The History of Madame Tussaud’s

At this month’s meeting we were treated to an ‘Evening with Lucy Swales’, who used her comic talent to deliver a talk about the history behind the Mme Tussauds Wax Works and a detailed – and at times hilarious – overview of how the was heads are created.

Today Madame Tussauds is owned by Merlin Entertainment, which has extended the brand to 21 locations world-wide. Wax figures are designed and produced in London, where Lucy has been working in various departments for over two decades. At the end of her talk she shared her impressive portfolio of wax figures that she has worked on over the years.

Lucy’s presentation was skilful and fun and kept us interested to the last minute. It even had the local cat listening in outside the open window!

Thank you for a great evening Lucy!

And for those of you who may want to read up on the subject:

The story started in the 18th century when Dr Philips Curtius made wax models for anatomical study in medical teaching. Read more about the ‘Father of the Wax Works’ here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Curtius

Madame Tussaud was born Marie Grosholz, the daughter of Dr Curtius’ housekeeper, became a pupil of Dr Curtius and eventually inherited his vast collection of wax models. More on her colourful life here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_Tussauds

You have been sent this message because you are following the website of the Market Harborough Womens Institute. If you no longer wish to do so, please click here to unsubscribe.

June Meeting – Wednesday 26th June

At our June meeting on Wed 26th June we look forward to welcoming professional make up artist Lucy Swales who will be sharing her experience of working within Madame Tussards and how wax work models are made.

The meeting will start at 7.30 pm and is held at Our Lady of Victories Catholic church hall. We look forward to welcoming both our existing and new members.

Line Dancing Wed 22nd May

What great fun we had last Wednesday night at our May meeting. Both a physical and a mental workout was had at our line dancing class. It was brilliant and we all enjoyed strutting our stuff – no one cared whether we were all in time or even facing the right way as we all had smiles on our faces.

Many thanks to Yvonne Anderson for her patient instruction and for making the evening great fun.

We have our monthly meetings on the fourth Wednesday of every month (except July) and we welcome anyone along to come and see what its all about.

ECO Village Garden Update and Midsummer Fair

The Eco Village Garden is looking amazing thanks to the many ladies of the WI who are using their green fingers to grow a variety of plants such as sweetcorn, beans and lettuce, to name but a few.

Massive thanks to the head gardener Carl for his generosity in donating many plants etc to the Eco Village.

There will be a Midsummer fair at the Eco Village on 26th June which will be selling plants/seedlings etc and also a stall on the day of Harborough Carnival on 8th June.

Any donations of seeds, cuttings and plants would be much appreciated and can be brought along to Wednesday’s meeting or our June meeting or direct to the Eco Village.

Wow – how busy have we been!

Last month we welcomed Colin Cohen who provided an informative talk on the development of social housing in the UK. Colin kindly donated his speaker’s fee to the Jubilee foodbank. We also had a collection from our members for the foodbank. Many thanks to everyone for your generosity.

We had a social visit to the Plant Man at Braybrooke. We learnt which plants would make ideal plants for a colourful all year round border and the best way to plant them. Refreshments were provided and we also had the chance to ask for advice and shop without without the garden centre being open. Many thanks for a very informative evening.

Our craft club enjoyed making coiled baskets and coasters at our May get together. Many thanks to Fiona for demonstrating and helping us master this somewhat fiddly craft!! We were all very pleased with our results.

Social Event Pizza Night ECO Village Thursday 13th June

We will be organising a trip to the Eco Village on Thursday 13th June for Pizza. The evening will commence at approx 6.15 pm and pizza’s will be provided by The Wood Oven. There will also be an opportunity to purchase hot and cold drinks, alchoholic drinks and cake.

Pizza’s will need to be pre-ordered and paid for in advance and a menu will be emailed to all members separately within the next few days. There will also be a pre order sheet at Wednesday’s meeting.

Seating will be provided on a first come first served basis both inside and outside so please wear appropriate clothing should you be sitting outside.

Next Meeting Wednesday 22nd May Line Dancing!

Ready to strut your stuff with some Line Dancing on Wednesday night?? Who doesn’t love a bit of Dolly Parton?

We look forward to welcoming Yvonne Anderson for a fun filled evening learning some line dancing moves.

It would be great to see everyone dressed in country attire so drag out those checked shirts, denim, boots and stetsons!

Yee Haa!

WI Social – The Plant Man – Tues 30th April

A reminder that we have a visit to the Plant Man in Braybrooke on this lovely sunny evening where they will be demonstrating the planting of a spring planter. Tea and coffee will be provided. Gates open at 6pm for a mooch around the garden centre and then the demonstration will commence at 6.30pm.

We look forward to seeing you later.

Monthly Meeting

We had a lovely evening in March listening to Bill Haley and hearing all about his time working in the Royal Navy on the Royal Yacht Britannia. A really informative and interesting talk.

Our next meeting is Wednesday 24th April and we look forward to welcoming Colin Cohen who will be talking to us about the history of Social Housing.

Colin also volunteers for the Market Harborough Food bank and so we are asking for donations for that on the evening also. An email has been sent with the food stuffs they currently need so please do check your inbox.

We look forward to seeing you all next Wednesday