The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum

Even though we may be familiar with the name P.T. Barnum, one of the greatest showmen and founder of the Barnum & Bailey Circus, how many of us can truthfully say we know the real Barnum? He certainly was a fascinating character who may have been vilified by some but was nonetheless admired by many. And even though he died over one hundred years ago, he is still not forgotten. Candace Fleming, author of The Great And Only Barnum: Three Tremendous, Stupendous Life Of Showman P.T. Barnum spent two years researching her book in archives and libraries and what she discovered and shares with us is quite engrossing. Fleming points out that most of the book's information came directly from Barnum and his numerous stream of stories, pamphlets, articles, advertisements, books and letters. In the opening chapter of the book, Fleming states that the primary objective of Barnum was to amuse people and according to historian Philip B. Kunhardt, it was "to awaken a sleeping sense of wonder, to help open the eyes of his fellow citizens to the amazing diversity of the human and natural world." In order to accomplish this feat, he had introduced his audiences "to the rare, the strange, the beautiful and the exotic." Laid out in short, self-contained sections, the book follows the fortunes and misfortunes of Barnum beginning with his boyhood days in Bethel Connecticut where he was born in 1810. Named after his prank-playing grandfather, Phineas Taylor, Barnum would eventually be known as P.T., although his parents called him Tale. At the tender age of two, P.T. received from his grandfather a piece of land called Ivy Island and he grew up imagining that this piece of land was a lush green island set in the middle of a sparkling blue lake covered with gold and diamond mines. It was not until Barnum was twelve when he visited his grandfather's gift and he discovered that the island he had imagined was nothing more than a piece of swamp not very far from his home. His grandfather's cruel joke was meant to turn him into a hardworking Yankee, instead it greatly influenced him into becoming a prankster just like his grandfather and as we read, played an influential role in all of his future business ventures. P.T's childhood was over at the age of fifteen when his father died and it was up to him to be the breadwinner in order to support his mother and four younger siblings. His early creative adventures in earning money began with a lottery he set up that earned him a tidy profit. Tired of living in a small town, P.T. moved to New York where he learned a lesson that he would adhere to all of his life, that using good-nature deception was not necessarily a bad thing, particularly in business. P.T. applied this principle when he acquired the rights for one thousand dollars of an exhibition of a woman who was advertised as being 161 years old, who was torn from her homeland in Africa and sold into slavery. His next money-making scheme was with Turner's Old Columbi

Two summers ago I traveled across the country to attend the tie dye-attired Gathering of the Vibes music festival at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Connecticut. While wandering about the Park that weekend, I came upon an imposing statue of showman P. T. Barnum and also noticed a Park road named in his honor. I wondered what that was all about. Now I know. When P. T Barnum was born in Connecticut in 1810, the U.S. was comprised of 17 states and Lewis and Clark had only recently completed their death-defying expedition to the Pacific coast and back. When Barnum died in 1891, the nation had expanded to 43 states and he was sending mile-long trainloads of circus people, animals, and tents into those once-distant regions of the country to entertain millions and generations of Americans. By the time the paradoxical showman and impresario died, he was also the best-known American in the world, and he had forever changed our world -- for better or for worse -- by giving birth to modern day concepts and processes of celebrity, hype, and publicity machines. "Tale learned two lessons that he remembered all his life. The first was 'learning how to call an adversary's bluff with a threat that cannot be ignored.' The second was 'When entertaining the public, it is best to have an elephant.'" Writing and reading about many of the Founding Fathers is forever complicated by the long, dark shadow cast by their ownership of slaves and their treatment of women. In a similar fashion, Candace Fleming's fascinating and thought-provoking biography of Phineas Taylor Barnum compels one to reflect upon his treatment of people and animal performers, his outrageous distortions and hoaxes, and his seduction and subversion of the media. "'A fortune was made with a bit of good-natured deception,' said Barnum." On one hand, it was horrible that Barnum placed people with physical disabilities on public display to enrich himself. On the other hand, these were people with no prospects for work outside of what he offered, and he gave them a sense of belonging and paid many of them princely sums. On one hand, he was forever lying to and defrauding his audiences. On the other, people really seemed to relish it. "'First Mr. Barnum humbugs them, and then they pay to hear him tell how he did it.'" My own reflections on the showman's career primarily involve his popularizing wild animal acts. Barnum actually won over the founder of the SPCA who admired Barnum's caring of and about the circus animals. And, yet, we can assume that his trainers employed physical pain and coercion on a daily basis to train those animals, a practice that has generally been the case since those days. "The fact is, animals do not naturally ride bicycles, stand on their heads, balance on balls, or jump through rings of fire. To force them to perform these confusing and physically uncomfortable tricks, trainers use whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, bullhooks, and other painful tools of the tra

Phineas T. Barnum seemed to be a go-getter from day one. He was a young entrepreneur with prodigious math skills and by the time he reached the age of seven he was earning so much money, his father insisted he purchase his own clothing. He was quietly duped into believing he would one day be wealthy because he owned Ivy Island, in reality a mucky swamp. He later turned that property into collateral for one of the most advantageous deals of his life and could spout with pride, "I became a chip off my grandfather's block," a first class prankster. Not content to be a mere shop keeper his mind was always whirling, thinking up fantastical get-rich schemes so he wouldn't have to slave the rest of his life. He saw great opportunities ahead when he purchased Joice Heth, purportedly "The World's Oldest Living Woman," a 161-year-old former slave who had changed George Washington's diapers. Money was to be made, but when the fraud was discovered his name would forever be "linked with hoaxes and fakery." Later when he became successful with his museum, Barnum's American Museum, and other amazing oddities, the New York Sun declared his name was "synonymous with the curious, the wondrous, the odd." He toured the world with unusual people like Tom Thumb, built himself Iranistan, a palace, invented the three ring circus . . . if it could be done, P.T. Barnum would do it. Especially if Barnum, the "Prince of Humbugs," could make a buck! Years ago I read Barnum's autobiography and thoroughly enjoyed it, but this biography was exciting, fun and will keep his memory alive with yet another generation of children. I like the fact that the book stressed the fact that Barnum hired the disabled when they otherwise would languish in the back wards of institutions or remain unemployed. He also had very high regard for his employees, not calling them "freaks," but declared each one a "person with such unique characteristics." He also would say in his lectures, "I want folks to say, `what an amazing person, not there but for the grace of God go I.'" The book was well, written, researched and very interesting. The book is peppered with black and white photographs, reproduced ephemera, and numerous informative sidebars. In the back of the book is a thorough index, a bibliography where additional resource materials can be found and some recommended web sites. If you want a ringside seat into the great P.T. Barnum's life, you've come to the right place!

THE GREAT AND ONLY BARNUM: THE TREMENDOUS, STUPENDOUS LIFE OF SHOWMAN P.T. BARNUM offers ages 8-12 a fine blend of black and white photos throughout and a survey of showman and founder of the Barnum and Bailey Circus's life and times. Old circus posters, memorabilia, playbills and more accompany an exciting biography and history of a man with high goals and vision: over 140 pages packed with biography and insights.

This is the most fun I've had reading history in years. The stories are told with gusto. The book's design is delightful. And the photographs?! What kid (especially a boy) won't be drawn into its pages by bearded ladies and dog-faced boys. Better yet, the history IS important. I discovered that PT Barnum is more than a circus guy. His innovations in the art of marketing, advertising, celebrity are still with us today. An amazing book, all the way around!