Phinius Taylor (P.T.) Barnum of Barnum & Baily Circus fame died this day on April 7, 1891. In his time, he was one of the most colorful entrepreneurs in America, as well as a politician and social activist. Of humble origins, he became wealthy, and in later life he became a generous philanthropist and supporter of worthy causes—a somewhat rare character in the “Gilded Age” of conspicuous consumption and social excess. Today, Americans remember him as a kind of “huckster” who separated customers from their money through the generous use of hoaxes and shrewd marketing practices. Yet, people loved what he was selling, especially his circus, which became world famous.
Barnum was born in Connecticut in 1810. His father was a small-time entrepreneur himself—an innkeeper, tailor and storekeeper, among other pursuits. Phinius followed in his father’s footsteps for a time, taking over the general store when his father died in 1826, and launching several other businesses, including a newspaper called the Herald of Freedom. As the name implies, it was a muckraking newspaper that took on the local churches and other targets, ultimately leading to libel suits and prison time. Barnum was nothing if not fearless.
At age 25, Barnum launched his first effort at what would grow into his circus— exhibiting a severely handicapped woman who he had purchased (at the time she was a slave, which was still lawful in the U.S. 1835). By the 1840’s he was operating a museum in Manhattan, “Barnum’s American Museum,” which attracted large crowds. His career was off and running. He proceeded to showcase various bizarre people and animals, including Tom Thumb, as well as impersonators of famous people such as Napoleon. Perhaps his most famous performer was Jenny Lind, the “Swedish Nightingale,” a magnificent singer who came to New York in 1850 to perform to tens of thousands of paying customers around the country. From her shows, it is estimated that Barnum pocketed almost $19 million in the space of a year. But his biggest claim to fame was, of course, the circus, complete with elephants, acrobats, freak shows and other attractions. The “Barnum and Baily Circus” was a roaring success story.
In addition to all his business pursuits, Barnum also became a politician. In the 1860’s he served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, and later became the Mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was a fierce abolitionist before the Civil War (even though he had once owned slaves himself). He was also an anti-abortion advocate, and was responsible for legislation passed by the State of Connecticut in 1879 outlawing the use of “any drug, medicinal article or instrument for the purpose of preventing conception.”
As for his personal life, Barnum was married to Charity Hallett for over 40 years, with whom he fathered four children. After she died, he married Nancy Fish, who was 40 years younger than him; they had no children. Barnum lived to the ripe old age of 80, and died in 1891 of a stroke. He is remembered today in various ways, including a statue in Bridgeport, Connecticut, a U.S. Mint commemorative coin minted in 1936, and an annual festival in Bridgeport named for him. The town of Bethel Connecticut, where Barnum was born, erected a statue to his memory in 2010, the 200th anniversary of his birth.
So today we, too, honor the memory of P.T. Barnum, a successful promoter of new and sometimes cringe-worthy forms of entertainment for the masses, and who played a major role in the development of the entertainment industry in the United States in the 19th century.
