Titans of Industry: PT Barnum

I'm just not quite done yet with this fascination on iconic American capitalists. This time I draw my attention to the famous businessman, PT Barnum. While PT Barnum was not near the wealth level of Rockefeller or Carnegie he was still no doubt a titan of industry. His industry was in the business of entertainment. His American Museum of Curiosities was unlike anything the country had witnessed before. The site was a defining staple of New York City in the 1850s and eventually had a national and worldwide appeal. PT Barnum's museum and shows could be considered a precursor to the modern day circus as well as the establishment of the Broadway theater business. For this reason PT Barnum is often considered the Greatest Showman who ever lived and an definitive American capitalist.

Now just like everything else I write about in this blog, the inspiration always seems to come from a movie I watch. This time it was the film, The Greatest Showman that brought about the interest. The film was released in 2017 and stars Hugh Jackman in the title role, and his 2nd major Hollywood musical film (after Les Miserables of course). I first saw this film on a plane ride to Sacramento last year and was especially inspired by the music of the movie. Some of my favorite songs included "This is Me", "From Now On", and especially "Never Enough" by the beautiful Loren Allred. I would rank this film in some of my all time favorite musical films alongside Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, West Side Story, etc.

And while this film, The Greatest Showman, brought on my interest into Barnum, it wasn't the first time I heard of this historical name. His character was also portrayed in another of my favorite  movies, Gangs of New York. For me the name Barnum has been synonymous with the circus business since I can remember. Personally I am not a fan of circus acts, clowns, freak-shows, and the Broadway scene in general. However I am a fan of history, and cannot deny that PT Barnum was a very influential figure in American business and entertainment.

Early Life of PT Barnum

He was born into a middle class family in Bethel, Connecticut, his father was a tailor and storekeeper. At a young age Barnum displayed a tact for business and had many ventures before he became a showman. Some of these included real estate, general store management, book trade, selling of lottery tickets, and a newspaper publication called the Herald of Freedom. He fought against Calvinist conservative oppression in the Connecticut region and became a champion of the liberal movement. In 1835 he moved to New York City to begin his career in show business.

One of his first major exhibits was an African slave woman he purchased named, Joice Heth. She was old, paralyzed, and blind and Barnum convinced his audiences that she was the 161 year old caretaker of George Washington. He later expanded his business into a variety show with various exhibits and performers, it became known as "Barnum's Grand Scientific and Musical Theater". However he experienced low profit during this time due to the economic downturn of the Panic of 1837.

Barnum's American Museum of Curiosities

In 1841 Barnum made his greatest gamble yet by purchasing the Scudder American Museum on the busy corner of Broadway and Ann Street. He renovated the building with new attractions and renamed it Barnum's American Museum. The building's exterior itself quickly became a major point of interest in the district. It was dosed with colorful flags, paintings, posters, a garden on the roof which offered balloon rides and views of the city, and a lighthouse lamp that gleamed at night. Then of course there were the exhibits inside which ranged from wax figures, exotic animals, and various entertainers.

Barnum was able to increase attendance thru great advertising, promotions, sales gimmicks, hoaxes, and sensationalism. He quickly began recruiting some of the most odd people in the area which he referred to as his people of curiosities. This included dwarfs, giants, albinos, foreign people, extremely overweight people, and a bearded lady. One of Barnum's first popular hoaxes was the "Feejee Mermaid" which he claimed was a half human half fish found off the island of Fiji. This was in truth the head of a dead monkey sewed on to the body of a large fish.

One of Barnum's most popular early acts was that of General Tom Thumb. He was a young performing dwarf who could sing, dance, act, and imitate famous people. In 1843 PT Barnum traveled to perform for Queen Victoria, and General Tom Thumb was a huge hit with the queen. This visit heightened the popularity and success of PT Barnum. By 1846 his museum was drawing nearly 400,000 visitors a year.

Some of his other famous curiosities, often referred to as "Barnum's freaks" by the general public included;

• General Tom Thumb, this witty dwarf was his first and most famous sideshow
• the bearded lady
• the human caterpillar, a man born without legs or arms
• Jo-Jo the dog faced boy
• the living skeleton, an extremely thin man weighing less than 50 pounds
• Zip the Pinhead, a former slave with an abnormally small head
• Commodore Nutt, dwarf entertainer who dressed in naval uniforms
• Anna Swan, was a Canadian giant woman standing at 7'll feet tall
• Chang &Eng, conjoined twins from the island of Siam. These two were such a popular act they are the reason today conjoined twins are referred to as Siamese twins

During it's 20 plus years of operation, Barnum's Museum experienced great success yet also heavy criticism. It was often viewed by some as a complete freak show and a place that lacked morality. Barnum made various efforts to dissuade this criticism, thru theater shows, educational exhibits, and the first ever aquarium. However the museum was constantly in the news for it's outlandish stories and caught on fire various times. One of the most famous of these fires was that in 1865 where animals were seen jumping out of the windows. This included a bengal tiger that attacked the onlookers and had to be killed by a fireman. Barnum was able to open a new museum after this, however it also caught on fire in 1868 leading Barnum to move on to other things.    

Jenny Lind Tour and Theater Business

During his visit to Europe in the 1840s, PT Barnum became aware of the popular singer Jenny Lind, known as the "Swedish Nightingale". In an effort to change his public image from a master of freaks, he convinced Jenny Lind to perform in America. She agreed to the partnership at a hefty price so she could fun charities at her homeland of Sweden. The tour had major publicity thanks to Barnum's advertising and brought on a fervor of "Lind-Mania". Her first show in the states was on Sept. 11th, 1850 in the Castle Garden of New York and was a major success.

With Barnum's management and Lind's beautiful voice, the two made great profits on the tour. They traveled throughout the East Coast, the southern states, and as far as Cuba. Attendance was so high at each show, Barnum began auctioning off tickets, however Lind was distressed by this sort of commercialism. She eventually grew tired of his relentless promotions and business schemes and broke off the partnership in 1851. She did 93 shows under Barnum's management and finished her tour under her own management by 1852. It was perhaps one of the first major musical tours in American history.

Following the end of his partnership with Jenny Lind, Barnum was inspired to build upon his theater business. By 1853 he built the largest modern theater in New York City known as the Moral Lecture Room. His intention was once again to dissuade his business from a "den of evils" and  provide good moral entertainment for middle class families. He organized various shows at this theater ranging from plays, concerts, minstrels, melodramas, farces, lectures, flower shows, beauty contests, dog shows, and even baby contests. He also promoted some of the first ever day-time shows known as matinees to lessen the fear of crime.

Political and Circus Career

Towards the end of his museum business, PT Barnum had a brief stint in politics. He changed parties from Democrat to Republican, convincing the public he had changed his attitudes towards slavery and now stood against it. He was elected in 1866 as a state representative for Connecticut and served one full term until 1869. He later served as mayor of Bridgeport, CT for a year in 1875 and helped establish the Bridgeport Hospital in 1878.

Barnum's greatest fortune however did not come until he was in his 60s when he got involved in the circus business. In 1870 he established "PT Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Hippodrome". This was essentially his museum on wheels, demonstrating his exhibits, animals, and entertainers in a three-ring format. One of the largest attractions of his traveling circus was a giant elephant he bought from Europe known as "Jumbo". Barnum's circus went thru various name changes over the years but in 1881 he merged with ringmaster James Bailey to establish the "Barnum and Bailey's Circus". By the turn of the century it was described as the Greatest Show on Earth.

PT Barnum eventually passed on the management of his circus business to his younger business partners. His traveling circus by train was one of the first of it's kind and paved the way for a booming industry at the turn of the century. In 1891 Barnum died of a stroke at the age of 80. His circus business was sold to the Ringling Brothers in 1907. It still operated as it's own show however until 1919 when it was merged into the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. This circus operated for 147, and just recently shut down in 2017. It is without question the most iconic circus in American history, much thanks to the innovative ambition displayed by PT Barnum. He was an American titan of the circus and entertainment business.