Putney's Family Waxworks

Putney's Family Waxworks is a fictional business featured in the Showtime period drama series Penny Dreadful. It appeared in season two of the show and made its first appearance in the season premiere, "Fresh Hell".

Description
Putney's Family Waxworks was a wax museum owned by the Putney family. It was located in London, England in the latter half of the 19th century and was established to compete with Madame Tussaud's. Octavia Putney handled the business end of things while Oscar Putney worked as curator and took a hands-on role in the craftsmanship of the museum.

History
By the year 1891, Putney's Family Waxworks had fallen upon hard times. Very few people were patroning the establishment, preferring instead to be entertained by the more well-known Madam Tussaud's. In the hopes of boosting sales, curator Oscar Putney attempted a new gimmick and created the Chambers of Crime", which were morbid tableaus detailing homicide scenes plucked from the headlines. Features here included the infamous Jack the Ripper killing Annie Chapman and the more recent Mariner's Inn Massacre.

The reanimate known as John Clare went to the museum searching for work. In fact, Putney's was one of the few places in London that were hiring. Oscar attributed the lack of interest in employment to people finding the place "unnerving". Clare however, found it all quite familiar. Oscar offered Clare a job for pittance, but told him that he would have to get approval from his wife first.

Octavia met with John Clare, and also introduced them to their daughter, Lavinia, who was blind. Octavia conceded to giving John the job, but privately expressed her concerns to Oscar, telling him that Clare's scarred face would drive away customers.

Characters associated with

 * John Clare
 * Lavinia Putney
 * Octavia Putney
 * Oscar Putney

Appearances

 * 1) Penny Dreadful: Fresh Hell