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Message:: [QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 3436915, member: 101855"]I wrote this article for my local club a couple of years ago. Since I don't know what to do with it from there, I'll post in here in three parts. Bah Humbug! That phrase is most often associated with Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, but the word, "humbug," had many other applications in the 19th century. "Humbug" describes something that is met to deceive or mislead people. Some people applied that description to the many projects of Phineas T. Barnum, but I would prefer to characterize him as America's first great showman, perhaps our greatest showman. P.T. Barnum was born on July 5, 1810 in Bethel, Connecticut. Later in life he would settle in Bridgeport which would claim him as a native son when he appeared on the obverse of the Bridgeport commemorative half dollar. His first job was as a clerk in a country store at age 13. At age 18 he started to find his calling when he got into the lottery business. A year later he moved to Danbury, Connecticut where he published a newspaper, "The Herald of Freedom." That publication was not always noted for accuracy. At one point he spent 60 days in jail after he was convicted of libel. At age 25 Barnum bought his first true "humbug," an African-American slave, Joice Heth. Barnum claimed that she was 161 years old and had been the property of George Washington's father, Augustine. To add spice to the story, Barnum claimed that Joice  had nursed George Washington when he was a baby. To set the record straight, Washington was born in 1732 and Barnum presented Ms. Heth as a paid attraction in 1835, 103 years later. Joice Heth died not long after Barium acquired her, but not before he had earned seed money for his later attractions. In 1842 Barnum opened one of his greatest projects, the American Museum, in New York City. Barnum began by buying the collections of the Scudder and Peale museums and added to their holdings with many attractions of his own. His live attractions included the conjoined twins, Chang and Eng, a bearded lady and "the pinhead," William Henry Johnson, who had Microcephaly. While these attractions were genuine oddities, others like "the Fiji Mermaid," was nothing more than the body of a monkey joined to the tail of a fish. Barnum's most successful live attraction was "the little person," "General Tom Thumb," whose real name was Charles S. Stratton. Stratton began his career at age 5 when he was less than two feet tall. Barnum raised his age to 11 for public consumption, but Stratton's adult height was only about 33 inches. Stratton, who could sing, dance and imitate famous people, had more talents that just his small size. He performed for Queen Victoria and King Louis Philippe of France, where he became an international sensation and later, Abraham Lincoln. In 1863 Barnum staged an elaborate wedding for Stratton when he wed another "little person," Lavinia Warren. That event actually pushed the Civil War off the front pages of the nation's newspapers for a time. Barnum made a fortune from his Tom Thumb promotion, but Charles Stratton made great deal of money as well. Although Barnum was the master of the "humbug" and promotions, he was surprisingly honest in his business dealings. Even in tough times he paid his performers well and strove to pay his creditors even when he was facing bankruptcy. Barnum's greatest cultural project was the tour of Swedish singer, Jenny Lind, who was known as "the Swedish nightingale." Barnum put her on tour to sold-out audiences, while paying her the unheard of salary of $1,000 a week. Lind was a talented singer, but Barium's skills as a promoter did much to lift her to the unusual status of a well remembered 19th century entertainer. Barnum's American Museum continued to do well in New York City. Charging an admission of 25 cents, it attracted thousands of customers per day. The facility featured a rotating array of mounted and living animals in addition to an auditorium that was greatly expanded in the mid 1850s. In 1864 a group of Confederate sponsored terrorists set the building on fire, but the blaze was quickly contained. Barnum would not be so fortunate on July 13, 1865 when another fire burned the structure to the ground. Everything was destroyed and Barnum was forced to start over. He opened another museum at another location, but it too was destroyed by flames in 1868.[/QUOTE]

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