Self-Made Man & Celebrity

P. T. Barnum

Phineas Taylor Barnum

• Showman

• Circus owner

• Advertising man

P.T. Barnum

• Born 1810, Connecticut• Father dies 1825• Works as businessman,

publisher• 1835 becomes

showman• Buys American Museum

in 1841

P.T. Barnum

• 1850 invites Swedish singer, Jenny Lind, to US

• Retires in 1855, publishes autobio.

• Returns after financial problems

• Circus in 1871• Dies in 1891

Books authored

• Life of P.T. Barnum (1855)• The Humbugs of the World (1865)• Struggles and Triumphs (1869)• The Art of Money-Getting (1880)• Why I Am A Universalist (1890)

Joice Heth

• 1834: meets Joice Heth• 161 years old?• Washington’s nurse• Tours with her• Claims not real• Heth dies 1836• Pays for autopsy

Joice Heth

In proof of her extraordinary age and pretensions, Mr. Lindsay exhibited a bill of sale, dated February 5, 1727, from Augustine Washington, county of Westmoreland, Virginia, to Elizabeth Atwood, a half-sister and neighbor of Mr. Washington, conveying “one negro woman named Joice Heth, aged fifty-four years, for and in consideration of the sum of thirty-three pounds lawful money of Virginia.” It was further claimed that she had long been a nurse in the Washington family; she was called in at the birth of George and clothed the newborn infant. The evidence seemed authentic…

Joice Heth

Everything seemed so straightforward that I was anxious to become proprietor of this novel exhibition, which was offered to me at one thousand dollars, though the price first demanded was three thousand. I had five hundred dollars, borrowed five hundred dollars more, sold out my interest in the grocery business to my partner, and began life as a showman. At the outset of my career I saw that everything depended upon getting the people to think, and talk, and become curious and excited over and about the “rare spectacle.” Accordingly, posters, transparencies, advertisements, newspaper paragraphs—all calculated to extort attention—were employed, regardless of expense.

Joice Heth

At a post-mortem examination of Joice Heth by Dr. David L. Rogers, in the presence of some medical students, it was thought that the absence of ossification indicated considerably less age than had been assumed for her; but the doctors disagreed, and this “dark subject” will probably always continue to be shrouded in mystery

I had at last found my true vocation. My next venture, whatever it may have been in other respects, had the merit of being, in every essential, unmistakably genuine.

American Museum

• Located on Broadway• “Freak show”

• General Tom Thumb

American Museum

• Zip the Pinhead

• From “unknown African tribe.”

• William Henry Johnson from New Jersey

American Museum

• "Jo-Jo, the Dog-Faced Boy“

• “…looks like a man, barks like a dog and crawls on his belly like a snake.“

• Feodor Jeftichew

American Museum

• Bearded Lady

American Museum

• Fiji Mermaid

• Half monkey / half fish

Later addition:

• Chang & Eng Bunker

• Argumentative• Had 21 children

Jenny Lind

• Contracted her sight unseen

• Paid $1000/perf.• Going legitimate?• Advertising in advance• Greeted by thousands

on her arrival

Jenny Lind

“We had Jenny Lind gloves, Jenny Lind bonnets, Jenny Lind riding hats, Jenny Lind shawls, mantillas, robes, chairs, sofas, pianos—in fact, everything was Jenny Lind.”

Jenny Lind

• After a few moments' conversation, she asked me when and where I had heard her sing.

• “ I never had the pleasure of seeing you before in my life,” I replied. “ How is it possible that you dared risk so much money on a person whom you never heard sing ?” she asked in surprise.

• “I risked it on your reputation, which in musical matters I would much rather trust than my own judgment,” I replied.

Jenny Lind

I may as well state, that although I relied prominently upon Jenny Lind's reputation as a great musical artiste, I also took largely into my estimate of her success with all classes of the American public, her character for extraordinary benevolence and generosity. Without this peculiarity in her disposition, I never would have dared make the engagement which I did, as I felt sure that there were multitudes of individuals in America who would be prompted to attend her concerts by this feeling alone.

Jenny Lind

I met her several times after our engagement terminated. She was always affable. On one occasion, while passing through Bridgeport, she told me that she had been sadly harassed in giving her concerts. “People cheat me and swindle me very much,” said she, “and I find it very annoying to give concerts on my own account.”

Barnum & Bailey

• Opens circus in 1871• Merged with other

circus• Continues to this day

Jumbo the elephant

Barnum & Bailey

The Wild Men of Borneo

Barnum’s Rules for Success in Business

1. Select the kind of business that suits your natural inclination and temperament.

2. Let your pledged word ever be sacred.3.Whatever you do, do with all your might.4.Sobriety. Use no description of intoxicating

beverages.5. Let hope predominate, but be not too

visionary.

• 6. Do not scatter your powers.• 7. Engage proper employees• 8. Advertise your business. Do not hide your

light under a bushnel.• 9. Avoid extravagance.• 10. Do not depend on others.

P. T. Barnum

• Self-made man tradition• “self” is oriented toward money• Cult of the celebrity• Advertising creates / image is everything