P.T. Barnum: The Showman Extraordinaire

Welcome back everyone!

If you have been following our blog, we have been talking all about the famous Circus Freaks in the history. This is our last blog post here, and we have decided to end it with none other than the mastermind behind it all, P.T. Barnum.

With almost every freak that we have discussed, P.T. Barnum has been the mastermind behind creating a career for these people. Phineas Taylor Barnum was born in 1810 in Connecticut and was considered one of the greatest American showmen and businessmen to exist. Barnum was showcasing his skills at the young age of 12, as he sold snacks and homemade cherry rum during local gatherings. He eventually made enough money to purchase his own livestock, and by age 21, his holdings also included a general store, a small lottery and even his own newspaper called the “Herald of Freedom” (Andrews, 2015).

Perhaps one of the greatest quotes that can be associated with P.T. Barnum is “No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else.” Although he was a living testimony to this, so were all the freaks that we discussed throughout the blog. Barnum took a strong fascination in the qualities that made people stand out and an outcast. Barnum’s career trafficked in curiosities, which he served up to a public hungry for such entertainment, regardless of how factual or ethical such displays were (Mansky, 2017). P.T.’s career took off when he learned that Scudder’s American Museum, a collection of $50,000 worth of “relics and rare curiosities” located in New York City on lower Broadway, was for sale. His purchase and grand reopening of the attraction as “Barnum’s American Museum” was what he called “the ladder” by which he rose to his fortune (Mangan, 2017). Long story short, Barnum dove head first into making sure that he had the perfect set up to show off these freaks of nature for all to see. He set powerful floodlights and giant flowing banners atop his building, promoting the Greatest Show on Earth.

Unfortunately, Barnum died at the age of 81 in his home in his sleep. After his death, a few of his close friends recognized him as “very kind-hearted and benevolent and gifted with a sense of fun which was even stronger than his desire for dollars” (Mangan, 2017). Barnum has consistently been recognized as one of the most if not the most widely known American to ever live. 

Our message over the past several post has been to inform you about these freaks but even more so to get you to be more involved in these phenomenal movements like No-Shave November that brings awareness to cancer, or Giving Tuesday which allows you to become a part of something bigger by giving time, donations, or gifts so others may enjoy the holiday. Our message today may be corny but it is very clear, it’s okay to be different and step outside the norm.

Before we sign off, we would like to thank you all for being with us throughout and reading our content. We would also like to thank our ISU Milner Library Special Collections for giving us the idea and content support for this blog. Please do check out the special collections page if you are looking for some interesting ideas or just curious to learn more.  

Happy Reading!

BZB