"I am happy to report that the New Gallery feels just like the old one."
October 23, 2019 8:01 AM   Subscribe

What’s lost isn’t always lost. Sometimes a researcher sifts through a dark corner of a storage unit and uncovers a forgotten artifact. It’s been happening a lot in Philadelphia, of all places.... Cambridge University fellow Jason Scott-Warren posted on his blog that the Free Library of Philadelphia’s annotated copy of the First Folio was once John Milton’s (previously on the blue). And then a South Philly t-shirt shop found and restored the mannequin (WMMR) from Mannequin (trailer on YouTube). But was it really Emmy? Kim Cattrall tweeted that, no, the mannequin on display was a fake. Dan McQuade unraveled the mystery for Jezebel, which, for one week, took over his life.
posted by filthy light thief (9 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
The mall, originally called The Gallery

Correction: “The mall, now and forever called The Gallery”

You can tell that noted Philly freelance writer Dan McQuade reined himself in a bit for a national audience.
posted by supercres at 8:29 AM on October 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


(And to be fair he does note this in an inner paragraph)
posted by supercres at 8:30 AM on October 23, 2019


supercres, for years I erroneously called it "The Galleria" which all my Philly friends found beyond hilarious, as if I was making some gratuitous attempt to grant it some unnecessary, unwarranted fanciness. I wasn't! It was just one of those random malapropisms that gloms on to one's brain!

Anyway, I'm glad I saw your comment because I know nothing of Mannequin but having a lil walk down Galleria memory lane was worth the click.
posted by youarenothere at 8:58 AM on October 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


I remember going to the The Gallery a few times in the mid-2000s, before it became a dead mall. It was a pretty grimy place at times. I'll have to check it out again next time I'm in Philly.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:10 AM on October 23, 2019


in celebration of this important Kim Cattrall news, plus Maaik's post on Projects, I give you the Carly Rae Jepsen supercut of Mannequin
posted by roger ackroyd at 10:20 AM on October 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


Really curious to see how the 'High Fashion Mall" fares in (literally GRITTY) Philly.
I'm expecting the creeping NYC influence/influx has something to do with this choice.

(had to move to Tallahassee last year to take care of Mom after 30+ years of Philly Spoilage.)
posted by djrock3k at 11:14 AM on October 23, 2019


Ah, Mannequin, a movie my Dad said "Absolutely not!" to because it was "inappropriate." I'm not sure why he thought it was racier than Grease, which I had already seen.
posted by emjaybee at 12:18 PM on October 23, 2019


What a delightful story!
posted by vespabelle at 1:36 PM on October 23, 2019


What a trip. I especially love knowing that Kim Cattrall not only took home one of her mannequin doppelgangers but also definitely kept it.

I own Mannequin on VHS. I'm pretty sure I first watched it specifically because, after going through a Brat Pack phase, I saw there was a second movie after Pretty in Pink in which Andrew McCarthy stars and James Spader does his incompetent-plummy-villain schtick, and then when I read about the plot... well, McQuade summarizes it in the article. It's one of those great movies whose plot gets more confusing as you describe it in more detail, and then the work itself is the most astounding of all, like Ulysses or something. It's very difficult to talk anyone who values their time into watching it, so no wonder McQuade is marrying the one who would.

Ah, Mannequin, a movie my Dad said "Absolutely not!" to because it was "inappropriate."
My favorite quality of Mannequin has always been its wonderful (probably unintentional) celebration of acceptance of diversity of sexual preferences, which as a queer genderweird teen in rural Iowa I was willing to take wherever I could find it (I was also really into Elfquest). Sure, the first place fires him for his mannequin-loving ways, but the department store staff recognizes that Andrew McCarthy isn't hurting anyone and lets him carry what they presumably all think is his sex doll around as a bizarre naked security blanket. ... which I imagine is exactly what might be considered inappropriate from some parental perspectives.
posted by C. K. Dexter Haven at 1:47 PM on October 23, 2019 [2 favorites]


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