Just What Do People Expect From a Jack the Ripper Exhibition?

[anna]

Stewed eels hmmm....I prefer the jellied variety.. with extra jelly and lashings of vinegar...then there's pie and mash....heaven!!!!!!!
If any of the above were on offer for my dinner,I'd have a permanent ticket
booked....a day looking at Jack memorabilia,and as much cockney grub as I could fit it my tummy would be enough to turn me into a good girl.
I hoping to go accross to Docklands soon.I don't mind what I see,at least it's a day out..should be nice if it's sunny and warm.

[anna]

Actually, I would like to raise a point here from experience.
I know the guy who runs the London Dungeon.Which he showed me around,including all the bits the public don't get to see.It was amazing.He has a small warehouse that was a costermonger storage area.He has sectioned it off using wooden panels(bit like Room 13!!!)which the costumed actors run behind to get to the area they need to appear in next.(which really got hectic at times).He put in a river ride which is fun, as soldiers "shoot you" in your boat and you go backwards at amazing speed,considering how small the "workings"are.
He has a Jack The Ripper section.
The point I am trying to make is that no matter how small the area you have,with lighting effects and waxwork models it can be very atmospheric.
Ok,it's basic,(he would be the first to admit this)but it works,and has been used in many tv documentaries...both Jack and Victorian related.
Perhaps this sort of approach...waxwork dummies of victims,lighting,sounds and the original smell of Victorian London,which was incredible to experience.
(Like musky perfume,plus herbs...and various unmentionables....very heady)
They would have to have had lighted cases amongst the tableaux's, but it would have added atmosphere.Which is probably what it is lacking.

[Jenni Shelden]

Hiya,

i think in part it is as i mentioned on staurday to some people - that i feel that the museum has - albiet inadvently fallen into the trap of - if not openly - seeming to criticise ripperology (oh warning mortuary pictures) but at the same time not manged to actually pull themselves away from the very same trap that they seem to be criticising (in that there was basically only the mortuary photos there to represnet the actual victims).

The exibition was ok - it wasn't terrible or appalling or any of these words, but it equally was not good or birlliant or amazing - or any of these words, because as Neal said elsewhere, it was created in the 2000s but would not have looked out of place in the 1980s.

It was still nice to see some of the things that were there, I don't believe what has been said that was negative, warranted deploring so greatly. No one called the organisers names or they they were immoral because that is not the case. They have done ok for what they planned, and it is fairly good in terms of social history

Jenni

[Natalie Severn]

I am a bit taken aback quite frankly that the exhibition didnt have the lovely photograph of Annie Chapman on her wedding day.This image is reproduced in rich oranges and sepias on the glossy cover of Neil"s book published by Dan Norder.It shows Annie on the threshold of her married life.She is unsmiling and there seems a hint of anxiety ,an uncertainty perhaps about her future and whether she will make it as a wife and mother".It is largely through Neil Stubbings Sheldon"s book ,"The Victims Of Jack the Ripper" and Chris Scott"s book, "Will the Real Mary Kelly ....?" and one or two others articles and books that we now know one or two things about these dispossessed women who became the victims of Jack The Ripper in 1888.
In actual fact it was their horrific murder"s that helped people then to begin to understand the plight of so many women in the East End.So if the exhibition is about educating people about life in the East End and Jack the Ripper, then surely the lives of his victims are a valuable education in sympathetic understanding and remind us that the vulnerability and distresses of these women are worthy of our attention .
Norma

[perrymason]

'Scuse this cross-the-pond two cent throw, but Anna's mentioning of waxworks I think was appropriate, it was a medium of the day that they used to attract the curious for a few coins, why not modern day ones too?

Oh, and I hope that eel pie, jellied even, is some local slang and not really something thats ingested.

Best regards all.

[Monty]

Pie mash and liquor !

Hmmmmm!

Monty

[Stewart P Evans]

Sorry

Hi Stewart - when did I say I objected to John Williams being included as a suspect?
PHILIP

Sorry Philip, not you, I meant Chris (Phillips) over on the other thread. It must be an age thing...

[bolo]

Oh, and I hope that eel pie, jellied even, is some local slang and not really something thats ingested.

http://theoldfoodie.blogspot.com/2006/09/eel-pie-incident.html

Bon Appétit!

[steje73]

Jellied eels are one of, if not THE, most horrendous foodstuffs ever imagined. Think of them as boiled knuckles in savoury vaseline.

[caz]

Hi Nats,

I do urge you to wait until you see all the exhibits for yourself, before assuming the victims were only represented by the mortuary photos, displayed very discreetly in a separate section.

As has been said, it is not clear yet why certain photos are not on display. But there are certainly plenty of facsimiles of original documents concerning the victims. And it has to be said that, while we would all, I'm sure, agree that it would be super to have much more on show about the victims' lives leading up to the circumstances in which they found themselves seeking shelter or another drink on their last night on earth, we don't know that this is what they would all have wanted; we don't know (until we hear from Neal) that this is what all their descendants want for them; and we don't know that the paying public would prefer more biographical detail about the victims, and perhaps less of some other aspect.

Love,

Caz
X

PS I had bubble and squeak with a poached egg on top to start, followed by pork chop, eel and mash - all beautifully presented, nicely cooked and delicious

[Natalie Severn]

.....another thing thats a problem is that if a public exhibition calls itself "JACK THE RIPPER AND THE EAST END" and it says almost nothing about the women victims or their lives its a kind of "sin of omission" by those in authority.By saying nothing much its like the old Sutcliffe thing when it was somehow ok"ed by elements of the press for the Yorkshire Ripper to murder "prostitutes" because on the basis they somehow "deserved it".So people could end up going round the exhibition thinking Jack was "really ok in some ways" because the victims were only prostitutes and they somehow"deserved what they got".Its not a far cry that from Robert Anderson"s very questionable position.

[caz]

Hi Nats,

Our posts crossed - see my post on the previous page. As I said, please go and see for yourself before judging too harshly. I formed a different opinion of the way the exhibition treated the victims and their 'unfortunate' situation.

Love,

Caz
X

[Natalie Severn]

Hi Caz,
Well the Museum of London gets quite a big " Education " budget as I understand it.And the policy with all such programmes is that they should address such matters from an anti-sexist/anti-racist/ non-homophobic agenda.Its all very clearly stated.
Norma
PS -Caz,
I have a great regard for Neal"s work and for his integrity.So if he objects to the lack of interest I am persuaded he has good reason.On the other hand I also think they have probably tried to steer their way through a difficult subject.But you are right in that I need to wait and see.

[Suzi]

Hi Caz n'Nats

Well I'd love to take hubby up to this but am not sure...a) "We're saving for the holiday" -allegedly!!!-and b) I might get into grumpy mode -although Caz the JTR (!!!) lunch sounded great!!! (especially the Fullers bit!).
Now as to how it should have been done..........Gawd knows.... maybe a bit more (she says having not seen it!) of the day to day articles like the ambulance (would like to see that!) and the clothing (Where was the Claudia/Andy Kate costume when we needed it and the wonderful artifacts from Wolvers)............ and maybe the odd 'dummy' well a good few dressed in period (DONT start me on that one) costumes in some sort of way that would have 'spoken' to the Joes who are mostly (let's be honest) coming to see this.
Fascinating but I don't think i'll be up (to the exhibition !) and or London before Oct or Dec

XX

Maybe I'll wait and see...............Like Asquith!!!

(My Mum always said that.....so everytime I add a 'wait and see' I always add....like Asquith!!!!

Suzi xxxx

[Tom_Wescott]

Nitpicking Nazis

Well the Museum of London gets quite a big " Education " budget as I understand it.And the policy with all such programmes is that they should address such matters from an anti-sexist/anti-racist/ non-homophobic agenda.Its all very clearly stated.

They're in a no-win situation. If they put up the victim photos and dwell on their lives, the soccer moms/mums would complain they were glorifying prostitution. If they don't talk about the victims, the feminazis try to call it sexist, even though Natalie herself suggested the problem has NOTHING to do with their gender, but more likely their profession. Keep in mind the title of the exhibition is 'JACK THE RIPPER & THE EAST END', not 'JACK THE RIPPER & HIS VICTIMS', which is a Neal Shelden book and delivered on the promise of its title. It sounds to me like this exhibition delvered on the promise of its title so there's no room to bitch unless someone would like to put on a superior exhibition, which I'm sure we'd all be for.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott