Synopsis
What happened to John Wilkes Booth's thorax? And where are Elvis' pants? This is a guide to the locations of, and stories behind, America's most famous pieces of popular history. The Vatican has the Apocrypha. Westminster Abbey has the bones of Elizabeth I and Sir Isaac Newton. And the Philadelphia Museum of Medical Antiquities has John Wilkes Booth's thorax. In "The Ruby Slippers, Madonna's Bra and Einstein's Brain", Chris Epting takes readers on an enchanting ride across the continent of North America - not to mention its rich and wacky history - looking for the iconic objects that have helped shape the consciousness of the Western world. No stone is left unturned, no off-the-wall institution unrummaged, in the search for the most famous and quirkiest items from American movies, crimes, TV programmes, sporting events and history.
From the Smithsonian (The Spirit of St Louis and the Apollo moon lander) and the Basketball Hall of Fame (Michael Jordan's Nikes) to the Sing Sing Prison Museum and the Museum of Pez Memorabilia, the length and breadth of the Union has been plumbed to reveal, amongst others, the locations of: Washington's wooden teeth; Lincoln's death chair; Elton John's shoe; Buffalo Bill's jacket; the Merry Prankster bus; the piano from Casablanca; and, of course, Madonna's bra.
