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For 146 years, the Barnum and Bailey Circus was known for being the greatest show on earth. None of it would have been possible if it were not for an ambitious entrepreneur named PT Barnum. While his life and career were sometimes the source of controversy, he truly was a brilliant businessman, and many of his ideas forever changed the entertainment industry as we know it today.
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Transcript Provided by YouTube:
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For 146 years, the Barnum and Bailey Circus was known for being the greatest show on earth.
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None of it would have been possible if it were not for an ambitious entrepreneur named
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PT Barnum. While his life and career were sometimes the source of controversy, he truly
00:17
was a brilliant businessman, and many of his ideas forever changed the entertainment industry
00:23
as we know it today. Early Life
00:31
Phineas Taylor Barnum was born in 1810 in Bethel, Connecticut. His parents, Philo Barnum
00:41
and Irene Taylor were farmers who rented out rooms in their home for extra income. His
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grandfather was a well-respected judge in the town. On the day of his baptism, PT Barnum
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inherited a 4.7-acre piece of land from his grandfather called “Ivy Island”. His parents
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were poor, but as a child, he grew up believing that he was the richest kid in town, because
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he thought that he inherited a private island somewhere that he could build a house on some
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day. When he was 10 years old, his parents finally took him on a trip to visit Ivy Island,
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where he discovered that it was virtually worthless. The island was muddy land in the
01:18
middle of a swamp, and it was filled with poisonous snakes, ticks, and poison ivy. He
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never did anything with the land. Today, it now part of a nature reserve called the Bethel
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Land Trust.
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This was clearly disappointing, and it left him yearning for a reality where he truly
01:35
would be rich enough to buy a private island some day. But he wasn’t interested in the
01:39
traditional ways of making money. By his own admission, he had the reputation of being
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“the laziest boy in town”, because he hated doing farm work and manual labor. Instead
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of forcing Phineas into caring for the family farm, his father helped get him a job as a
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clerk in the town grocery store. This was a perfect fit, and Phineas grew to love the
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idea of running his own business. When he was only 15 years old, his father died, and
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he was now the man of the family. This motivated him even more to make as much money as he
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possibly could. He was possessed by the entrepreneurial spirit, and he began trying different business
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ventures right away.
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His most successful business as a teenager was running a lottery. While working in the
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grocery store, he had an endless supply of glass bottles and tin advertising trays that
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he was expected to throw away. He knew that these items would be useful in people’s
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homes, and he wanted to recycle them in some way. But people were not interested in buying
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them second-hand. He started selling tickets for a lottery, instead. He promised that half
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of the tickets sold would be guaranteed to win something. There were a few big cash prizes,
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and consolation prizes were those items he got for free. He sold 1,000 tickets in just
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the first week, and he continued to run the lottery over and over again.
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When he was just 16 years old, he used all of the money he earned from these lotteries
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to move to Brooklyn, New York to open his own grocery store. Unfortunately, he caught
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smallpox, and had to move back to Connecticut so his mother could help nurse him back to
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health. After recovering from his illness, he knew he needed to try again. When he was
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18, he opened up a confectionary shop in his home town that sold fruit and candy. He was
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able to run more lotteries in his own store. He married his first wife, Charity Hallett,
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when he was 19 years old, and she was 21. They would eventually go on to have four daughters
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together. While he was never overly romantic, he did write that his wife was a “treasure”,
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and that “Without Charity, I am nothing.”
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When he was 21, he wrote several passionate articles about politics and sent them in to
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the local newspaper, but they were all rejected. He decided that if no one was going to publish
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his work, he would self-publish his own paper, called The Herald Freedom. He had enough money
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to buy his own printing press, and handed out the newspapers in town. In one of his
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articles, he exposed the corrupt leaders of the town’s local church. The men sued him
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for libel, since he had no proof to back up his claims in court. He ended up paying a
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$100 fine and spent 60 days in jail. When he was released, he became a local hero, and
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a leader of the liberal movement. Everyone loved him in Bridgeport, but he decided that
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he achieved all he could possibly do in Connecticut. He wanted to move to New York City, where
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he knew he would have so many more opportunities to earn his fortune.
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The First Taste Of Show Business PT and Charity Barnum bought a boarding house
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in New York City so they could earn some income by renting out their extra rooms, just like
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his parents had done back in Connecticut. He used his knowledge from working in retail
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to have partial ownership of a grocery store without having to do any of the work, and
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continued to run his weekly lotteries. He set himself up in a pretty great financial
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situation, and he was still in his early 20’s. His family’s basic needs of food and housing
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were met, but his sights were on bigger and better ways to make as much money as he possibly
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could.
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When he was 25 years old, he met a man who told him about Joice Heth, who was an elderly
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African American slave woman. She claimed to be George Washington’s nanny, and would
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go on and on with her stories of their time together. If this was true, it would have
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made her 161 years old. Barnum was able to pay her owner $1,000 in order to put her on
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display. She looked so incredibly old, that people actually believed that she may have
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truly been 161. People came from all over New York City to see her. She died after only
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one year of touring. There was a public autopsy that revealed she was only about 80 years
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old, but people were not angry about the deception. While it was a “humbug”, people still
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enjoyed the spectacle. This gave PT Barnum a preview of the showman experience. If he
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could find even more fantastic and interesting attractions, he didn’t have to do any of
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the hard manual labor he dreaded so much. He could just hire talented people to perform,
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and collect the money from ticket sales.
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PT Barnum tried to sell tickets to acts with performers who specialized in juggling and
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plate spinning, but most of those shows did not do well, because people had seen these
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acts before. He realized that he had gotten very lucky with having Joice Heth as his very
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first attraction. People really wanted to pay for something they had never seen, but
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he had a difficult time figuring out what to look for without having any experience
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in the entertainment industry. When he was 26, he temporarily left behind his wife and
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children to join a traveling circus in order to educate himself on everything he needed
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to know about show business.
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The owner of the circus was a man named Aaron Turner, and Barnum told him that he was eager
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to learn more about the business. Turner decided to give him a first-hand experience with getting
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a crowd’s attention. The day before their opening show, Turner pointed at PT Barnum
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when he was standing in front of a crowd, claiming that Barnum was Reverend Ephraim
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Avery, who was well-known in the newspapers for being acquitted of murder. Everyone knew
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that Avery was truly guilty, and they were all talking about him. Not many people knew
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what he actually looked like, but they all passionately hated this man.
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Of course, people believed Turner’s claim, and they began chasing after Barnum, who started
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running away. The angry mob got bigger and bigger, and they were ready to take justice
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into their own hands by lynching the “murderer”. At the last moment, Aaron Turner shouted that
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they were circus performers, and he did it as a practical joke. Even though this could
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have been seen as “bad publicity”, it worked. Everyone in the town was talking about
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the angry mob, and wanted to know what kind of crazy men would pull such dangerous jokes
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on each other. They bought tickets to the show the next day.
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After six months with the circus, Barnum started his own small troupe of traveling performers
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called, “Barnum’s Grand Scientific and Musical Theater”. He even bought a steam boat to
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give tours and musical performances along the rivers in the south. But after about a
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year of living on the road, he became very homesick. He missed his wife and kids, and
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he wanted stability. He returned to New York, hoping to find a way to display curiosities
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and performances without traveling from place to place.
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The American Museum In 1841, Barnum purchased the Scudder’s
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American Museum and transformed it to be a much more appealing place to visit. He added
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flags to the outside, and created an elaborate rooftop garden, where a hot air balloon gave
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people rides on a daily basis. Inside, he had a menagerie of exotic animals, magicians,
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and miniaturized recreations of famous battles.
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PT Barnum was a genius when it came to getting more people to come to his attractions. When
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the American Museum first opened, he wasn’t selling as many tickets as he had hoped. So,
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he found an unemployed man, and paid him to run through a cycle of various movements.
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He would pick up a brick on the street, carry it to the door, show his ticket to the museum,
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and walk inside. Then, he would walk back out again, place the brick down, and pick
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up another. He continued to do this every single day, to the point where people noticed
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this ritual on their way to and from work. Some would even stop to watch this man, and
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they asked what he was doing. It was enough to get people curious enough to buy a ticket
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for themselves, so they could see inside.
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As time went on, Barnum used the money he made from ticket sales to improve the quality
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of his displays. He added one of his most famous hoaxes, The Fiji Mermaid. He claimed
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that it was the body of a mermaid that had been caught off the coast of Fiji, but it
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was really the skeleton of a monkey sewn onto a fishtail. One of his most popular live exhibits
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was known as the “Freak Show”. While some people disapprove of the fact that he exploited
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people with physical abnormalities like bearded ladies and people with extra limbs, he was
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giving many of these people work when they would have otherwise never found a job out
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in the real world. He also paid his employees very well, and they were all treated like
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members of the family. Every single one of the members of the so-called Freak Shows became
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incredibly rich, and all they had to do was stand on display. Some of them chose to retire
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after just a few years of working, and they went on to get married and have normal lives.
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When Barnum was 33 years old, he had been running his American Museum for a few years,
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and had found some success. But he was always looking out for the next big thing. He met
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Charles Stratton, who was one of his distant cousins. Charles was only 4 years old when
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they met. He was a proportionate dwarf, standing only 25 inches tall. He would stay the size
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of a baby for the rest of his life. Charles’ father was a carpenter, so their family did
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not have a lot of money. They were afraid for their son’s future. Not many dwarves
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could find work outside of the entertainment industry, and they were never the star of
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the show. They were always on the sidelines, used as the butt of a joke. PT Barnum agreed
11:02
to be his cousin’s manager, and he spent months teaching him how to sing, dance, and
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act. He was not sure how well the audiences would enjoy the show, so at first, he paid
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the boy’s parents $3 a week, which is the modern-day equivalent of $70. His parents
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agreed, and they were happy that their young son could earn any money at all.
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PT Barnum’s strategy with Charles’ performance was to make him the polar opposite of what
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people expected from a dwarf. He gave the boy the stage name of “Tom Thumb”, after
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the well-loved English fairy tale. He also claimed that he was already 10 years old instead
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of 5, which made his small stature even more incredible. Thankfully, Charles was very smart
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child, and he picked up on how to talk with the a bigger vocabulary. Barnum advertised
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Tom Thumb as a “tiny gentleman”, dressing him in tailor-made suits. He was able to memorize
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complicated lines, and performed roles of dignified figures in history, like Napoleon
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Bonaparte. It worked.
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He traveled all over the United States and Europe, becoming one of the world’s first
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international celebrities. Even Queen Victoria was a fan of little Tom Thumb. As time went
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on, PT Barnum hired other proportionate dwarves to join his American Museum. This is where
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Charles Stratton met his future wife, Lavinia Warren. Barnum threw them a wedding ceremony
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that became front-page news. President Abraham Lincoln was also a huge fan, and threw them
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a honeymoon party at the White House. Stratton made so much money through performing, he
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could have retired at a very young age. But he genuinely enjoyed it so much, he continued
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until he died at 45 years old.
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The museum became so popular, that people would buy one ticket and stay there all day,
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even if they got to the end of the tour. It would get so crowded, that Barnum had to figure
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out a way to trick people into leaving. He put up a sign that said, “This way to the
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Egress”. People assumed that it was another attraction, but really, “egress” is just
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a fancy word for “exit”. Once they left the building, they could no longer open the
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door, and if they wanted to come back inside, they needed to stand in line and buy another
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ticket. Iranistan, and The Music Business
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After having so much success with his American Museum, Barnum was able to build a massive
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palace in Connecticut for his family to live. He called the home Iranistan, because of its
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middle-eastern inspiration. He modeled the building after the Brighton Royal Pavilion
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in England, which was the summer home of George, Prince of Wales. He was able to host events
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and bring in famous guest from around the world, like the author Mark Twain. He used
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the large halls for musical performances. He believed that by building such a huge castle,
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famous musicians would be more likely to perform at his venues. It worked.
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In 1850, PT Barnum tried his luck at finding musical talent from overseas. He convinced
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a Swedish opera singer named Jenny Lind to come to New York to perform. According to
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his autobiography, Jenny Lind only agreed to travel to the United States because she
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saw the engraving of Iranistan on the invitation letter, and she wanted to visit this intriguing
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palace. He had never heard her sing, but he learned of her reputation when visiting Europe.
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Barnum was taking a huge risk by hiring Jenny Lind, especially since he had no experience
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in the music industry. He even paid her in advance to travel to The United States. But
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Barnum used his marketing genius to hype up her arrival so much, Americans believed she
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was one of the greatest singers in the world, and that they would be foolish to miss her
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limited-time performance. He created posters that dubbed her “The Swedish Nightingale”.
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Her first performance was held in the Castle Garden, and tickets were sold out.
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The shows were so popular, Jenny Lind performed with Barnum 93 times over the course of five
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months. This new-found fame gave her enough momentum to hire a new manager and go on a
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world tour. Barnum was taking a cut of the ticket sales, of course. Jenny Lind earned
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$350,000 while she was working with Barnum for those few months, and she went on to make
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more during her tour. Barnum received $500,000, which is the modern-day equivalent of nearly
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$15 million.
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Tragically, in 1857, men who were hired to do repairs on Iranistan while Barnum was away
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in New York left a pipe burning when they left for the day, and it caused a fire that
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destroyed everything. His insurance policy only paid out $28,000, even though it cost
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over $150,000 to build the mansion. And then, in 1865, The American Museum burned down,
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as well. He rebuilt the museum, but after only being open a couple years, it burned
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down a second time. Barnum said that the fires “burned to the ground all of his life’s
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accomplishments”.
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The Barnum and Bailey Circus At 60 years old, PT Barnum’s life was a
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roller coaster of success and failure. He was at an age where most men would decide
15:58
to cut their losses and retire. But one of the many things that made PT Barnum such a
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success was that he didn’t let his failures stop him from moving forward. His children
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were all grown up, and his wife Charity had passed away. He decided that it was the right
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time in his life to start a traveling circus. He was the very first circus owner to buy
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his own train to move the performers and equipment from place to place. He paid his workers well,
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and he made sure to use bright, colorful, elaborate tents and equipment to attract crowds.
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His first traveling show was called “P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie,
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Caravan & Hippodrome.” This had many of the same attractions he once had in his American
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Museum, only on a grander scale. People outside of New York City were able to see his freak
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show, animal menageries, and impressive acrobatic talent that he had collected over the years
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of networking and making friends in show business.
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In 1881, when he was 71 years old, he joined up with another circus owned by James Bailey,
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and their combined acts became the famous Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show On Earth. They
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were the first “three ring circus”- meaning that they would have three different acts
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going on at the same time. One of his biggest attractions at the Barnum & Bailey Circus
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was Jumbo the Elephant. He was one of the most popular animals for children in London,
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and kids in America felt the same way. Everyone was mesmerized by the massive scale of this
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circus, and they only continued to improve upon the show as time went on. The Barnum
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and Bailey Circus continued to tour long after his death, only ending in 2017. It went on
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for 146 years. Later Life, and Legacy
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As he grew older, fewer and fewer people criticized PT Barnum for the tricks he played on audiences,
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and more people recognized the impact he made on the entertainment industry. He was well-respect
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by just about everyone. He wrote four best-selling books in his later years, including one called
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The Art of Money-Getting. In another book, Humbugs of the World, he was very candid about
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psychics and magicians’ tricks, and he even called out Harry Houdini. He knew all the
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tricks of the trade, and wrote that he would pay $500 to any medium who could truly convince
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him that they were actually talking to the dead. His point was that even though we know
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magic and ghosts are not real, that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the spectacle.
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Very few people know that PT Barnum took politics very seriously, especially in his later years.
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In his autobiography, he wrote that “a man who takes no interest in politics is unfit
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to live in a land where the government rests in the hands of the people.” In 1865, US
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Congress would be voting on the amendment of the constitution to outlaw slavery. Technically,
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he had once been a slave-owner himself, with Joice Heth. But he worked with and loved so
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many African American performers over the years. He felt so passionately about fighting
18:53
for their freedom, that he used his money and connections to join the Republican party
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as part of the Connecticut legislature. He wanted to do everything within his power to
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help end slavery in the United States, and they succeeded. The time he spent on the Connecticut
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legislature wasn’t the end of his political career. In 1875, he became the mayor of Bridgeport,
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Connecticut, and served for one year.
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When he was getting older, PT Barnum paid a reporter from the local newspaper to write
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a very flattering eulogy so that he could hear and enjoy it while he was still alive.
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He died in 1891 of a stroke, at 79 years old. He loved his job so much, he was working up
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until the day he died, and his last words were a request to look over some receipts.
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Two years after his death, a statue was built in Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Connecticut,
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on land he had donated to the city. Today, his legacy still lives on in the minds
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and hearts of everyone who remembers the circus, and his work has influenced entertainment
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as we know it throughout the world.
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Previously published on YouTube.
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Photo credit: Screenshot from video.