Showing posts with label Barnum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barnum. Show all posts

July 5 - Happy Birthday, P.T. Barnum

 Posted on July 5, 2021

This is an update of my post published on July 5, 2010:



Born on this day in 1810, Phineas Taylor Barnum grew up to be what some call a great showman—and what others call a shameless huckster.

He opened a circus he billed as “the Greatest Show on Earth,” and he presented what was then called a "freak show," exhibiting such “curiosities” as little people (folks with dwarfism), conjoined twins, albinos, giants, and other non-freaks who happened to have unusual conditions.


Barnum included in his show exhibits like "the Feejee Mermaid," which was supposed to be the mummified body of a mermaid, but was really the torso and head of a baby monkey attached to a large fish tail, and covered with paper maché.


Barnum used “hype” to entertain people – and, with fakes such as the “Feejee Mermaid,” one would say to fool people—but he was honest that his performances were "humbug" (lies or trickery). He was not fond of people using humbug and claiming that it was real, true, and honest!

Barnum felt so strongly about this, he used his knowledge of trickery to debunk people who ripped others off. Mediums claimed to speak to the dead, but, Barnum said, exploited grieving people who would pay almost any amount of money to speak with their loved ones again. Barnum helped to reveal the tricks used...And he even served as an expert witness on "humbuggery" (!) in a trial of William Mumler, who claimed he could take photos of "spirits" - aka dead people. Apparently he proved to all that Mumler was a fraud when he showed a photo of himself with Lincoln - a photo a photographer made without reference to spirits!

(Above) Mumler took a photo of Mary Todd Lincoln, and it
convinced her that her dearly departed husband Abe Lincoln
was still watching over her. 

At the trial, P.T. Barnum presented this photo of himself with
Lincoln supposedly watching over HIM!



Apparently Mumler was acquitted because Barnum's proof didn't rise to legal-level proof that Mumler's spirit photos were fraudulent - but Mumler's spirit-photo business and his reputation  never recovered.

P.T. Barnum Said...

“There's a sucker born every minute.”

And:














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April 9 – Jumbo Day

Posted on April 9, 2017


Jumbo the elephant was probably one of the most famous real elephants ever (and by "real" I am distinguishing him from fictional characters such as Babar and Dumbo!), and he is probably also the only elephant to have inspired a word in the English language.
I guess the word "jumbo" isn't
ONLY in the English language!

 The word he inspired was, of course, his name. Jumbo was a male African bush elephant, and he was between ten and thirteen feet tall (it's hard to sort out old claims, since we know that Jumbo's last owner, P.T. Barnum, was big on promotion and might have exaggerated the creature's size). 

Jumbo lived from 1860 to 1885. When he was a young calf, he was sold to an Italian animal dealer, who took him from his birthplace in Sudan to Egypt, then across the Mediterranean to Italy. Jumbo was sold to an animal dealer in Germany, then to a zoo in Paris, France, and THEN to a zoo in London, England, where he gave visitors rides, and finally to America.

 Jumbo was so popular with Londoners that around 100,000 children wrote to Queen Victoria, begging her not to sell the elephant. (I'm pretty sure that the queen wasn't directly involved in the sale - so I imagine that the kids were begging her not to allow the London Zoo to sell her! Even for the price of $10,000 - which today would be $248,000!)

 But the sale went through, and on this date in 1882, Jumbo arrived in New York City. Soon the Barnum & Bailey Circus was exhibiting him in Madison Square Garden. 

 As I said before, Barnum was good at promotion. Soon the word "jumbo" entered the language to mean "huge" or "enormous." People would promote sandwiches or beverages as "Jumbo Size!"

 Barnum made a profit on Jumbo right away - in the first ten days of Jumbo's time in New York, he made $30,000! And the first year, he brought in $1.5 million!

 Sadly, Jumbo died in 1885. Barnum and others told an emotional story of Jumbo dying in an effort to save a young circus elephant named Tom Thumb from being hit by a locomotive. In at least some versions of the story, both Tom Thumb and Jumbo were struck by the locomotive and died. However, some accounts said that the train hit and killed Jumbo, and Tom Thumb only broke his leg. And, according to Wikipedia, Jumbo died by tripping and falling on a train track, and being impaled on his own tusk. In this account, he died instantly and then, being of course extremely difficult to move, he was struck by an unexpected locomotive.

In none of the accounts I read was there a report on the effect of the collision on the train locomotive or its driver. 

 After Jumbo's death, a lot of weird stuff was found in its stomach. This included coins, keys, rivets, and even a police whistle! Jumbo's skeleton was donated to the American Museum of Natural History, the heart was sold to a university, and the hide was stuffed and displayed at the circus and, later, a Barnum & Bailey exhibit at another university.



 Also on this date:






















(A.K.A.) Finnish Language Day















National Library Week in the U.S. - April 9 through 15 

(2017 theme is “Libraries Transform”)




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January 4 – Tom Thumb Day

Posted on January 4, 2015

Nowadays we can learn about the challenges and rewards that little people deal with by watching TV shows such as Little People, Big World. But back in the 1800s, most people had never seen someone diagnosed with dwarfism, and circus and sideshow promoters hired dwarfs and toured about showed them off as “human curiosities” and even “freaks.”

Of course, the important thing about “human curiosities” is that they are HUMAN! Hopefully most of the dwarfs employed by circuses and side shows enjoyed being entertainers and did not feel like freaks being stared at and talked about by crowds of people—but I fear that the experience was negative for many.

I am not sure, but I think that the relationship between circus promoter P.T. Barnum and little person Charles Stratton was a true partnership with mutual respect. (I hope it was not troubled by condescension and exploitation!) However, one thing I am sure of is that it was a very successful partnership! With Barnum's promotional skills and Stratton's talents and comedic style, Stratton became world famous as General Tom Thumb.

Barnum was a distant relative of Charles Stratton. He heard about little Charles's lack of growth, but when Barnum met the boy he realized that he was precocious and charming. Barnum taught the young boy how to sing, dance, mime, and do impersonations. Then he took the boy out on tour when Charles was just five years old!

Then, when Charles was just six years old, Barnum took him on a tour of Europe!

Both tours were huge successes, and the “Tom Thumb” was mobbed everywhere he went. He appeared twice before Queen Victoria and met the future King Edward VII when the latter was just three years old.

When Tom Thumb became an adult, he continued to be famous. When he married another dwarf, Livinia Warren, the wedding was huge (10,000 guests!) and made front-page news. The couple was received by President Lincoln at the White House.


Growing in stature and riches

Stratton was born on this date in 1838. He was actually a large baby, weighing more than 9 pounds (more than 4 kg) at birth! He grew normally until he was six months old, and then he stopped for years. Finally, when he was 9 years old, he started to grow again—but very slowly. When he was 18, Stratton was 2 feet 8 inches tall (more than 82 cm).

With P.T. Barnum managing his entertainment career, Stratton became very wealthy. He owned a nice house, a steam yacht, and a wardrobe of fine clothing. At one point, Barnum got into financial difficulty, and Stratton was able to bail him out.

Stratton continued to grow slowly. When he died at age 45, he was more than 3 feet (102 cm) tall.


Barnum purchased a life-sized statue of the entertainer to mark his grave. In 1959, the statue was smashed by vandals, but the general public pitched in to restore the statue.

Also on this date:


Fairy tale editor Jacob Grimm's birthday


















Firsts for the fourth










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March 28 – Barnum & Bailey Day


Posted on March 28, 2014


On this date in 1881, the “Greatest Show on Earth” was created.

Circus owner P.T. Barnum merged his show with James A. Bailey's circus – and together their circus really was greater. 

On March 29, 1919, the seven Ringling Brothers merged their circus with Barnum & Bailey's – I guess creating the Even Greatest Show on Earth?

(Actually, it's still just called “Greatest Show on Earth.” By the way, I find it strange that “Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus” is still the name of this most famous of U.S. circuses—which is strange, because people can't even be bothered to say “Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie,” so you would definitely think that this circus's name would have been streamlined by now. Maybe Ringling BBB? But I guess long names are part of the culture of circuses. Barnum's first circus was called “P.T. Barnum's Great Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Hippodrome”!)

Just what is a circus, anyway?

A circus in a company of performers who do stunt-oriented performances, sometimes with animals. Some of the performers commonly seen in circuses include clowns, acrobats, stunt riders, stilt walkers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists, and animal trainers. Aerial acts using one or more trapezes, ropes, rings, or hoops are an exciting part of most circuses.

I generally think of "circus animals"
being elephants and lion and tigers...
But this early Barnum & Bailey poster
lures viewers to come watch the
"geese roosters"!!!
Modern circuses began in the mid-1700s in England, and they were almost entirely about horse riding skills and tricks. Within the next 50 years many other sorts of acts were presented, including huge, theatrical battle reenactments! By the late 1800s, the ringmaster presenting acts choreographed to music became the favored style of circuses—and this style lasted a century!

Nowadays, most people think Cirque du Soleil rather than Ringling Bros. The nouveau cirque (which is French for “new circus”) features fewer (or no) animal acts and a more theatrical, artistic show, shown in a theater, complete with sets, lighting, avant-garde costumes, and original music.

But you can still get your Barnum & Bailey fix, often in a “big top” tent, with elephants and lions, dancing dogs and speeding steeds, clowns crammed into a tiny car and lovely ladies flying through the air with the greatest of ease.

Celebrate!

If you can't run away to the circus today, perhaps a little virtual viewing would help celebrate:
Or go the distance, think big, and have a circus mini-party! There are tons of ideas for crafts, snacks, games, and all manner of circus fun here. 

Also on this date:







Weed Appreciation Day 















Ragnar Lodbrok Day in Scandinavia








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