The original use of "blockbuster" was for Allied "super-heavy" deep
penetration bombs in World War II intended to break through the 2ft. or
more thickness of reinforced concrete of German "block-house" defences,
such as marine gun emplacements and the Atlantic coast U-Boat pens.  These
started at around 1,000 lbs. of ecxplosive but were up to 1 tonne in the
final stages of the War as bigger and more powerful aircraft became
available.

The other - perhaps better known - new word of the same period and origin
was "Dambuster" - similarly specilly designed heavy bombs intended to
break major reservoir dams, such as those of the Ruhr valley, and which
became internationally famous through the phenomenonly successful 1950s
war film  "The Dambusters" (a blockbuster movie!!).

After the War the word "blockbuster" passed into both UK and American
English as an adjective to describe any sort of "mega" thing -
something far in excess of the norm - like those blockbuster bombs.

My clear recollection is that the word was first used in relation to
museum and art gallery temporary exhibitions in a sarcastic or derogatory
sense by newspaper columnists and critics - to indicate an exhibition
(usually an international loan exhibition) that was regarded as "gross".
This was not just a matter of size - we had had entirely respectable
mega-exhibitions for over a century such as the 1862 Manchester Art
Exhibition in about 1862, with around 4,000 old master paintings and other
works of art.  It was the deliberately populist style and - especially -
the promotion and marketing which drew the fire.

Sadly, as with the word "Tory" (original 18th century meaning: a lawless
Irish bandit!!) those under fire quickly turned the intended insult on its
head, and appropriated it themselves.  The fact that Tom Hoving claimes to
have invented blockbusters proves my point!!

Patrick Boylan

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On Wed, 6 Jan 1999, Christopher Petrik wrote:

> Hello Fellow Listers,
>
> I am a graduate student in Museum Studies doing my research paper on
> Blockbuster Exhibits. In talking with people, it seems everyone has a
> different definition for what a blockbuster is.
> I would be curious to see what Museum professionals from different
> institutions and countries define blockbusters as, and what is their
> criteria for a blockbuster.
>
> Thank you in advance.
>
> Christopher Petrik
>