Had Peter Excho lived a century and a half ago, P.T. Barnum might’ve invited him to be part of his sideshow.
With his ear gauges, multiple face piercings and tattoos, Excho, who owns Pexcho’s American Dime Museum in downtown Augusta, embraces his look and emulates Barnum in a way. Pexcho’s museum is based on the prototype Barnum created in the 1800s with its taxidermied animals and unusual artifacts.
The Buffalo, N.Y. native’s first love wasn’t collecting oddities and curiosities but art.
“I’ve always drawn and painted,” he said.
However, his father wasn’t supportive of that type of career choice and discouraged him from doing it.
“He said, ‘Only two percent of artists make it,’” Excho said.
His dad insisted he have a backup. As a result, Excho is a licensed journeyman electrician and has worked on home renovation projects.
One of his pre-dime museum jobs was in California where he worked for a photography business. He also sold his own paintings while living there.
He’s also lived in Louisiana and Maryland.
During his time in Maryland, he worked at the American Dime Museum, and that’s what sparked his interest in what he does now.
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Excho moved to Augusta in 2018. His former wife had taken a job in the area. She had been in the Army, and much of his collection had been in storage while she was in the military.
Excho said there were several job options, and they picked Augusta based on the number of tattoo shops in the area. A fair number of tattoo establishments meant the city was probably open to having a business like his.
He looked in several spots for the dime museum before deciding on the Sixth Street location, and he was able to utilize his construction skills when remodeling the buildings for his museum, coffee shop and performance space. The space had had many lives including being used as an auto parts store. It was dirty and needed a lot of work.
One of the areas he created was a small performance venue, which was booked solid pre-pandemic, he said.
Like Barnum before him, Excho has invited a variety of sideshow acts to perform in his venue. Among them have included sword-swallowers, fire eaters, mentalists and strong men.
While the performances have been shut down during the pandemic, the museum is still open for tours by appointment, and Excho is still creating his artwork. He recently created a banner of a sword-swallower, which will hang at the museum. He’s also designed a t-shirt and stickers that will be sold to support the museum.
To learn more about the museum, visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/americandimemuseum.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
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