HelPeR - BYU Idaho Special Collections and Family History

1865, it burned to the ground and Barnum opened
his New American Museum between Spring and
Prince Streets.
Barnum expertly manipulated the penny press
to create controversy about his array of curiosities,
which included two-headed animals, a three-legged
man, dancing Indians, an aquarium with Beluga
whales, animals in cages, dioramas, wax figures,
busts of famous persons, new scientific instruments,
sleight-of-hand tricks, a flea circus, the fake mummified
Fejee Mermaid, Chang and Eng the Siamese
twins, two microcephalic Mexican boys, a mentally
impaired Negro man presented as a missing link
between man and beast, the seven-foot-tall Nova
Scotia giantess, the world famous two-foot-five-inch
General Tom Thumb, the tree under which Jesus’
disciples supposedly sat, an oyster bar, a rifle range,
and hot air balloon rides that were launched from
the rooftop.
Barnum also presented “respectable” entertainments
aimed at middle class sensibilities, including
popular National Baby Show competitions, and a
Moral Lecture Hall that offered a variety of speakers
and magic lantern shows, and an adaptation of
Uncle Tom’s Cabin. He organized the 90-concert tour
of Jenny Lind, the “Swedish Nightingale.” in 1850-51
(the top-priced ticket at her New York opening sold
for $225—almost $6,000 today). In 1870, Barnum organized
a traveling show that featured a menagerie,
caravan, and circus, and in 1874 opened a 10,000-
seat Hippodrome. He introduced his last superstar,
Jumbo the Elephant, in 1882.
Barnum built a pseudo-Oriental mansion called
Iranistan, and a Queen Ann-style mansion called
Waldemere, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the winter
quarters for his circus. When he died in 1891,
his estate was valued at $4 million. Barnum wrote
in his autobiography that he wanted his patrons to
“think, talk and wonder.” Indeed, some 38 million
customers came to his museums. Many spent the
entire day there.
The main Barnum archive is at the Public Library
in Bridgeport, also home to a Barnum Museum. For
additional reading see: P. T. Barnum, The Life of P. T.
Barnum, Written By Himself (1855, reprinted 2000), Bluford
Adams, E Pluribus Barnum: The Great Showman
and the Making of U.S. Popular Culture (1997); James W.
Cook, The Arts of Deception: Playing with Fraud in the
Age of Barnum (2001); Neil Harris, Humbug: The Art of
P.T. Barnum (1973); Miles Orvell, The Real Thing: Imitation
and Authenticity in American Culture, 1880-1940
(1989); Benjamin Reiss, The Showman and the Slave:
Race, Death and Memory in Barnum’s America (2001);
and Irving Wallace, The Fabulous Showman; The Life
and Times of P. T. Barnum (1959).
Richard L. Hooverson, the owner
of Out of the Past , offers seminars
to societies and assistance to
authors of family histories. He is
a graduate of the University of
Wisconsin, a Fellow of the Texas
State Genealogical Society, and
a member of the Association
of Professional Genealogists.
His great-grandfather emigrated from Norway to
Wisconsin Territory in 1847. His special interests
are ethnic settlement patterns and social history.
He has presented over 300 lectures nationwide,
including conferences of the National Genealogical
Society and Federation of Genealogical Societies.
Address: 701 Lake Road, Belton, TX 76513; email:
haaver@vVm.com; Web: www.outofthepast.com.
Ja n ua ry/Fe b r u a r y 2009 Ev e r t o n’s Ge n e a l o g i c a l He l p e r © 15