Vent Haven Museum is the world's only museum of ventriloquial figures and memorabilia. Its collection contains more than one thousand ventriloquist figures from twenty countries as well as hundreds of photographs and other pieces of memorabilia related to ventriloquism, including replicas of figures used by

Edgar Bergen Edgar John Bergen (born Edgar John Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, actor, comedian, vaudevillian and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters Ch ...

Paul Winchell Paul Winchell (''né'' Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, humanitarian, inventor and ventriloquist whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted ''The Paul Winchell S ...

, and

Shari Lewis Shari Lewis (born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz; January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was a Peabody-winning American ventriloquist, puppeteer, children's entertainer, television show host, dancer, singer, actress, author, and symphonic conductor. She wa ...

, and authentic performance pieces used by Jimmy Nelson,

Willie Tyler Willie Tyler (born September 8, 1940) is an American ventriloquist, comedian and actor. Tyler has been credited as Willie Tyler and Lester or Willie Tyler & Lester. Willie Tyler recorded "Cannibal" for Motown Records in 1968, but it was not rele ...

, Jay Johnson,

Terry Fator Terry Wayne Fator () is an American ventriloquist, impressionist, stand-up comedian, and singer. Born in Dallas, Texas, he developed an interest in ventriloquism from a young age, developing both this and a talent for singing. After initially per ...

Jeff Dunham Jeffrey Douglas Dunham (born April 18, 1962) is an American ventriloquist, stand-up comedian and actor who has also appeared on numerous television shows, including ''Late Show with David Letterman'', ''Comedy Central Presents'', ''The Tonigh ...

, and

Darci Lynne Darci Lynne Farmer (born October 12, 2004) is an American ventriloquist, singer and actress. Lynne has been credited with the revival of ventriloquism, earning praise and numerous accolades for her work. Born in Oklahoma, Lynne developed an int ...

. The museum is in

Fort Mitchell, Kentucky Fort Mitchell is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 8,702 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. History Fort Mitchell was the site of one of seven Civil War fortifi ...

, five miles south of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. It opened in 1973. The museum is open seasonally from May 1 to September 30 by appointment only. It is also open to those attending the Vent Haven ConVENTion. As of March of 2022, the museum is closed while construction occurs on a new facility. The museum is expected to open to the public sometime in the spring of 2023.

History

Vent Haven Museum was founded by William Shakespeare Berger (1878-1972), a Cincinnati businessman and amateur

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...

. Berger amassed his collection of approximately 500 dummies from 1910 until his death. The museum has continued to grow through donations of ventriloquism materials, and its collection has doubled in size since opening as a public museum in 1973.

References

External links

Vent Haven MuseumVent Haven ConVENTion
{{authority control Ventriloquism Museums in Kenton County, Kentucky Puppet museums in the United States History museums in Kentucky Museums established in 1973 1973 establishments in Kentucky