutionaries.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24And somebody had to make them.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27And who was going to make them if Marie didn't?
0:17:34 > 0:17:36Although in her memoirs,
0:17:36 > 0:17:40Marie claims to have been forced to make death masks of the executed,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44no doubt the grisly displays of the most famous victims would have
0:17:44 > 0:17:48attracted even more appreciative crowds to her exhibition.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Marie was ever the opportunist.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03This was all part of a very elaborate self propaganda
0:18:03 > 0:18:07of suffering and hardship.
0:18:07 > 0:18:13She very much casts herself as the victim of terrible,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16terrible trials.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18And imprisonment,
0:18:18 > 0:18:25and being forced to have bloody heads on her lap to make models of.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29Also, she gave people, through her own account,
0:18:29 > 0:18:35a vicarious experience of proximity to celebrity.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40And it's that vicarious experience of proximity to celebrity that's the
0:18:40 > 0:18:42foundation of the whole thing.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52In 1794, Robespierre, chief architect of the Reign of Terror,
0:18:52 > 0:18:54was himself guillotined.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04The country was at war, both internally and beyond its borders.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15As the chaos in France worsened,
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Marie's uncle was called to serve as a translator with the French army.
0:19:21 > 0:19:22Voila!
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Au revoir, Marie.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19LOUD KNOCKING
0:20:22 > 0:20:26After a few months, Curtius returned, very ill.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34He died shortly after, leaving Marie as his sole heir.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Curtius left his entire estate to Marie,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42which meant a house in Versailles,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45and the Boulevard Du Temple establishment.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48The Palais Royale having gone, you see.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53And Marie became then the chief of the business.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57Without her mentor, Marie would have to cope alone
0:20:57 > 0:21:00in a France in turmoil.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04Fortunately, the waxworks exhibition she had inherited was still
0:21:04 > 0:21:05a profitable business.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08And she wasn't alone for very long.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12She married an engineer who lived locally,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16presumably she'd known him for some time. We don't know.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21What he liked to do was to buy shares in,
0:21:21 > 0:21:26invest in theatres, and he was, frankly, as a husband, a liability.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31He'd married her unquestionably not for her looks, but for her money.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39Marie could finally lose the name of a family of executioners,
0:21:39 > 0:21:43as Mademoiselle Grosholtz became Madame Tussaud.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49She didn't make a very good choice of husband.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53He's wasting her money, he's not interested in running the waxworks.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55He leaves her to that.
0:21:58 > 0:22:03Marie was already 37 when her first child, Joseph, was born.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09But her married life wasn't a happy one, and thanks to the revolution,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12the waxworks business was in trouble, too.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25The revolution made a waxwork far less attractive because,
0:22:25 > 0:22:30for tourists, Paris became rather a dangerous place to be.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33And people had less money.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35Parisians had less money.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39The economy of Paris was rundown during the revolution as well,
0:22:39 > 0:22:41and the wealthy people,
0:22:41 > 0:22:46who might have gone to the waxworks to have a look at each other in wax,
0:22:46 > 0:22:47were no longer there.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Marie lost her second child,
0:22:57 > 0:22:59a little girl to be called Marie, at birth.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09A second son, Francois, was born the following year.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15The salon's fortunes continued to decline.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28That could have been the end of the Tussaud story,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32but one morning in October 1802, a meeting with a family friend
0:23:32 > 0:23:35was to change the course of Marie's life.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Paul de Philipsthal was an entertainer from Germany
0:23:56 > 0:23:59who claimed to conduct seances.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02Exposed as a charlatan there, he had come to Paris
0:24:02 > 0:24:08to look for a much more susceptible audience, keen to contact the dead.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22The Magic Lantern was a development of the camera obscura,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25the forerunner of today's slide projector.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31During the 17th century, it became a fascinating distraction
0:24:31 > 0:24:34for Europe's well-to-do.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Paul de Philipsthal was quite well off.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39He travelled around all over Europe
0:24:39 > 0:24:41presenting these Magic Lantern shows,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44which he called the phantasmagoria.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48If we look at the word phantasmagoria, it means, basically,
0:24:48 > 0:24:50a gathering of ghosts.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55What happened was an audience would be invited into a room,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58plunged into complete darkness,
0:24:58 > 0:25:02and they'd be bombarded with a whole series of images of ghosts
0:25:02 > 0:25:05and evil spirits.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07HE MAKES SCARY NOISES
0:25:10 > 0:25:11C'est parti!
0:25:16 > 0:25:19CHILD LAUGHS
0:25:21 > 0:25:25Encore! Encore!
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Philipsthal was looking for other elements to add to his show,
0:25:33 > 0:25:37and thought Marie's wax portraits were just what he needed.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41He asked Marie to go with him to England.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45Marie, who was at the end of her tether with her husband,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48accepted the offer of Philipsthal,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51who said he would take his Magic Lantern show to London,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54and she could go with him with some of her models,
0:25:54 > 0:25:56and he would pay the costs.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58He'd take half of her profits,
0:25:58 > 0:26:02but she'd be better off than struggling on in Paris.
0:26:08 > 0:26:14Philipsthal was very much a kind of salon magician to begin with.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17And it was during the time of enlightenment, certainly,
0:26:17 > 0:26:21when there were quite a lot of Freemasons around who had these,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23kind of, private clubs.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28They were very keen to entertain anybody who had any interest
0:26:28 > 0:26:29in the new sciences.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33And, of course, Philipsthal could puff himself up,
0:26:33 > 0:26:39and say he was really a professor of science and, he was a charlatan,
0:26:39 > 0:26:46in many ways. And not particularly a good man, inasmuch as, really,
0:26:46 > 0:26:48his only focus was on money.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29Marie decided to take Joseph with her.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34He was five, but, obviously, her younger son, Francois,
0:27:34 > 0:27:35was barely two.
0:27:35 > 0:27:41So she left him with her mother and her aunt, and her husband,
0:27:41 > 0:27:46instructing her husband that he must run the waxworks
0:27:46 > 0:27:48and look after the family.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03When Marie arrived in England in 1802
0:28:03 > 0:28:08with her young son and her waxworks, there was little in her favour.
0:28:08 > 0:28:09She did not speak English,
0:28:09 > 0:28:12and only read and wrote French with difficulty.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23But what she did have was a real talent for wax and business,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26and a sheer determination to succeed.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32She discovered in the England of the 1800s,
0:28:32 > 0:28:34a country in total transformation.
0:28:34 > 0:28:40And one with a fascination and disgust for all things French.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45The French were depicted by British caricaturists
0:28:45 > 0:28:48like Gillray and Cruickshank,
0:28:48 > 0:28:50very much as the enemy.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54Murderers, hostile to the church,
0:28:54 > 0:28:58hanging churchman, eating babies...
0:28:58 > 0:29:02The cartoons are utterly horrific.
0:29:02 > 0:29:07And Napoleon, as the Emperor of France between 1804 and 1815,
0:29:07 > 0:29:12was the absolute central figure of detestation for the British.
0:29:12 > 0:29:17He created this huge empire on the Continent,
0:29:17 > 0:29:20he fought Britain at sea,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23he was a real threat.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27So the British saw him as their chief enemy,
0:29:27 > 0:29:33but they were also fascinated by the power that he exercised in France.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36Because he was, after all, a dictator.
0:29:36 > 0:29:42The revolution had been rolled up in a man of five foot six.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51Napoleon's wax figure became the centrepiece of her exhibition.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54As always, the importance of conveying character
0:29:54 > 0:29:57was top of her mind.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01'As Napoleon once said, it is not the exactness of traits,
0:30:01 > 0:30:05'a wart on the nose, that makes a likeness, it is the character,
0:30:05 > 0:30:11'what animates a person, that it is necessary to portray.'
0:30:11 > 0:30:13When she arrived in England,
0:30:13 > 0:30:19one of her unique selling points was that with the Napoleonic Wars,
0:30:19 > 0:30:21the fascination with Napoleon,
0:30:21 > 0:30:26she acquired a lot of relics of Napoleon's.
0:30:26 > 0:30:32For example, Napoleon's actual carriage was a sensation.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35And I think it can be said that the main man in her life,
0:30:35 > 0:30:38the best relationship with a man, was with Napoleon,
0:30:38 > 0:30:43because he's served her very well, for richer, for richer, for richer.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46But Marie's relationship with Philipsthal
0:30:46 > 0:30:48had become a different matter altogether.
0:31:01 > 0:31:03'He holds my nose to the grindstone,
0:31:03 > 0:31:05'seeking only to flout and ruin me,
0:31:05 > 0:31:07'so he can take all.'
0:31:19 > 0:31:24In 1803, when the Lyceum season was considered to be finished,
0:31:24 > 0:31:30Philipsthal decides that he's going to move into the theatre circuit
0:31:30 > 0:31:33of Britain, and Edinburgh will be their next stop.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41'It's a beautiful little city from which one can see
0:31:41 > 0:31:43'snow-covered mountains.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46'I have discovered some compatriots at the castle,
0:31:46 > 0:31:50'and one lady-in-waiting has spent all her life in France.'
0:31:51 > 0:31:53Why Edinburgh?
0:31:53 > 0:31:56Edinburgh is obviously the Scottish capital,
0:31:56 > 0:31:59it's also a big centre for emigres,
0:31:59 > 0:32:03that's where the French emigres have gone for preference.
0:32:03 > 0:32:08And so the idea is that a show that is exhibiting the King and Queen
0:32:08 > 0:32:12in all their glory, Napoleon as a real villain,
0:32:12 > 0:32:16and the revolutionaries as decapitated former villains,
0:32:16 > 0:32:18will be attractive to the emigres.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31Marie soon heard about the performances of Henri Charles,
0:32:31 > 0:32:35a renowned French ventriloquist, and went along to see his show.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39Allez! Venez, venez! Approchez!
0:32:39 > 0:32:42Henri and his puppet had already established a strong following
0:32:42 > 0:32:46amongst the many French emigres living in Edinburgh at the time.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50And Marie, whose son Joseph loved the show, saw an opportunity
0:32:50 > 0:32:52for her to do the same.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26When Madame Tussaud arrived in Edinburgh,
0:33:26 > 0:33:31discovering that Philipsthal had not actually paid for the actual freight
0:33:31 > 0:33:37of her exhibition, she met up with Charles,
0:33:37 > 0:33:39and asked him to loan her some money.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41I think he loaned her something like £30,
0:33:41 > 0:33:43which was quite a lot of money.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47And Charles really did befriend her in a big way,
0:33:47 > 0:33:49and there was another move to Ireland.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01Marie tours in Ireland,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04and she follows the pattern of the theatre companies,
0:34:04 > 0:34:06how they toured during the season.
0:34:06 > 0:34:11During the season of the wealthy elite, who in the summer months,
0:34:11 > 0:34:16would go to Dublin and to Limerick, and to different cities in Ireland.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19These fairs were markets of trade, they were commerce,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22people went from all over Europe to sell their wares,
0:34:22 > 0:34:25you could go and buy cloth, and there was always a rule that
0:34:25 > 0:34:28the entertainment cannot commence until the trading has stopped.
0:34:28 > 0:34:34There was also the selling of livestock, alongside theatre shows,
0:34:34 > 0:34:38magic shows, illusion shows, waxwork shows.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Marie learned not only from the fairs,
0:34:45 > 0:34:47but from the theatre trade as well.
0:34:50 > 0:34:55Marie learned very quickly from how the theatre companies operated.
0:34:55 > 0:35:00She was very careful when she moved from one town to another,
0:35:00 > 0:35:04to only move when she was not making money.
0:35:06 > 0:35:11Until 1808, she continued to call it the Curtius' Cabinet of Curiosities.
0:35:11 > 0:35:16And when she arrived, she would produce, have posters produced,
0:35:16 > 0:35:19saying that, "Specially for your town,
0:35:19 > 0:35:25"here is the Curtius' Cabinet of Curiosities, for your enjoyment.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28"But only for a very limited season."
0:35:28 > 0:35:30She would always say that. She didn't say,
0:35:30 > 0:35:32"We're here until we ain't making any money,"
0:35:32 > 0:35:34which is what she really meant.
0:35:39 > 0:35:47Marie had carriages in which she transported all the equipment.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51But the move, of course, was itself, a good advert,
0:35:51 > 0:35:54because each of the carriages had your name on them,
0:35:54 > 0:35:57and it would indicate where you were going next.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00So there were travelling adverts.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10As she travelled around the country, Marie was careful to always consult
0:36:10 > 0:36:12the showman's almanac.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16'Owen's Book of Fairs, the complete and authentic account.
0:36:16 > 0:36:22'Newark. Friday in Mid Lent, May 14th, Whit Tuesday, August the 2nd,
0:36:22 > 0:36:26'and every other Wednesday for cattle and sheep.'
0:36:26 > 0:36:30There was a book published every year called the Owen's Book of Fairs
0:36:30 > 0:36:33which was actually an almanac of all the fairs that take place
0:36:33 > 0:36:35in the United Kingdom.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38It tells you what date they're in, it tells you when they move,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41it tells you the distance in miles between each place.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45And that's what Tussaud would have used to get from place to place.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35The new moneyed middle classes were the people Marie Tussaud wanted
0:37:35 > 0:37:39at her exhibition, and she needed grand venues to attract them.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45She was always careful to pick the very best rooms,
0:37:45 > 0:37:51unlike many of the other travelling shows of the time.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53'A nice salon, well furnished and decorated,
0:37:53 > 0:37:55'for £2 a month.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01'Everyone is astonished by my figures,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04'the equal of which no-one has seen here.
0:38:05 > 0:38:10'I am regarded as a great lady here, and have everyone on my side.'
0:38:12 > 0:38:15Her exhibitions would be in the assembly rooms.
0:38:15 > 0:38:21Big, high-ceilinged, large rooms, where you could set out the models,
0:38:21 > 0:38:23and people could walk amongst the models
0:38:23 > 0:38:26and have a feel of the material, and touch the headdresses,
0:38:26 > 0:38:29and sit down and natter to each other.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Listen to the little orchestra that was playing,
0:38:32 > 0:38:34but if there was not an assembly room,
0:38:34 > 0:38:40she would use a local theatre and the theatre would be boarded over,
0:38:40 > 0:38:43and the models would be set up there.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48In choosing well-appointed exhibition halls,
0:38:48 > 0:38:52Marie Tussaud stole a march on her competitors who worked the fairs.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59Waxworks were commonplace when Marie Tussaud came to this country.
0:38:59 > 0:39:04But they were much more associated with the popular entertainment of
0:39:04 > 0:39:10the fair, and anatomical waxes, sensational things.
0:39:10 > 0:39:17And she very much raised the timbre of how waxworks
0:39:17 > 0:39:21could be for a much more middle-class, educational,
0:39:21 > 0:39:25aspirational form of entertainment and information.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30When she went on the bad roads,
0:39:30 > 0:39:32you could say she was a travelling tabloid.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36She was taking sensation to parts of the country
0:39:36 > 0:39:39where they were desperate for news.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44Marie knew how important good marketing was.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48She would take particular care over the announcements and catalogues
0:39:48 > 0:39:52for her exhibitions, which went into remarkable detail.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56When you see the catalogues that Marie Tussaud does,
0:39:56 > 0:39:59she's looking for an educated audience.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01She's looking for an audience that can read and write.
0:40:01 > 0:40:02A lot of the people who went to fairs
0:40:02 > 0:40:04at that time weren't able to read or write.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08The advertisements you get for the fairs at that time are quite cheap,
0:40:08 > 0:40:10are more illustrative.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14But the tradition that Marie Tussaud is going into is more
0:40:14 > 0:40:17the exhibition tradition, rather than the fairground tradition.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23She's quite an innovator with these catalogues,
0:40:23 > 0:40:26would give quite a lot of detail about the different characters.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30Several pages on Marie Antoinette, for instance.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33Catalogues could run to 80 pages.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35Not the sort of single sheet that tell you nothing,
0:40:35 > 0:40:37that you get today.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39It was really informative.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47The cost of producing these catalogues was underpinned
0:40:47 > 0:40:49by a very clear pricing policy.
0:40:53 > 0:40:58The price that she charged was a price that would only be tolerable
0:40:58 > 0:41:03for a comfortably-off, middle-class elite.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08So, 6p to look at the exhibition,
0:41:08 > 0:41:12another 6p to look at the separate room, the Chamber of Horrors,
0:41:12 > 0:41:17another 6p for the catalogue, which was very good value,
0:41:17 > 0:41:20you got your money's worth for your 6p.
0:41:24 > 0:41:29She was criticised for her appealing only to elite,
0:41:29 > 0:41:31and there's a funny poster that you can see,
0:41:31 > 0:41:36where she says that for a special moment...
0:41:37 > 0:41:40..poorer people, working class people,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44can come to the exhibition for half price,
0:41:44 > 0:41:49but only between 9:15pm and 10pm.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51The exhibition closed at 10pm.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01Marie's tours around the United Kingdom
0:42:01 > 0:42:03were becoming ever more profitable.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06She continued to send money to her husband,
0:42:06 > 0:42:08who had remained in France
0:42:08 > 0:42:10to look after their younger son's education.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12But he was spending the family silver
0:42:12 > 0:42:15with little regard for their son's future.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20The letters he exchanged with Marie were more often about money
0:42:20 > 0:42:22than anything else.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35Eventually, the money ran out,
0:42:35 > 0:42:39and, in 1812, Francois was forced to sell the waxworks exhibition
0:42:39 > 0:42:42in the Boulevard Du Temple to one of his creditors.
0:42:50 > 0:42:56'We shall not write to you about our plans. Adieu, adieu.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58'We can each go our own way.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01'Je suis pour la vie, ta femme, Tussaud.'
0:43:05 > 0:43:07Five years later, her youngest son
0:43:07 > 0:43:10decided to join his mother and brother.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14Marie hadn't seen him since she left for England with Philipsthal
0:43:14 > 0:43:16and Joseph 15 years earlier.
0:43:26 > 0:43:31He turned up at the studio, carrying a keepsake to confirm his identity.
0:44:05 > 0:44:11Marie's second son, Francois, arrived in London in 1817,
0:44:11 > 0:44:13when he, himself, was 17.
0:44:16 > 0:44:21And then both sons helped in making models.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27Francois had been trained as an apprentice carpenter in Paris.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30This gave him a ready-made role in his mother's business.
0:44:30 > 0:44:34He would get the job of making arms and legs in wood,
0:44:34 > 0:44:37to add realism to the waxwork busts.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39They had to do what she said.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43They had to obey her instructions,
0:44:43 > 0:44:46and they were paid virtually nothing.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49They were virtually her slaves.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56To recognise their skill and business sense,
0:44:56 > 0:45:00the waxworks exhibition took the name Madame Tussaud and Sons.
0:45:05 > 0:45:13Marie Tussaud kept a very tight control on the purse strings.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16And the apron strings of the business.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19Ie, she established a matriarchal business.
0:45:19 > 0:45:24Her sons worked for her, but right up until her death,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28she was a presence at the exhibition,
0:45:28 > 0:45:32and very much involved in counting the money.
0:45:33 > 0:45:38And in the ledgers, keeping absolute careful track of expenditure.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49And she kept a little account book, where she wrote down every day
0:45:49 > 0:45:54what she spent on candles, what she spent on repairing gowns, etc.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58What she spent on these special adverts,
0:45:58 > 0:46:01and this is what she spent most money on, on the adverts,
0:46:01 > 0:46:05the posters and the adverts in the newspapers.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10By 1835, after three decades
0:46:10 > 0:46:13travelling the roads of the United Kingdom,
0:46:13 > 0:46:16the Madame Tussaud and Sons exhibition
0:46:16 > 0:46:18had become a prosperous business.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23Marie finally had the means to hire an exhibition hall,
0:46:23 > 0:46:27right in the middle of London in Baker Street.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34Marie had toured from 1803, she'd constantly toured,
0:46:34 > 0:46:37adding to the family more and more grandchildren,
0:46:37 > 0:46:41and they must have got really fed up with the touring.
0:46:41 > 0:46:48And when Madame Tussaud's moved to Baker Street in 1835,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51she didn't, at the time, know it was going to be a permanent centre.
0:46:51 > 0:46:57But to her it was sort of an apex of being in a fashionable,
0:46:57 > 0:47:01growing, bourgeois cultural area.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10The assumption was that they would maybe only stay in Baker Street
0:47:10 > 0:47:13as they'd stayed in other places, for a few weeks.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17But because they continued to make money, they stayed.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30For the 27 years that she was a travelling exhibition,
0:47:30 > 0:47:38she was so skilful about publicising her exhibition
0:47:38 > 0:47:42that when she decided she could settle in London,
0:47:42 > 0:47:46she had established, through all that promotional...
0:47:46 > 0:47:52all the posters, and her trail in the newspapers,
0:47:52 > 0:47:56it meant that she'd established herself as a brand.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09When she settled there,
0:48:09 > 0:48:16where she arrived was a very fashionable centre for London.
0:48:16 > 0:48:21Oxford Street, the shops were beginning to be constructed.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25Central London is changing very much at the time.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29Railways are beginning to be built.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32It's a time of real transition.
0:48:35 > 0:48:40Ever inventive, Marie was determined to keep the public coming in.
0:48:40 > 0:48:42And she knew exactly what to do.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47'The most extraordinary relic in the world,
0:48:47 > 0:48:50'a melancholy relic of the French Revolution.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53'The original knife and lunettes,
0:48:53 > 0:48:58'the identical instrument that decapitated 22,000 persons.'
0:49:16 > 0:49:20Marie might like to talk about education and history,
0:49:20 > 0:49:22and her general catalogue,
0:49:22 > 0:49:26but what most people went to the waxworks for was to be shocked
0:49:26 > 0:49:30and frightened and look at the dead villains.
0:49:36 > 0:49:37When Madame Tussaud came,
0:49:37 > 0:49:40she introduced an incredibly fine tradition,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43that her workmanship and her knowledge, and I think
0:49:43 > 0:49:45also the subject matter.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48The Terrors in France had created an appetite for death
0:49:48 > 0:49:51and sensation in early Regency London.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03Marie's Chamber of Horrors combined the bloody violence
0:50:03 > 0:50:07of the French Revolution with figures of renowned murderers.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13There's nothing like a good murder to attract the crowds.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17So the Chamber of Horrors, by its very nature, is about murder,
0:50:17 > 0:50:19and it's all about the great criminals.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24When you read the catalogues throughout the 19th century,
0:50:24 > 0:50:27the Chamber of Horrors becomes even more detailed,
0:50:27 > 0:50:30it becomes really the reason people go.
0:50:37 > 0:50:44She packaged the gore so that it was cautionary or moral.
0:50:44 > 0:50:48She dressed it up so that it wasn't just making people feel
0:50:48 > 0:50:52they are voyeurs of horror. It was, erm...
0:50:52 > 0:50:53moral.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55These are murderers.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59Bad men. You know, it had an ethical packaging, somehow.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02So it wasn't just cheap thrills, is the point.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10Her exhibition allowed visitors a glimpse into the hidden world
0:51:10 > 0:51:13of crime and punishment.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16And what made that particularly interesting,
0:51:16 > 0:51:21was when actual executions were no longer public.
0:51:21 > 0:51:26So if you were going to see someone who'd been a particularly nasty
0:51:26 > 0:51:30murderer, it was at a waxworks that you'd see them.
0:51:30 > 0:51:35And you could be fairly sure that the model had been made
0:51:35 > 0:51:36from the dead head.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44Marie had adapted well to the revolution in France,
0:51:44 > 0:51:47but at heart, she was still a monarchist.
0:51:47 > 0:51:52Now, in 1837, a new queen sat on the British throne,
0:51:52 > 0:51:54the young Victoria.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01Marie Tussaud saw an opportunity.
0:52:03 > 0:52:08Queen Victoria was enormously important for Madame Tussaud
0:52:08 > 0:52:10and her exhibition.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22Perhaps because Marie was a royalist, the new Queen
0:52:22 > 0:52:24allowed herself to be modelled on wax,
0:52:24 > 0:52:27complete with replicas of her Coronation robes,
0:52:27 > 0:52:30accurate to the last detail.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34For Marie, it was the recognition she had sought all her life.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38And whatever the truth about her stay in Versailles, this time,
0:52:38 > 0:52:39it was for real.
0:52:45 > 0:52:50Queen Victoria was undoubtedly among the monarchs, the central figure,
0:52:50 > 0:52:51the apex.
0:52:54 > 0:53:01She was so pleased with the result that she was not at all disturbed
0:53:01 > 0:53:06when she appeared on the front of the 1841 catalogue.
0:53:06 > 0:53:10And when she started to have children of her own
0:53:10 > 0:53:12she took them to the exhibition.
0:53:12 > 0:53:13This became a tradition with her.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15She had a lot of children, as you know,
0:53:15 > 0:53:18and apparently, they all saw the exhibition.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21And she encouraged other royals, when they were visiting London,
0:53:21 > 0:53:24to go to the exhibition as well.
0:53:28 > 0:53:35Marie Tussaud undoubtedly epitomised Victorian ideas on recreational
0:53:35 > 0:53:39education, on utter respectability.
0:53:39 > 0:53:45She did typify all that was seen as positive and attractive
0:53:45 > 0:53:47about Victorian life.
0:53:57 > 0:54:02In the heyday of the waxworks, when it was...
0:54:02 > 0:54:06It established itself as a major London landmark,
0:54:06 > 0:54:08and leading attraction,
0:54:08 > 0:54:11"a leading exhibition of the metropolis"
0:54:11 > 0:54:13was how Punch described it,
0:54:13 > 0:54:17it was a place of great sophistication,
0:54:17 > 0:54:20a place of refinement,
0:54:20 > 0:54:26a place that the Duke of Wellington would like to go to,
0:54:26 > 0:54:30so it was a completely different pitch
0:54:30 > 0:54:34from the serpentine queue
0:54:34 > 0:54:36and looking at the waxworks today.
0:54:40 > 0:54:42Surrounded by her sons,
0:54:42 > 0:54:45Marie established what has since become a landmark for Londoners
0:54:45 > 0:54:48and visitors from all around the world.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59'Since Madame Tussaud's residence in the country,
0:54:59 > 0:55:01'not only have her works received
0:55:01 > 0:55:03'the mead of praise from its inhabitants,
0:55:03 > 0:55:07'but her talents have been justly appreciated by a generous
0:55:07 > 0:55:08'and discerning public.'
0:55:13 > 0:55:17When you look at when she wrote her memoirs,
0:55:17 > 0:55:23it was when she was promoting her permanent,
0:55:23 > 0:55:26new exhibition in London.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30So it was a brilliant celebrity memoir.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32It's name-dropping, name-dropping, name-dropping.
0:55:32 > 0:55:35And then about her early life...
0:55:37 > 0:55:39'After 36 years of residence,
0:55:39 > 0:55:42'including the last five in London,
0:55:42 > 0:55:45'Madame Tussaud is more in fashion than ever.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51'She has escaped massacres, been freed from prison,
0:55:51 > 0:55:54'been spared the threat of the guillotine,
0:55:54 > 0:55:59'and has now reached a peaceful retirement.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03'Safe and sound, she here takes leave of her readers.'
0:56:03 > 0:56:08It's, in a way, a load of tripe. A load of absolute rubbish.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11On the other hand, it's a very good portrayal
0:56:11 > 0:56:15of what she wanted people to think about her.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17And that's the value of the memoirs.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28We're all our own myth-makers, to degree,
0:56:28 > 0:56:31but she takes it to a different level.
0:56:36 > 0:56:41Every great showman creates a myth and a reality at the same time.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44That's what makes them, stands them above anyone else.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47Madame Tussaud is probably the earliest woman
0:56:47 > 0:56:50who creates that myth at the same time as the reality.
0:57:00 > 0:57:06Marie Tussaud died in her London home on the 15th of April 1850
0:57:06 > 0:57:08at the age of 89.
0:57:08 > 0:57:14She was laid to rest in the church of Saint Mary in Cadogan Street.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16At the moment of her death,
0:57:16 > 0:57:22she was obituaried in pretty well all of the journals and newspapers.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24And they agreed, without exception,
0:57:24 > 0:57:30that Madame Tussaud was a national institution.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32Which may sound a bit odd,
0:57:32 > 0:57:35but that was the highest praise you could give for someone,
0:57:35 > 0:57:37to describe them as a national institution.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40And to describe a foreigner, a Frenchwoman,
0:57:40 > 0:57:42as a national institution!
0:57:42 > 0:57:45That was praise indeed.