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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Treashunt, post: 8501100, member: 6763&quot;]I am glad that you said &#039;unattributed&#039;</p><p><br /></p><p>Barnum&#039;s biographer Arthur H. Saxon tried to track down when Barnum had uttered this phrase but was unable to verify it. According to Saxon, &quot;There&#039;s no contemporary account of it, or even any suggestion that the word &#039;sucker&#039; was used in the derogatory sense in his day. Barnum was just not the type to disparage his patrons.&quot;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute#cite_note-1" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute#cite_note-1" rel="nofollow">[1]</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PT_Barnum_by_Eisenmann,_1885.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PT_Barnum_by_Eisenmann,_1885.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/PT_Barnum_by_Eisenmann%2C_1885.jpg/200px-PT_Barnum_by_Eisenmann%2C_1885.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p><p>Photo of P. T. Barnum by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Eisenmann" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Eisenmann" rel="nofollow">Charles Eisenmann</a></p><p>Some sources claim that it is most likely from famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con-man" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con-man" rel="nofollow">con-man</a> Joseph (&quot;Paper Collar Joe&quot;) Bessimer,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute#cite_note-2" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute#cite_note-2" rel="nofollow">[2]</a> and other sources say that it was actually uttered by David Hannum in reference to Barnum&#039;s part in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Giant" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Giant" rel="nofollow">Cardiff Giant</a> hoax.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute#cite_note-3" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute#cite_note-3" rel="nofollow">[3]</a> Hannum was exhibiting the &quot;original&quot; giant and had unsuccessfully sued Barnum for exhibiting a copy and claiming that it was the original. Crowds continued to pay to see Barnum&#039;s exhibit, even after both it and the original had been proven to be fakes.[<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" rel="nofollow">citation needed</a></i>] A circus competitor to Barnum, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Forepaugh" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Forepaugh" rel="nofollow">Adam Forepaugh</a>, attributed the quote to Barnum in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper" rel="nofollow">newspaper</a> interview in an attempt to discredit him.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute#cite_note-4" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute#cite_note-4" rel="nofollow">[4]</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Another source credits late 1860s Chicago saloon owner <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cassius_McDonald" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cassius_McDonald" rel="nofollow">Michael Cassius McDonald</a> as the originator of the aphorism. According to the book <i>Gem of the Prairie: Chicago Underworld</i> (1940) by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Asbury" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Asbury" rel="nofollow">Herbert Asbury</a>, McDonald was equipping his gambling house known as <i>The Store</i> when his partner expressed concern over the large number of roulette wheels and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faro_(card_game)" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faro_(card_game)" rel="nofollow">faro</a> tables being installed and their ability to get enough players. McDonald then allegedly said, &quot;Don&#039;t worry about that, there&#039;s a sucker born every minute.&quot;[</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's_a_sucker_born_every_minute</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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