I recently went to London with my boyfriendto see Monty Python's Spamalot, which I have written a review on and would thoroughly recommend. We were there a couple of days and weren't sure what to do on our last afternoon, since neither of us are much interested in art galleries and we'd been to the big museums either that trip or on a previous one.
Flipping through one of those "what's on" leaflets you can pick up at the station, we came across an entry for a cartoon museum. We had a few hours and decided to give it a try.
~~~ What's Inside ~~~
The museum is about still cartoons. The cartoons are prints, framed and stuck to the walls of the rooms and on display boards in the larger rooms. There are three rooms downstairs, though one's small and a bit more like a corridor. There's another
room display upstairs. The rooms aren't huge. I don't know the precise sizes, but they wouldn't be out of place in the average house.
Also upstairs is a room that looks like it might be used for demonstrations or classes. There are a few small tables and some chairs.
The cartoons are of various types and ages. There were some one-picture cartoons of the sort you might find printed in a newspaper; witty and about whatever's going on in the country. There were some old propaganda cartoons from the Second World War. There were pages from kids comics like the Beano or from science fiction tales.
Large and small, quick sketches and full colour illustrations, there was plenty of variety. Most of the comics are amusing ones, but there were enough that were different so you get your money's worth. The earliest are from the 18th century, the most recent are from the past year.
Each of the cartoons have a little plaque next to them with the name of the drawing and the artist. Some of them have a few sentences about the piece as well. Others have a large chunk of information.
There is also the Fairway Birdway. This is an automatic golfing machine. The idea is that the golfer sits in the middle of the machine, which prepares the ball, hits it and then moves to the next hole. There's even a 19th hole cocktail shaker. This isn't a picture, but a machine that sits in a glass case in the centre of the museum. We spent quite a while staring at the machine trying to work out how everything was connected.
As well as the cartoons on the walls, there were seats and benches around the place and piles of comic books that visitors can flick through.
~~~ The Shop ~~~
The museum's shop sells books of cartoons. Pretty much their entire range could be bought in the humour section of a big bookshop and the prices would be comparable. I didn't buy anything in the shop because I feel that cartoon books are generally overpriced. You have to pay as much as you would for a novel, but finish the book so much quicker.
But there must be people who buy the books or they wouldn't be printed. The shop has a good selection and if you're interested in this sort of thing, take a look.
~~~ Where is it? ~~~
The museum is on Little Russell Street, which is in the centre of London. It's about ten minutes walk from Covent Garden and very close to the British Museum. It's between Tottenham Court Road and Holborn tube stations.
The museum isn't obvious or very well signed, so a good map of the area is advised. They do have a map of where they are on their website. www.cartooncentre.com.
There are a lot of cafes and sandwich shops very close by. Mostly these are chains like Subway and Pret et Manger, but at least you know what you're getting.
~~~ Prices ~~~
The museum entry costs £3 to most people. It's £2 for concessions.
For students and children under 18, it's free. This was one of the major appeals to us. If you're a student in London or visiting with some time free, go take a look.
~~~ Opening Times ~~~
The museum is closed on Mondays, but open on Sundays, which is a little unusual.
The opening times are: Tuesday - Saturday: 10:30 - 5:30. Sunday: 12:00 - 5:30.
It took us about an hour and a half to go round the entire museum, including trying to work out the Fairway Birdie. It would take you a bit longer it you wanted to read every word about every cartoon or read some of the comic books that were lying around, but I would say you'd be struggling to find things to occupy yourself if you stayed much more than two hours.
Still, in some ways it's nice to go to a museum and not have to worry about missing bits when you're feet start to ache.
I enjoyed visiting this museum and I would definitely recommend it to students, since it's free. If you're interested in cartoons, you'll definitely enjoy this museum. If you're not that keen on cartoons, you probably shouldn't go out of your way to visit, but consider stopping by if you're in the area and have some free time.
Pictures of Cartoon Museum - London
Fairway Birdie
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This looks like an interesting place to visit - a nice change to the 'usual' museum visit
ldvda 20.10.2006 12:04
Sounds really good, since starting my new job I have alot of free time on my hand now and awstrying to think of ways to feel it. I will keep this place in mind. Thank you V x x
rosillew 17.10.2006 14:45
Lovely review, Looks different to any museum I've ever visited. May give it a go when I'm up that way. Heatherx
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