Madame Tussaud and the History of Waxworks by Pamela Pilbeam

The woman who gave us infotainment

According to Pamela Pilbeam, there may be a simple reason for the enduring popularity of Madame Tussaud's: "There is nothing so fascinating for a human being as others of the species." Since the arrival of the waxworks in London in the 1830s, visitors have had the opportunity to gawk at, rub shoulders with and even touch some of the most famous and infamous others – royalty and revolutionaries, murderers and media stars.

Pilbeam's study is in part a biography of the woman behind the institution, in part a cultural history of wax figures. Both demand serious attention. As a professor of history, Pilbeam provides a wealth of detail, engagingly presented. Sometimes, however, when reading about Madame Tussaud, I wanted to know more: about her leaving a husband behind in Paris; her head for business; her wonderful knack for self-fashioning. And when reading about the significance of waxworks, I occasionally wished for further discussion of the relationship between this form of entertainment and others. This is not a harsh criticism so much as an acknowledgement of the fascination of the subjects; I enjoyed the book a great deal.

Pilbeam is strongest in placing the phenomenon of waxworks historically, from revolutionary France at the end of the 18th century through to the First World War. While the study brings us up to date, with a chapter on global aspects of Tussaud's, the early material is most appealing. I found the discussion of Tussaud the waxworker in the context of revolutionary Paris a revelation. According to Pilbeam, "waxworks had more of a chance to present up-to-date impressions of events of the Revolution than the theatres" – and newspapers. "From the summer of 1789 waxworks became a vivid source of news for Parisians."

This indicates one significant line of inquiry in the book – the way that wax exhibitions presented news as entertainment. That continues today: Pilbeam notes that three New York firemen were being moulded in April 2002. From the first, Madame Tussaud believed in the educative purpose of her waxworks, and she eschewed the more obviously erotic uses of wax figures found in red-light districts.

For her, waxworks were family entertainment that had a mission to present history, albeit with a light touch. In this way, her wax exhibition needs to be seen alongside the growth of museum culture in the 19th century, but with the entertainment bonus of the fashionable promenade. "Unlike a museum, a waxworks was an active cultural experience. Customers could touch the models, study them in detail, discuss them out loud." Because the exhibition was arranged like a promenade, complete with live orchestra, visitors could spend hours strolling around, having discreet conversations, watching others while they engaged with the items on show.

Today, Madame Tussaud's may be more boulevard culture than museum culture, but the drama of popular theatre and the gossip of the assembly rooms remain a part of the experience. It's certainly as close as most of us will get to looking kings, murderers and pop idols in the eye, and saying rude things to them.