The tally is in, and in the end, the King Tut exhibit at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute fell short of breaking the record for North American museum attendance, even after weeks of buildup publicity by the Franklin Institute. So says the museum in a statement this week, also reported by AP.
No matter. No. 2 may be just as good. (Just ask Avis). The museum's "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" closed Monday with 1.29 million visitors, second only to a 1979 exhibit (also King Tut) at Chicago's Field Museum. That beats King Tut's other current stops and is the most in Pennsylvania history. But let's call this whole record-setting thing off. The show looks like a big hit anyway in revenue, reputation and educational heft for the "Frankitute" (as our pre-schooler calls the Franklin Institute). Marketing V.P. Karen Corbin says the numbers are still being crunched and only dangles this to PhillyInc: "Our expectation was we would not lose money, and we have not." We're betting that will be Philadelphia's understatement of the year.
