The Vent Haven Museum: The World’s Only Museum Dedicated to Ventriloquism

I have it noted on the Weird Holidays & Observances calendar that National Ventriloquism Week is July 17-20 this year. However, I always like to fact-check myself to make sure I have dates and such right.

I noticed I had the week linked to something, which turns out to be for the Vent Haven International Ventriloquist Convention. That’s happening July 17-20 in Cincinnati, Ohio, this year.

But I couldn’t find any mention of a National Ventriloquism Week. Somehow I’d found it once upon a time, because why else would I have listed it? Likely it was from one of my Sources. I decided to Google it and see what came back.

Nothing for any of the calendar sites that track days. There were a couple of links to other websites that had written about the week in year’s past, though. Like HoustonPress.com and OldRadioShows.org.

But as far as finding any origin info for National Ventriloquism Week’s history? #SOL

However, the Old Radio Shows’s post did direct me to the Vent Haven Museum, the world’s only museum dedicate to ventriloquism. Maybe I’d find an answer there?

The Museum

The Vent Haven Museum was opened in 1973 by W.S. Berger, who clearly had a love (obsession?) with all things ventriloquism. He spent over 40 years collecting everything he could relating to the craft, including:

• Dummies and puppets (there are over 900 used by ventriloquists in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries!)
• Photos
• Scripts
• Memorabilia
• Playbills
• Posters
• Recordings
• And more!

This is some of what you can see on display in the museum.

The Vent Haven Museum is only open by appointment May 1 – September 30. Visitors are led on guided tours, which last 45-90 minutes. They even make four puppets available for people to try their hand at ventriloquism, but a visit to the museum doesn’t include a performance by ventriloquist.

I didn’t find any info about the museum being the creator of, or sponsor for, National Ventriloquism Week, but I did discover they’re the ones that host an annual convention each July. (The Vent Haven one I referenced at the beginning of the post.)

Adopt a Dummy

But something cool I discovered was their Adopt a Dummy program. It’s part of their fundraising campaign to build a new museum building.

For $50 you can “adopt” one of the Vent Haven Museum residents. It comes with these “perks” and benefits:

• Recognition that you adopted the dummy for a year. (They pin a card to the front of it saying it has been adopted and by who. Cute.)
• Acknowledgement and thanks from the museum on their blog and Facebook page.
• The right to adopt the same dummy the next year.
• A tax deduction.
• The good feeling that comes from helping a dummy out. (No, seriously. I know that’s written funny, but you’re helping to preserve a unique piece of arts and entertainment history by contributing to a new facility for your dummy and all his pals to live in!

To see which dummies are available for adopting online, visit: https://www.venthaven.org/adopt-a-dummy.

Open House

Even though most visits are by appointment only, the museum does sometimes welcome the public via open houses.

For 2019, the dates are:

• Sunday, July 29 from 1-4 p.m.
• Saturday, September 15 from 1-4 p.m.

For More Info

The Vent Haven Museum is located in Fort Mitchell, KY.

Website: https://www.venthaven.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VentHaven/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/venthavencurator/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Venthaven

Check-In

Assuming you had $50 to spare, would you adopt a dummy?

I noticed one on their Facebook page that had a skeleton head. (I embedded the post I spotted him in below. See him there, mid-left?)

I don’t know if you can request dummies, but if you could? That’s the one I’d want. (Or if any were haunted or had haunted histories behind them!)