Vent Haven Museum


Jeepers creepers! When you first glimpse the roomful of goggle-eyed wooden heads staring mutely into space, try not to run screaming for the door. (If you’ve seen the film Magic, you know what dummies are capable of.) Local William Shakespeare Berger started the museum after amassing a collection of some 700 dolls. Today Jacko the red-fez-capped monkey, white-turtleneck-clad Woody DeForest and the rest of the crew sit silently throughout three buildings. A curator gives guided tours.

Lest you think the entertainment form is dying, stop by in July, when the annual conVENTion takes place and 400 ventriloquists arrive with their talkative wooden pals. The museum is located in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, about 4 miles southwest of Covington off I-71/75.


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