Museum of Witchcraft & Magic postcard
Postcard depicting the façade of the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, with XXL lettering based on Davida (cf. the Hen House, Illinois) and Eurostile. The museum was opened in 1972 by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. From Wikipedia:
Ripley’s had acquired the late Gerald B. Gardner’s collection of witchcraft items from Wiccan Monique Wilson, and displayed them in the museums.
In 1975, due to pressure from the local churches and religious groups in the area, Ripley’s changed their names to “World of the Unexplained” and re-outfitted them with new attractions. With the popularity of the television show “In Search Of”, Ripley’s hired the show’s narrator, Leonard Nimoy, to film a short introduction to visitors at the entrance to the museums.
The museums displayed not only witchcraft attractions but new ones that featured Bigfoot, flying saucers, the Bermuda Triangle, werewolves, and a fortune teller with a talking crystal ball. In 1985, the museums closed down for good, due to poor ticket sales.
The script used for the caption on the postcard is Ludlow’s Florentine Cursive.
