| Geppi's Entertainment Museum | |
| Established: | September 8, 2006 |
| Dissolved: | June 3, 2018 |
| Location: | 2nd floor, Camden Station Baltimore, Maryland |
| Director: | Melissa Geppi-Bowersox, President |
| Website: | Official website |
Geppi's Entertainment Museum was a 16000square feet privately owned pop culture museum located at historic Camden Station at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. The museum chronicled the history of pop culture in America from the 17th century to the early 21st century, as made popular in newspapers, magazines, comic books, movies, television, radio and video games. It featured a collection of nearly 60,000 pop culture artifacts, including magazines, movie posters, toys, buttons, badges, cereal boxes, trading cards, dolls, figurines, and other memorabilia.
In May 2018, Geppi's Museum announced that it would close on June 3, 2018. Much of the collection was donated to the Library of Congress.[1]
The museum was owned by Stephen A. Geppi, President and CEO of Diamond Comics Distributors; the majority of the artifacts came from Geppi's private collection. In 2007, Geppi's daughter Melissa "Missy" Geppi-Bowersox became the Executive Vice-president of the museum; in 2012, Geppi-Bowersox was promoted to president.
The museum's founding curator was Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg, former editor at Gemstone Publishing. In 2011, Andy Hershberger was promoted to Associate Curator/Registrar, and has since worked with Melissa Geppi-Bowersox in the creation of a curatorial advisory committee.
In 2012, the museum store, Flashbacks, was renamed Geppi's Comic World in honor of Geppi's former comic chain.
The museum was composed of several galleries devoted to different eras of pop culture, as well as a temporary exhibit space for rotating exhibits. The standing galleries were:
The galleries branched off from a central hallway whose walls were covered with comic strips, animation and comic art sketches, and movie posters. There were two statues of Superman located at each end of the hall.
Geppi's Entertainment Museum was host to a wide range of rotating exhibits on topics such as Star Wars, the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, and previews of upcoming toys. In February 2013, the temporary exhibit was Milestones: African Americans in Comics, Pop Culture and Beyond. Developed and curated by Michael Davis, co-founder of Milestone Media, it ran through March 2014.
The museum is featured in the 2008 Free Comic Book Day edition of Archie Comics Archie's Pal Jughead. The story, "Night at the Entertainment Museum," involves Archie and Jughead getting a job as night watchmen at the museum. Owner Steve Geppi and founding curator Arnold T. Blumberg also appear in the story.