The United Kingdom’s new monarch, King Charles III, brings to mind the last time our city went king crazy, Chicago.
The Field Museum was one of six institutions in the United States chosen to host an incredible traveling exhibition in 1977. Its 55 objects once belonged to the young King Tutankhamun whose tomb was discovered 100 years ago this November. The exhibit idea was formed during the administration of President Richard Nixon, who wanted the American people to associate Egypt with something more than oil and water, according to the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Unlike his possessions, King Tut didn’t make the trip to Chicago — his mummy remained in the Valley of the Kings outside Luxor, Egypt.
Chicago was the second stop of “The Treasures of Tutankhamun” tour, which remained incredibly popular during its four months at the Field Museum. Long lines of eager visitors regularly snaked outside the museum and down its front entrance steps. Once inside, each paid the $1.50 admission then waited for TV monitors announcing when they could enter the Tut exhibit.
More than 1.3 million people — at a rate of more than 1,000 per hour — viewed the King Tut exhibit while it was here 45 years ago.
My husband’s parents caught up with King Tut’s stuff in Seattle, which had its own, newly opened royal palace back then — the Kingdome.
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Uncrating King Tut’s treasures
Fifty five priceless objects arrived at the Field Museum in late March 1977 — amongst secrecy and extra security. Were any of the items damaged in transit? After peeling back several layers of protection on a golden mummy mask valued at $2 billion, curators found …
A welcome fit for a king – and secure, too
Bringing these ancient artifacts to the U.S. took no less than a signed agreement between former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the Egyptian government. Tut’s riches were insured by the federal government. And the museum, itself, was turned into a fortress …
April 15, 1977: Opening day
A discotheque employee and his sister were first in line at 5 a.m. For the next four months, visitors waited outside in the rain, heat and wind to enter the museum. Only a power outage on the Fourth of July kept visitors away. Can you guess how many thousands of people visited the exhibit on its first day?
The enduring splendors of Tut.
‘Everywhere the glint of gold’: The discovery of Tut’s tomb
Antiquities give new life to Field Museum
Membership signups more than doubled since the exhibit opened with many paying $15 for a family membership to gain priority access to Tut’s treasures — that perk, however, disappeared by mid-July.
Aug. 15, 1977: King Tut’s reign in Chicago ends
More than 1.3 million people — at a rate of more than 1,000 per hour — viewed the King Tut exhibit while it was in Chicago. Those who waited until the last minute — some camping out on the Field Museum’s steps the previous night — were treated to the shortest wait time since the exhibit opened four months prior. Keith Feller of Elmhurst, who was issued the last ticket, was asked to do something unusual while a museum employee chanted a spell in Egyptian …
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