What in the World?® was the Penn Museum's Peabody Award-winning popular weekly half-hour television program which was first seen in 1951 and which ran for 14 years. By the early 1960s it was one of the oldest programs on television, bringing positive reviews and a steady stream of fanmail to the Museum which continues to this day. On each What in the World?® program, four or five unidentified objects were presented to a panel of experts who were asked to guess what each piece was, where it came from, how old it was, and how it was used. Objects were selected from storerooms and had never before been seen by the panel. Before the experts guessed, the audience was told what the object was, and, during the course of the program, could watch the thought processes of real --and often fallible!-- anthropologists and archaeologists. After they had completed their identification, the moderator, Froelich Rainey, Director of the Museum, told them whether they were right and if not, gave the correct identification. The special guest on one of these was the famous actor (and collector) Vincent Price.
Number of Videos: 12
Penn Museum hosts a recreation of the 1950s What in the World game show to a very excited (and vocal) studio audience in conjunction with the Philagrafika installation by Pablo Helguera. Objects from the collection are presented to three panelists including Joe Rishel from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and artists Mark Dion and Pablo Helguera. Penn Museum Director Richard Hodges moderates as the panelists call upon their empirical knowledge of anthropology and art history to figure out what in the world the objects are and who made them. Read more about the Penn Museum's exhibition What in the World at http://www.penn.museum/current-changing-exhibits/704-what-in-the-world.html All rights are reserved by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum). Any use of the footage in productions is forbidden unless rights have been secured by contacting the Penn Museum Archives at (215) 898-8304, or email photos@pennmuseum.org. This film and all of the films in the Penn Museum collection are copyrighted by the Penn Museum, and are not in the public domain.
This video is the fifth installment of What in the World, a series of six videos produced by Pablo Helguera on the history of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. A project for Philagrafika 2010. All rights are reserved by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum). Any use of the footage in productions is forbidden unless rights have been secured by contacting the Penn Museum Archives at (215) 898-8304, or email photos@pennmuseum.org. This film and all of the films in the Penn Museum collection are copyrighted by the Penn Museum, and are not in the public domain.
This video is the fourth installment of What in the World, a series of six videos produced by Pablo Helguera on the history of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. A project for Philagrafika 2010. All rights are reserved by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum). Any use of the footage in productions is forbidden unless rights have been secured by contacting the Penn Museum Archives at (215) 898-8304, or email photos@pennmuseum.org. This film and all of the films in the Penn Museum collection are copyrighted by the Penn Museum, and are not in the public domain.
This video is the third installment of What in the World, a series of six videos produced by Pablo Helguera on the history of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. A project for Philagrafika 2010. All rights are reserved by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum). Any use of the footage in productions is forbidden unless rights have been secured by contacting the Penn Museum Archives at (215) 898-8304, or email photos@pennmuseum.org. This film and all of the films in the Penn Museum collection are copyrighted by the Penn Museum, and are not in the public domain.
This video is the second installment of What in the World, a series of six videos produced by Pablo Helguera on the history of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. A project for Philagrafika 2010. All rights are reserved by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum). Any use of the footage in productions is forbidden unless rights have been secured by contacting the Penn Museum Archives at (215) 898-8304, or email photos@pennmuseum.org. This film and all of the films in the Penn Museum collection are copyrighted by the Penn Museum, and are not in the public domain.
This video is the first installment of What in the World, a series of six videos produced by Pablo Helguera on the history of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. A project for Philagrafika 2010. All rights are reserved by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum). Any use of the footage in productions is forbidden unless rights have been secured by contacting the Penn Museum Archives at (215) 898-8304, or photos@pennmuseum.org. This film and all of the films in the Penn Museum collection are copyrighted by the Penn Museum, and are not in the public domain.
British version of "What in the World" BBC's "Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral" HOST: Dr. Froelich Rainey PANELISTS: -Dr. Alfred Kidder - UPenn; authority of people and cultures of the New World -Jacques Lipchitz - sculptor -Dr. Robert Eddinghausen - Freer Galleries, Smithsonian Institution SHOTLIST: Item #1 Sheath for Dao or Headhunters Axe ("kitchen wear" "knife case"); Southern Sangtam Nagas, Assam. N.E. India; Item #2 Finger mask; used by women dancers in ceremonial festivals; Bering Strait, Alaska; Eskimo; late 19th Century Item #3 Foot bone of an elephant used as an anvil; found in England; 40,000 BC; Paleolithic Era; Item #4 Fossil; vertebrae of a fish like reptile; may have been used as a spindle wheel; found in Yorkshire, England; 150 million years ago Item #5 Bamboo toy pop gun; Uganda ; dated in the last 30yrs[1920s].
All rights are reserved by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum). Any use of the footage in productions is forbidden unless rights have been secured by contacting the Penn Museum Archives at (215) 898-8304, or email photos@pennmuseum.org. This film and all of the films in the Penn Museum collection are copyrighted by the Penn Museum, and are not in the public domain. PRODUCER: WCAU TV (CBS, Philadelphia) HOST: Dr. Froelich Rainey PANELISTS: -Dr. Carleton Coon - expert on the Middle East; anthropologist; winner of Viking Medal for psychical anthropology -Dr. Schuyler Cammann - expert on the far East; author -Jacques Lipschitz - sculptor SHOTLIST: Item#1 Wooden half man mask;(lower Yukon Valley) Alaska; used at ceremonial dances; collected in 1935 and said not to be much older than that; painted white with blue around the eyes (represent ghost) Item#2 Marble sculpture; found in Northern Palestine; Hellenistic Period; Item#3 Head piece made of reindeer antler and ivory of a mammoth; Siberia; mid 19th Century Item#4 Wooden object; taboo sign; New Caledonia (island of Australia); late 19th century Item#5 Goddess head; southern Iraq; 6th cent. BC; Neo-Babylonian Period Item#6 Representations of a head (Aztec god) made of volcanic rock; Mexico, 15th century AD;
All rights are reserved by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum). Any use of the footage in productions is forbidden unless rights have been secured by contacting the Penn Museum Archives at (215) 898-8304, or email photos@pennmuseum.org. This film and all of the films in the Penn Museum collection are copyrighted by the Penn Museum, and are not in the public domain. PRODUCER: WCAU TV (CBS, Philadelphia) HOST: Dr. Froelich Rainey PANELISTS: -Jacques Lipchitz - sculptor -Vincent Price - actor; collector of art objects -Dr. Carleton Coon - expert on the Middle East; anthropologist; winner of Viking Medal for psychical anthropology SHOTLIST: Item #1 Wood carving in the form of a crocodile;New Guinea; placed in time early 20th century;painted red; apart of the house; symbolizes danger-"makes you brave" Item #2 Ancient limestone figure of a hippopotamus with two heads (mother and baby); Thebes, Egypt; dated between 1st cent. BC-1st cent. AD; Ptolemaic Roman period; found in the Temple of Tod; represents the goddess Taueret Item #3 Mask; Ivory Coast (West Africa); late 19th century;used by females in traditional dances; represents spirits; Baule tribe Item #4 Spear point (bronze); Scandinavia; 10,000-5,000 BC Neolithic period; Item #5 Ancient animal head made of volcanic stone; represent crocodile; Costa Rica; 12th-15th cent. AD Item #6 Painted pottery jar in the shape of a human with hump back; Panama; 14th-15th cent AD Item #7 Tobacco pipe; Borneo; end of the 19th century
PRODUCER: WCAU TV (CBS, Philadelphia) HOST: Dr. Froelich Rainey PANELISTS: -Dr. Carleton Coon -Dr. Ralph Linton - winner of Viking Medal; author of text books; Yale University professor of Anthropology -Dr. Alfred Kidder - UPenn; authority of people and cultures of the New World SHOTLIST: Item #1 Iron bird (black feathered diver); represent deities; made in Siberia; hung on shaman (priest) robes; dates to the last cent (19th).;Tungus people of Siberia Item#2 Bering Sea off St. Lawrence Island (Punuk Island); ivory carving of two (2) winged figures; beginning of Christian Era 100 AD; Okvik culture Item#3 Columbia (near the Magdalena River on the coast); lid of a pottery jar; found in a tomb; 12th-15th centuries; eyes suggests Americas; Item#4 Arm band made of shell; Indonesia; late 19th or early 20th cent.;clam shell; Island of Nias "occupied by pagan people" famous for their sculptures and metal work Item#5 Woman clay figurine; Brazil; Amazonian; Xingu River made about ten years ago-1940s; Item#6 Ancient times; Palestine; Byzantine Era; 4th-6th cent AD; used as on a doorknob; found in Besan, Palestine [today Gaza]; famous for Egyptian deposit; Post-Roman
All rights are reserved by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum). Any use of the footage in productions is forbidden unless rights have been secured by contacting the Penn Museum Archives at (215) 898-8304, or email photos@pennmuseum.org. This film and all of the films in the Penn Museum collection are copyrighted by the Penn Museum, and are not in the public domain. PRODUCER: WCAU TV (CBS, Philadelphia) HOST: Dr. Froelich Rainey PANELISTS: -Dr. Carleton Coon - expert on the Middle East; anthropologist; winner of Viking Medal for psychical anthropology - Dr. Myron Smith - Library of Congress; chairman for the committee on Islamic Culture; architect of Middle East -Dr. Schuyler Cammann - expert on the far East; author SHOTLIST: Item #1 Imitation of a Spanish helmet found in the Philippines made by the Moros; "war-like people" of the Philippines brass; Moros copied the structure; used in both battle and ceremonially purposes; from the island of Mindanao (southern Philippines); made in the 19th century; comes from the American Museum in New York Item #2 Persia; pottery tile with enamel glaze; depicting the head of a princess; taken from a palace; dated late 16th cent.; Turkish of Chinese crown on princess; from the city of Isfahan in Iran;once the capital of Iran; declined after 1800 when the Afghans attacked; comes from Philadelphia Museum of Art Item #3 Marble head; Greek god Dionysus; wears a wreath of grape leaves signifying the god of wine; 2nd cent. A.D.; Roman revile of the Greek; drill holes in leaves to make indentation of the grape leaves; Hellenistic; from Italy; Item #4 Brass figurine representing a horse with a rider and a shield; comes from Western Africa of the Ashanti people; dated in time in the late 19th century; the Gold Coast; might have been used as a weight; resembling the Arabic(?); area put great force against European colonization Item #5 Glazed pottery cup found in Nipur (now in Iraq); 5th century AD; Parthian style; classic profile; Item#6 Wood carving of a man with seal on his back; made by Indians from southern parts of the NW coast North America; late 19th or 20th century; cedar wood; from Alaska(?); hare seal or sea lion;
All rights are reserved by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum). Any use of the footage in productions is forbidden unless rights have been secured by contacting the Penn Museum Archives at (215) 898-8304, or email photos@pennmuseum.org. This film and all of the films in the Penn Museum collection are copyrighted by the Penn Museum, and are not in the public domain. PRODUCER: WCAU TV (CBS, Philadelphia) HOST: Dr. Froelich Rainey PANELISTS: -Dr. Carleton Coon - expert on the Middle East; anthropologist; winner of Viking Medal for psychical anthropology -Dr. Schuyler Cammann - expert on the far East; author ---Dr. Matthew W. Stirling--ethnographer who specialized in Meso-America SHOTLIST: Item #1 Volcanic glass---obsidian 3,000 B.C.;Northern Iraq used to make razor like blades similar material found in Mexico Item #2 From Mexican tomb (Zapata, Mexico) seated man 6-11 century A.D. Item #3 Northern Japan Ainu ceremonial quiver late 19th century Item #4 Late 19th century wooden mask represents a god Ivory Coast of Africa Item #5 Gold breast plate Columbia Date unknown---coming of Europeans Item #6 Wooden dish c/a early 1900s Philippines dog Item #8 Northern Iraq 8-9 century B.C. pottery dog