Staff report
Atlas Obscura, an international publication that introduces its readers to special destinations around the world, has featured Fort Mitchell’s Vent Haven Museum in a recent publication.
Its daily newsletter touts “The World’s Only Ventriloquism Museum Is in Northern Kentucky,” and celebrates “the weird, wacky and utterly peculiar, including this holy grail of puppetry arts.”
Locals know that Vent Haven was founded in 1973 and has become home more than 1,200 ventriloquist dummies — that started with the personal collection of W.S. Berger who spent 40 years amassing puppets and memorabilia. Berger wanted to provide a special home for the dummies — and for a vast collection (since expanded) of puppets, photos, scripts, memorabilia, playbills, posters, recordings and more. And, yes, the original Charlie McCarthy dummy is right at home there, along with a good number of his friends.
The Museum has become a popular tourist attraction, located on Maple Avenue in Fort Mitchell, and sponsors the International Vent Haven ConVENTion each summer. This year’s 4-day convention was held at the Holiday Inn in Erlanger and drew thousands of visitors to NKY.
It is the “World’s Only Museum Dedicated to Ventriloquism.”
Visits to the museum are by appointment only and standard tours are limited to a maximum of 10 guests, though larger tours can be accommodate with special arrangements.
To schedule a tour and/or get tickets, click here.
Thanks to Atlas Obscura, the international community also knows more about this unique museum tucked away in Fort Mitchell.
See the NKyTribune’s previous stories about Vent Haven here.