Defunct halls of fame: Celebrity lingerie, Barbie dolls, cockroaches

Not every hall of fame stands the test of time. Some that open physical museums close up shop for financial or other reasons.
Several halls that have shuttered are looking for new homes for their collections (including the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the National Barber Museum and Hall of Fame.)
What follows are four notable halls of fame that have closed.

Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame

Frederick’s of Hollywood, a retailer of women’s lingerie, used to exhibit a collection of underwear worn by Hollywood movie stars at its store on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. The Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame went into storage when the retailer closed that flagship store in 2005. Items formerly on display included a black and gold bustier worn by Madonna in concert and Natalie Wood’s bra from “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.”

Related articles:

Frederick’s of Hollywood Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame (Seeing Stars)

Frederick’s uplifting museum is dismantled (Los Angeles Times; Dec. 19, 2006)

Frederick’s of Hollywood Has Undies of the Rich and Famous (Wall Street Journal; May 22, 2015)

Frederick’s of Hollywood Cancels Auction, Likely to Sell Brand to Authentic (Wall Street Journal; May 28, 2015)

Barbie Hall of Fame

The Barbie Hall of Fame in Palo Alto, Calif., shut down in 1999, the victim of rising rents in Silicon Valley. Toymaker Mattel swooped in an bought the collection, which included more than 21,000 Barbies, Skippers and Kens.

Related articles:

Evicted Barbie: Museum owner who lost Palo Alto lease finds lanky doll has lots of friends (SF Gate; March 25, 1999)

Barbie Hall of Fame Homeless in Palo Alto (SF Gate; April 6, 1999)

Mattel Purchases Barbie Hall of Fame Barbie Doll Collection (PR Newswire; April 20, 1999)

Cockroach Hall of Fame

One kitschy tourist attraction was the Cockroach Hall of Fame Museum in Plano, Texas. Part of a pest control business, the hall of fame featured dioramas with dead cockroaches such as “Marilyn Monroach,” Liberoachi, “David Letteroach” and the “Bates Roach Motel.”
It shut down in 2012 when the owner of the business sold it and moved to Phoenix, according to Roadside America.
(See other articles on the attraction by Legends of America and the New York Daily News.)

Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame

In 2006, battery company Energizer announced the creation of the Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame. Its first “Keep Going” inductee was baseball great Cal Ripken, Jr., who set the all-time record for consecutive games played.
The Keep Going Hall of Fame was located at Energizer corporate headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. One thing that apparently didn’t keep going and going was the hall of fame itself.
The website for the hall of fame now leads to a “Page not found” error page.
I can find references to Keep Going Hall of Fame activities in 2006 through 2011, but nothing since. (Here are press releases from 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.)
The last induction into the Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame appears to have been in June 2011.

14 more unusual physical halls of fame

I thought I was done mapping halls of fame in North America after I found over 100 physical halls. Then I found over 100 more. I’m probably not close to being finished with this project.
What follows are 14 additional unusual halls of fame that you can physically visit.

International Santa Claus Hall of Fame

The International Santa Claus Hall of Fame bills itself as a home for “the celebration and study of famous Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus of the past and present.” The hall of fame exhibit is located inside Santa’s Candy Castle in Santa Claus, Indiana.

Coin Operated Gaming Hall of Fame and Museum

The Coin Operated Gaming Hall of Fame and Museum is a video game and pinball arcade in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. Its collection features over 400 co-op machines from the last 70 years. Some are rare, with as few as 10 in existence.

The Presidents Hall of Fame

The Presidents Hall of Fame is a tourist attraction in Clermont, Fla. It features exhibits dedicated to the White House and all 44 U.S. presidents, their first ladies and families.

International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame & Museum

The International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame & Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee, recognizes individuals who have made substantial contributions to the towing and recovery industry.

RV/MH Hall of Fame

The RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana, honors leaders in the recreational vehicle and mobile home industries. The museum presents chronological and technological advancements in the industry from before World War I to the present.

Daredevil Hall of Fame

The Daredevil Hall of Fame in Ontario, Canada, is a museum dedicated to those who have tried to conquer the Niagara Falls in some way. That includes barrel riders, tightrope walkers and others.
(Niagara Falls photo by Artur Staszewski.)

Gunfighter Hall of Fame

The Gunfighter Hall of Fame in Tombstone, Arizona, has extensive displays of historic gunfighters.

World Kite Museum Hall of Fame

The World Kite Museum’s Hall of Fame pays tribute to outstanding participants in the art, science, religion and sport of kite flying. The World Kite Museum is located in Long Beach, Washington.

Skateboarding Hall of Fame

The Skateboarding Hall of Fame in Simi Valley, Calif., features over 5,000 vintage boards dating back to the 1940s, and possesses the world’s largest collection of skateboard memorabilia. The hall of fame is located at the museum inside Skatelab.

Snowmobile Hall of Fame and Museum

Snowmobile Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Germain, Wisconsin, is dedicated to preserving and showcasing the history of snowmobiling at both the recreational and competitive levels.

Greyhound Hall of Fame

The Greyhound Hall of Fame in Abilene, Kansas, celebrates the greyhound breed of racing dogs.
(Photo: hall-of-fame racer Talentedmrripley.)

Quilters Hall of Fame

The Quilters Hall of Fame in Marion, Indiana, was established to celebrate quilting as an art form by honoring the lives and accomplishments of people who made outstanding contributions to the world of quilting.

International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum

The International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Louis, Missouri, preserves, promotes and educates on the history of photography. Every year it inducts key photographers or innovators who have made notable contributions to the art or science of photography.

The Maple Hall of Fame

The American Maple Museum in Croghan, N.Y., features a Maple Hall of Fame that celebrates people who have excelled in research, development and leadership in the maple syrup industry.

10 more unusual virtual halls of fame, including pizza, hamburgers and die-cast cars

After posting my article on 12 unusual virtual halls of fame, I came across many more interesting examples.
What follows are 12 additional virtual halls of fame worth noting.

Pizza Hall of Fame

PMQ Pizza Magazine, the pizza industry’s business publication, established the Pizza Hall of Fame in 2005. The virtual hall showcases legendary pizzerias and pizza makers who have helped build America’s pizza culture. Members of the Pizza Hall of Fame have been in business for at least 50 years and earned a reputation as landmark restaurants in their communities.

International Hamburger Hall of Fame

The International Hamburger Hall of Fame is a private collection of hamburger memorabilia. The collection, owned by Harry Sperl in Daytona Beach, Fla., is available for viewing by invitation only.

Toy Industry Hall of Fame

The Toy Industry Hall of Fame recognizes men and women who have had a major impact on the toy industry, from inventors to retailers.

Model Car Hall of Fame

Founded in 2008, the Model Car Hall of Fame, formerly the Diecast Hall of Fame, honors people who have contributed to the model car collecting community.

Final Draft Hall of Fame

For the past decade, Final Draft, maker of word-processing software for screenwriters, has been inducting one legendary screenwriter each year for its hall of fame. The Final Draft Hall of Fame includes such greats as Sydney Pollack, Robert Towne, Aaron Sorkin, Lawrence Kasdan and Paul Schrader.

Fangoria Hall of Fame

Horror movie magazine Fangoria lets its readers pick inductees into the Fangoria Hall of Fame.

The Accounting Hall of Fame

The Ohio State University established the Accounting Hall of Fame in 1950 to honor accountants who are making or have made significant contributions to the advancement of accounting since the beginning of the 20th century. Through 2015, 93 leading accountants from the U.S. and other countries have been elected to the hall of fame.

International Gladiolus Hall of Fame

Since 1981, the North American Gladiolus Council has inducted growers and cultivars into the International Gladiolus Hall of Fame. Gladiolus is a genus of perennial cormous flowering plants in the iris family.

American Border Collie Association Hall of Fame

The American Border Collie Association has been inducting Border Collie breeders and handlers and their dogs into its hall of fame since 1998.
(Photo: Border Collie in action by Alessandro Musicorio of f/orme Pet Photography.)

NAFA Hall of Fame

The North American Flyball Association has been inducting acrobatic pooches into its Clyde Moore Memorial Hall of Fame since 1986.
(Photo: 2015 NAFA Hall of Fame inductee Rukus.)

12 unusual virtual halls of fame, including Hooters girls, White Castle cravers and porn

There’s a hall of fame for virtually every interest and many of those halls are virtual. They exist only online or in publications.
What follows are some of the more unusual ones I’ve come across.

Hooters Girl Hall of Fame

The Hooters restaurant chain is well known for its attractive waitresses and bar maids. So Hooters decided to create a hall of fame to honor its hottest Hooters Girls.
“Since the first Hooters opened in Clearwater, Florida, in 1983 literally hundreds of thousands of woman have become Hooters Girls,” the website says. “This Hall of Fame was created in 2008 during the celebration of Hooters 25th Anniversary to recognize the elite of that sorority.”
The Huffington Post put together a photo gallery of celebrities who have worked at Hooters.

White Castle Cravers Hall of Fame

The White Castle Cravers Hall of Fame recognizes and celebrates super fans of its restaurants and trademark hamburgers (aka sliders). Notable hall-of-famers include rocker Alice Cooper and the creators of “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.” White Castle is based in Columbus, Ohio.

Krystal Lovers Hall of Fame

The Krystal Company hamburger chain has a similar honor for devoted customers, called the Krystal Lovers Hall of Fame. Inductees get their illustrated likeness placed on more than one million Krystal Hamburger and Cheese Krystal Hamburger boxes and used in restaurants across the Southeast. Krystal is based in Dunwoody, Georgia.

Vienna Beef Hot Dog Hall of Fame

The Vienna Beef Hot Dog Hall of Fame recognizes hot dog stands and deli operators that have been great customers for Chicago-based Vienna Beef. Other criteria include the vendor’s contribution to their community, philanthropic leadership, and restaurant quality.
(Photo: Mustard’s Last Stand in Evanston, Ill.)

Idaho Potato Hall of Fame

The Idaho Potato Hall of Fame honors people and businesses who have contributed to the success of Idaho potatoes as a food and a product. They are inducted by the Idaho Potato Museum in Blackfoot, Idaho.

Candy Hall of Fame

The National Confectionery Sales Association honors industry leaders with its Candy Hall of Fame. Inductees include candy brokers, sales personnel, manufacturers, retail buyers, wholesalers, industry suppliers, retail confectioners and others.

Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour Hall of Fame

The Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour Hall of Fame was started in 2005 to honor the most successful Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour players. Magic: The Gathering is a trading card strategy game.

Mustache Hall of Fame

The International Mustache Hall of Fame honors famous mustaches throughout history.
The hall is an endeavor of the American Mustache Institute, in partnership with Wahl Grooming.
The goal of the hall is “to canonize the superior attractiveness of people of facial hair and celebrate the long-standing rugged attractiveness of the global people of mustache, while working to combat the discrimination of those who adopt and embrace the lifestyle of facial hair.”

Combat Robot Hall of Fame

The Combat Robot Hall of Fame honors fighting robots from competitions such as Robot Wars and BattleBots.

Personal Managers Hall of Fame

The Personal Managers Hall of Fame celebrates the illustrious careers of talent managers in the entertainment and sports markets.
The hall was established by the National Conference of Personal Managers.

Porn halls of fame

There are two virtual halls of fame devoted to the pornographic movie industry.
They include the AVN Hall of Fame and XRCO Hall of Fame. AVN is the trade journal Adult Video News. XRCO is the X-Rated Critics Organization.

19 hall-of-fame museums in the works

As I’ve noted previously, there are over 140 physical halls of fame in North America. Some of the smaller ones are on shaky ground financially and others have closed up shop.
Among the halls that have closed are the Criminals Hall of Fame Wax Museum in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada; and the Barbie Hall of Fame in Palo Alto, Calif.
Still others are being relocated. For instance, the Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum is being moved from Dania Beach, Fla., to Springfield, Mo. It will become part of America’s Wildlife Museum and Aquarium, set to open in mid-2016.
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America recently moved to the Daytona International Speedway.
But many more halls of fame are in the works. Some are close to completion. Others are still a dream.
What follows are some of the music, sports and other organizations that would like to open physical halls of fame.

Hip Hop Hall of Fame and Museum

Organizers of the Hip Hop Hall of Fame and Museum announced in September that they were securing ownership of a museum building in Harlem and planned to open in late 2016.
“The Harlem Hip Hop Museum will feature a Hall of Fame, Museum, Retail Gift Shop, Restaurant, Sports Bar, Concert Lounge, TV Studios, Offices, and house the Hip Hop Arts Academy,” the group said in a press release.

Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame Museum

The Official Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame Museum has been discussed for years. Most recently Detroit has been talked about as a possible home for the R&B hall of fame and museum.

International Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum

The International Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum is stuck in the planning stages for a public facility in Detroit.

Reggae Hall of Fame

A Reggae Hall of Fame has been proposed in Jamaica, but has been slow in coming. (See articles by The Gleaner: “Reggae Hall of Fame could mean big bucks for Jamaica” and “Grammy Foundation on board with plans to establish Reggae Hall of Fame.”

The Vocal Group Hall of Fame

The Vocal Group Hall Of Fame Museum has collected and enshrined memorabilia of over 200 qualified, nominated and inducted vocal groups. The foundation behind the hall had a public museum in Sharon, Pa., but it was shut down. The organization is now looking to locate it elsewhere.

Louisiana Music Hall of Fame

“Louisiana is the cradle of the Blues and the birthplace of Jazz, Dixieland, Rhythm & Blues, Rockabilly, Rock & Roll and Zydeco,” the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame says on its website.
The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame currently presents a “LMHOF Wall Of Fame” at Baton Rouge’s Metro Airport. It has plans to set up facilities in Natchitoches, Marksville and New Orleans.

National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum

The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum currently is running an exhibition at Redline Milwaukee and expects to announce a permanent location by this spring.
The museum is expected to feature the world’s largest collection of bobblehead figurines as well as exhibits related to the history of bobbleheads, making of bobbleheads, and more.

Mascot Hall of Fame

The Mascot Hall of Fame plans to open a permanent exhibit in Whiting, Indiana, in 2017.
“The 25,000 square foot, multi-million dollar facility will be a state-of-the-art, interactive, family fun zone, with a wide range of exhibits, activities and events that celebrate mascot fun,” a website says.

Mustache Hall of Fame

Last year, the Mustache Hall of Fame announced its first class of inductees, which included historical figures, celebrities and sports greats.
The hall, established by the American Mustache Institute and Wahl Trimmers, reportedly wants to open a physical location in Pittsburgh.

National Soccer Hall of Fame

The National Soccer Hall of Fame had a museum in Oneonta, New York, from 1999 through 2010. Last September, plans were announced to build a new museum at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, the home of Major League Soccer club FC Dallas.
(Photo of exterior of original National Soccer Hall of Fame by Wikimedia Commons.)

National College Baseball Hall of Fame

The College Baseball Foundation has plans to build the National College Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame in Lubbock, Texas.

Legends Football League Hall of Fame

Legends Football League announced plans in 2013 for a physical hall of fame to be built in Las Vegas. The women’s 7-on-7 tackle football league started in 2009 as the Lingerie Football League, but rebranded in 2013.

WWE Hall of Fame

A hall of fame for World Wrestling Entertainment all-stars exists only in the virtual sense today. But WWE officials have pondered having a physical presence for the hall from time to time. Last year, the Bleacher Report wrote about what a WWE Hall of Fame could look like.

International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame

The Scuba Diving Hall of Fame was founded in 2000 by the Cayman Islands Ministry of Tourism. The hall of fame exists virtually with plans for a physical facility to be built at a future time, according to Wikipedia.

Canadian Music Hall of Fame

The Canadian Music Hall of Fame honors Canadian musicians for their lifetime achievements in music.
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame collections soon will be housed at Studio Bell, due to open in summer 2016 in Calgary, Alberta.

Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame

The Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame has had several homes, but is currently homeless.
“Currently, the collection is housed in secure storage as the board seeks to procure a fitting, long term solution,” the group says.

Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame

The Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have made notable contributions to sailing in Canada and worldwide. “Currently the Hall of Fame is a virtual record, but plans are under way to establish a physical presence,” the group says.

Canadian Ski Hall of Fame and Museum

The Canadian Ski Hall of Fame and Museum is rebuilding.
Stephen Finestone, chair of the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame and Museum, announced Feb. 3 that the board of directors has selected Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, as the new home for its institution.

Kansas Music Hall of Fame

The Kansas Music Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to recognize and honor performers and others who have made significant contributions to the musical history of the state of Kansas and the greater Kansas City metropolitan area.
“Eventually a museum will be established to preserve and display artifacts and memorabilia of those inducted into the Hall of Fame and others who have contributed to the area’s musical history. The museum will include a public performance area,” the group’s website says.