Josephine Tussaud Wax Museum, Arkansas River Valley Travel Guide

Step into a world of wax and history at the Josephine Tussaud Wax Museum, a long-standing attraction in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Located in the historic Southern Club building at 250 Central Avenue, the museum is directly across from the Arlington Hotel and straddles Hot Springs National Park. This unique museum, established in 1971, is named after Josephine Tussaud, the great-great-granddaughter of Marie Tussaud, founder of the famous Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in London. However, the Hot Springs museum is not affiliated with the international chain.The museum features over 100 life-size wax figures, crafted by Gems Wax Models of London, depicting a wide range of personalities from presidents and royalty to celebrities and characters from fiction. The figures are made from beeswax and a secret chemical compound, with human hair imported from Italy and optical glass eyes from Germany. The museum is organized into themed areas such as "The World of Religion", "The World of Horrors", and "The Hall of Battles".The building itself has a rich history, originally built in 1893 as the Southern Club, a popular gambling spot. The museum also includes gambling paraphernalia and an exhibit that showcases Hot Springs' past as a gambling destination. A non-functioning escalator at the entrance, known as the "Stairway of Stars", displays figures like Louis Armstrong, Clark Gable, and Pope John Paul II. At the end of the tour, visitors can explore a recreation of the escape tunnel used by gangsters during police raids.