Black Museum

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The Black Museum of Scotland Yard was a famed collection of criminal memorabilia kept at the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police in London, England. Established in 1948, it was intended to help the police in their study of crime and criminals. Despite being intended primarily for use by the police, the public could see it by special arrangement. The name "Black Museum" was a nickname; the collection was formally referred to as the "Museum."

The exhibits included many death masks made of executed criminals, as well as collections of weapons, tools used by burglars, and items that had been evidence in crimes. In 1951, Orson Welles produced a radio program for the BBC called The Black Museum, inspired by the catalogue of items on display. Each week, he featured an item from the museum and produced a dramatization of the story surrounding the object to the macabre delight of audiences. The American radio writer Wyllis Cooper also wrote and directed a similar anthology for NBC that ran at the same time in the U. S. Called Whitehall 1212, for the telephone number of Scotland Yard, the program debuted on November 18, 1951, hosted by Chief Superintendent John Davidson, curator of the Black Museum.