Donald Trump, known for calling people names, has been called a few names himself, including "con artist" and "pitch man." If Trump had been born a few generations earlier, you never would have heard of P.T. Barnum.
Well, maybe you would have. Showmen Trump and P.T. Barnum have much in common: careers in show business, controversial statements, bouncing from one controversial social issue to another, manipulation of the media, authors of books on business and forays into business and politics.
Phineas Taylor Barnum was born in Bethel, Connecticut, in 1810, son of an inn-keeper, tailor and store-keeper. Barnum, reputed to hate physical work, but good at arithmetic, started as a store-keeper. He learned haggling and using deception as a sales tactic. At a young age, he engaged in real estate speculation and started a private lottery network. He became active in local politics and advocated against blue laws that sought to restrict gambling. He started a local newspaper, and his editorials against church elders resulted in libel suits and imprisonment for two months.
He was released from prison in 1834, the year that lotteries were banned in Connecticut, cutting off his main source of income. Barnum sold his store and moved to New York City where he began his career as a showman. He purchased a blind, paralyzed slave woman, Joice Heth, who he claimed had been George Washington's nurse and to be over 160 years old.
Joice Heth died in 1836, believed to be about 80 years old. After a few tough years he purchased Scudder's American Museum, renamed it "Barnum's American Museum" and added various attractions. These included live acts and curiosities including albinos, giants, midgets, "fat boys," jugglers and exotic women.
In 1842, Barnum introduced a creature known as "Feejee, the Mermaid," a creature with the head of a monkey and tail of a fish. This was followed by "General Tom Thumb," who was then 4 years old but was stated to be 11. The boy was taught to imitate people like Hercules and Napoleon. For public amusement, he was drinking wine by the age of 5 and smoking cigars by the age of 7.
Barnum justified his hoaxes by asserting they were "advertisements to draw attention to the Museum." He added that "I don't believe in duping the public but ... first in attracting and then pleasing them." He later crusaded against fraudsters, others than himself, that is.
Barnum toured Europe in 1844-45 with Tom Thumb. Queen Victoria was reported to be saddened by the spectacle. But the event was good for publicity. On return to New York, Barnum bought more museums and by 1846 was drawing over 400,000 visitors annually.
Prior to his entry into the circus business for which he is best known, his most ambitious venture was his sponsorship and partnership with the "Swedish Nightingale," Jenny Lind.
Jenny Lind, born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1820, was the daughter of a bookkeeper and a school teacher. At age 9, young Jenny was overheard singing by the principal dancer at the Royal Swedish Opera. This resulted in admission to the school of the Royal Dramatic Theater. She began singing on stage when she was 10.
Under instruction by Manuel Garcia of the Royal Swedish Opera she improved her singing. In 1843 she toured Denmark where she met Hans Christian Andersen who fell in love with her. She did not reciprocate.
At the Royal Swedish Opera, Lind performed with Julius Gunther, and they became engaged to marry in spring of 1848. They broke off the engagement in October of that year.
Lind's career had soared with successful performances in Vienna where she was mobbed by admirers, and in London where she was admired by Queen Victoria. She contributed generously to charitable causes, no doubt enhancing her international popularity.
Felix Mendelssohn, a German composer, pianist and conductor, greatly admired Lind. The day after her debut in Leipzig in 1845, she sang without fee for a charity concert under the direction of Mendelssohn. He worked with Lind and wrote the beginnings of an opera just for her. His feelings for Lind went beyond professional admiration and friendship. Though married, he ostensibly wrote passionate love letters to her that were eventually destroyed after Lind's death.
Lind was devastated by Mendelssohn's premature death in 1947. She was initially unable to sing a part in a composition Mendelssohn had written with her in mind. She finally did the performance and raised money to fund a musical scholarship as a memorial to Mendelssohn.
During P.T. Barnum's Tom Thumb tour of England, he first became aware of Lind, then at the height of her career in Europe. Barnum proposed to sponsor an American tour for Lind throughout the United States. It would be a risky venture for him as he noted that "The public is a very strange animal ... and they are fickle and ofttimes perverse." But he figured that Lind's reputation for morality and philanthropy could be used to lend him favorable publicity.
Lind negotiated a tough deal with the objective of raising large sums for charities and the endowment of free schools back in Sweden. Barnum borrowed money to pay her fees that she demanded in advance.
At that point, few Americans had heard Lind sing. Barnum (truthfully) marketed her as a simple woman with a God-given talent who had dedicated her life and substantial earnings to a number of charitable causes.
Her American tour was successful, and profitable beyond expectations, for both Lind and Barnum. When Lind realized how much Barnum was making and was distressed over Barnum's marketing techniques, she negotiated a better deal, all while persuading him to offer some tickets at reduced prices.
Money was not enough to hold the two disparate characters together. After 93 shows, she severed her contract with Barnum and continued on her own, but never did as well financially without Barnum, the savvy marketing impresario.
Next week: Barnum gets into the circus business.
- John Waelti of Monroe can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Fridays in The Monroe Times.
Well, maybe you would have. Showmen Trump and P.T. Barnum have much in common: careers in show business, controversial statements, bouncing from one controversial social issue to another, manipulation of the media, authors of books on business and forays into business and politics.
Phineas Taylor Barnum was born in Bethel, Connecticut, in 1810, son of an inn-keeper, tailor and store-keeper. Barnum, reputed to hate physical work, but good at arithmetic, started as a store-keeper. He learned haggling and using deception as a sales tactic. At a young age, he engaged in real estate speculation and started a private lottery network. He became active in local politics and advocated against blue laws that sought to restrict gambling. He started a local newspaper, and his editorials against church elders resulted in libel suits and imprisonment for two months.
He was released from prison in 1834, the year that lotteries were banned in Connecticut, cutting off his main source of income. Barnum sold his store and moved to New York City where he began his career as a showman. He purchased a blind, paralyzed slave woman, Joice Heth, who he claimed had been George Washington's nurse and to be over 160 years old.
Joice Heth died in 1836, believed to be about 80 years old. After a few tough years he purchased Scudder's American Museum, renamed it "Barnum's American Museum" and added various attractions. These included live acts and curiosities including albinos, giants, midgets, "fat boys," jugglers and exotic women.
In 1842, Barnum introduced a creature known as "Feejee, the Mermaid," a creature with the head of a monkey and tail of a fish. This was followed by "General Tom Thumb," who was then 4 years old but was stated to be 11. The boy was taught to imitate people like Hercules and Napoleon. For public amusement, he was drinking wine by the age of 5 and smoking cigars by the age of 7.
Barnum justified his hoaxes by asserting they were "advertisements to draw attention to the Museum." He added that "I don't believe in duping the public but ... first in attracting and then pleasing them." He later crusaded against fraudsters, others than himself, that is.
Barnum toured Europe in 1844-45 with Tom Thumb. Queen Victoria was reported to be saddened by the spectacle. But the event was good for publicity. On return to New York, Barnum bought more museums and by 1846 was drawing over 400,000 visitors annually.
Prior to his entry into the circus business for which he is best known, his most ambitious venture was his sponsorship and partnership with the "Swedish Nightingale," Jenny Lind.
Jenny Lind, born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1820, was the daughter of a bookkeeper and a school teacher. At age 9, young Jenny was overheard singing by the principal dancer at the Royal Swedish Opera. This resulted in admission to the school of the Royal Dramatic Theater. She began singing on stage when she was 10.
Under instruction by Manuel Garcia of the Royal Swedish Opera she improved her singing. In 1843 she toured Denmark where she met Hans Christian Andersen who fell in love with her. She did not reciprocate.
At the Royal Swedish Opera, Lind performed with Julius Gunther, and they became engaged to marry in spring of 1848. They broke off the engagement in October of that year.
Lind's career had soared with successful performances in Vienna where she was mobbed by admirers, and in London where she was admired by Queen Victoria. She contributed generously to charitable causes, no doubt enhancing her international popularity.
Felix Mendelssohn, a German composer, pianist and conductor, greatly admired Lind. The day after her debut in Leipzig in 1845, she sang without fee for a charity concert under the direction of Mendelssohn. He worked with Lind and wrote the beginnings of an opera just for her. His feelings for Lind went beyond professional admiration and friendship. Though married, he ostensibly wrote passionate love letters to her that were eventually destroyed after Lind's death.
Lind was devastated by Mendelssohn's premature death in 1947. She was initially unable to sing a part in a composition Mendelssohn had written with her in mind. She finally did the performance and raised money to fund a musical scholarship as a memorial to Mendelssohn.
During P.T. Barnum's Tom Thumb tour of England, he first became aware of Lind, then at the height of her career in Europe. Barnum proposed to sponsor an American tour for Lind throughout the United States. It would be a risky venture for him as he noted that "The public is a very strange animal ... and they are fickle and ofttimes perverse." But he figured that Lind's reputation for morality and philanthropy could be used to lend him favorable publicity.
Lind negotiated a tough deal with the objective of raising large sums for charities and the endowment of free schools back in Sweden. Barnum borrowed money to pay her fees that she demanded in advance.
At that point, few Americans had heard Lind sing. Barnum (truthfully) marketed her as a simple woman with a God-given talent who had dedicated her life and substantial earnings to a number of charitable causes.
Her American tour was successful, and profitable beyond expectations, for both Lind and Barnum. When Lind realized how much Barnum was making and was distressed over Barnum's marketing techniques, she negotiated a better deal, all while persuading him to offer some tickets at reduced prices.
Money was not enough to hold the two disparate characters together. After 93 shows, she severed her contract with Barnum and continued on her own, but never did as well financially without Barnum, the savvy marketing impresario.
Next week: Barnum gets into the circus business.
- John Waelti of Monroe can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Fridays in The Monroe Times.
