BORIS KARLOFF WAX MUSEUM - Niagara Falls

[Monsters For Sale]

Niagara Falls is famous for water, but if I am more interested their wax.

They have, or have had, wax museums for Louis Tussaud, Hollywood Wax Museum, Wax Museum of History, Famous Criminals Wax Museum, Rock Legends Wax Museum, Haunted Wax Museum, House of Frankenstein Wax museum, etc.

And for a while in the 1970's they had a "Boris Karloff Wax Museum".  Here a few examples of brochures and pennants from the attraction.


Brochure 1 - Folded:




Brochure 1 - Interior:




Brochure 1 - Exterior:





Brochure 2 - Folded:




Brochure 2 - Interior:





Brochure 3 - Folded:




Brochure 3 - Interior:




Brochure 3 - Exterior:





Pennant 1:




Pennant 2:




Pennant 3:


This pennant is the only dated item.  There is a 1977 copyright date on Kong's shoulder.


Any members ever go there?  Do you have memories or pictures to share?  Know what years it was open?

(I was unable to locate an Oakes Drive & Buchanan Avenue on Google Maps.  Maybe Oakes was renamed.)

[Joseph_Baeza]

Outstanding post, MFS!  I never knew this existed.

[Count_Zirock]

I was in Niagara Falls in the early '70s, too. Would have been right around the time this was in operation, but I'd never seen or heard of it until now.

[Haunted hearse]

Never knew this existed.  I had know idea that Karloff had allowed his name to be associated with this.  I would have wanted to see it, if I had known it existed.

[Gossamer]

I was really young for the one trip to Niagra Falls and it may have been the Karloff Wax Museum.  I vaguely remember the Dracula display shown in the pamphlet.  What I do recall was the merchandise in the gift shop.  This lucky monster kid got a mego Wolfman and a remco Dracula.  Sadly just the wolfmans head remains in my collection.

On my grade eight field trip me and a buddy made it into the wax museum on the main stip.  it was I believe the Haunted Wax Museum.  Quite small and had some of the monsters I particularly remember a Frankie display and a Historical Rasputin display.  My memory is poor for both the Niagra Falls trips.  Sorry I can't be more help.

[ChrisW]

Very interesting post. I wonder if he had ever visited it or just allowed his name and likeness to be used.
And once again, Bama's Frankenstein is used as the basis for another product illustration.

[Monsters For Sale]

Seems funny (and a little sad) that it used the great man's name and lasted long enough to issue 3 different brochures and 3 different pennants over time, but it is so poorly remembered.

[typhooforme]

Karloff, well-educated and well-spoken, would have cringed at the misspellings in the brochures.  I doubt any of the family had anything to do with this museum.  I always wonder WHERE do the figures and displays end up when one of these short-lived museums closes.  The stuff probably goes into auctions and ends up on OTHER museums, but---how cool would it be to find that the contents might be found in a warehouse or storage unit somewhere!

[Haunted hearse]

Karloff, well-educated and well-spoken, would have cringed at the misspellings in the brochures.  I doubt any of the family had anything to do with this museum.  I always wonder WHERE do the figures and displays end up when one of these short-lived museums closes.  The stuff probably goes into auctions and ends up on OTHER museums, but---how cool would it be to find that the contents might be found in a warehouse or storage unit somewhere!

Some years ago I bought a wax figure of opera great Maria Callas at a gun show.

[Gossamer]

Seems funny (and a little sad) that it used the great man's name and lasted long enough to issue 3 different brochures and 3 different pennants over time, but it is so poorly remembered.

I don't know about poorly remembered as it may seem.  I was most likely five or six when I had visited the one museum but getting the mego Wolfman out of the gift store is one of my cherished childhood memories.  My memories of the museum on the strip to me was the total highlight of that school trip.  Kinda sad I don't remember the displays as well but I do recall how excited I was when we drove passed it to go to our hotel.  Wax museums were abit of a mainstay in Niagra Falls  quite a few years and have had discussions about them when I discover someone had been to Niagra Falls in that era.

[ChrisW]

  I always wonder WHERE do the figures and displays end up when one of these short-lived museums closes.  The stuff probably goes into auctions and ends up on OTHER museums, but---how cool would it be to find that the contents might be found in a warehouse or storage unit somewhere!

A friend of mine drove from Maryland to Niagara Falls to pick up a "life-size" martian he bought from a tourist attraction on Ebay. Great figure about 3 feet tall, with full costume and weapon.

[Monsters For Sale]

A friend of mine drove from Maryland to Niagara Falls to pick up a "life-size" martian he bought from a tourist attraction on Ebay. Great figure about 3 feet tall, with full costume and weapon.

My one "Life-Sized" Sideshow figure:



An Invader from The Twilight Zone.  He is 12" tall.

[ChrisW]

At the time he bought the Martian from a defunct horror museum he inquired about any other items that might be up for sale. There were other figures that were either too large or too expensive, but the guy did have one item that my friend bought... half of an actual human brain floating in formaldehyde encased in a Plexiglas capsule.

[Dr. Creature Feature]

I wish places like this still existed. We always have to tear down great things. Those Pennants are amazing, very jealous

[Monsters For Sale]

Scored another brochure from this museum.  It is 9" X 8" - or 9" X 4" folded.  No year on the darned thing.  But it does give a tiny glimpse of the interior.


Brochure - Style 4 - Folded:




Interior:




Exterior: