Vent Haven – A Museum Where Dolls Live, Awaiting Their Destiny A special person (14 photos + 1 video)

Back in 1937, actress Mae West described ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's famous puppet partner, Charlie McCarthy, on air as "wooden from head to toe," complaining that she'd even gotten a splinter from him the day before. For this innuendo-laden joke, she was banned from NBC radio for twelve years.





Today, a replica of that same outrageous mannequin—wearing a top hat, tuxedo, and monocle—occupies a place of honor among hundreds of others at the Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. It's perhaps the only place on earth where you can walk into a room and see rows upon rows of motionless figures seated on chairs, their mouths frozen mid-sentence, and their glassy eyes, under heavy lids, stare into space.



Edgar Bergen and Charlie

The museum was born out of the passion of William Shakespeare Berger, a Cincinnati businessman and former president of the International Brotherhood of Ventriloquists. Berger spent six decades collecting everything related to this art, including unique artifacts.





William Shakespeare Berger began building his unique collection around 1910 and amassed approximately 500 puppets. A passionate enthusiast, he turned his home into an informal museum, always welcoming fellow ventriloquists and curious onlookers.



The Vent Haven Museum was officially established after the death of its founder, in 1973. Today, its collection has grown to include over 800 puppets. Among them are recognizable caricatures of politicians like Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, as well as original characters like a blonde named Christine. Individual museum exhibitions detail the stories of famous ventriloquists, past and present.



Today, the museum's mission is twofold: to preserve the history of this unique art and prevent it from perishing. Every July, it hosts a "Convention," attracting hundreds of ventriloquists to hone their skills, watch performances, and, of course, have a good laugh.





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