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P.T. Barnum
The American public like to be humbugged.
—P.T. Barnum |
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Barnum's first career was as a newspaperman: he knew how to persuade with language. He opened a fabulous museum and toured with some of the museum’s attractions, then he retired and went into politics, and finally, at 60 became a circus impresario. A year later the huge show took to the railroad. He was a master showman, but also a very moral man. He was an abolitionist, a teetotaler, and a supporter of women's suffrage. |
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Some sideshow "curiosities" are humbug, and require a willing suspension of disbelief. But Barnum did not actually say "there's a sucker born every minute." He respected his audiences and believed that they were content with the things they witnessed, enjoying the hyperbole of the descriptions.
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A woman once promised to sell Barnum a cherry-colored kitten. The kitten turned out to be black, but he was amused rather than angry when she pointed out that some cherries are black. He included the cherry kitten in his museum. Audiences were similarly amused, and didn't ruin it by warning others. |
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James A. Bailey
Orphan James Anthony McGinnis ran away when he was just 11. By the time he was 14 he was helping Hachaliah Bailey's nephew do advance work for a small circus. At 25 James, now calling himself Bailey, was running the Cooper and Bailey Circus, and by 30 he was a partner of the Great London Circus that was competing with Barnum.
Bailey outwitted Barnum in a matter relating to a baby elephant. Barnum was impressed and took Bailey on as a partner. Bailey was a workaholic, a quiet man who took care of business and logistics, leaving Barnum free to do his grandstanding.
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| Cooper Bailey 1874 |
Barnum and Bailey show arena |
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The Ringling Brothers
The circus is a jealous wench. Indeed that is an understatement. She is a ravening hag who sucks your vitality as a vampire drinks blood—who kills the brightest stars in her crown and will allow no private life for those who serve her; wrecking their homes, ruining their bodies, and destroying the happiness of their loved ones by her insatiable demands. She is all of these things, and yet, I love her as I love nothing else on earth.
―Henry Ringling North |
| The Ringling boys saw their first circus when their father got a family pass in exchange for repairing a harness. Four brothers (ages 18 to four years old) put on a circus in the backyard, charging 1¢ for admission. They used the proceeds to buy a tent. The next year they held a parade in town to get people to come to their expanded show. They gradually got more professional and more prosperous, eventually taking over Barnum and Bailey and becoming the undisputed kings of the circus world. |
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All of these men were good at putting on shows, but also good at making money.
I went to the circus, and loafed around the back side till the watchman went by, and then dived in under the tent. I had my twenty-dollar gold piece and some other money, but I reckoned I better save it.... I ain't opposed to spending money on circuses, when there ain't no other way, but there ain't no use in wasting it on them.
―Mark Twain
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From ticket sales to cotton candy and souvenirs Barnum, Bailey, and the Ringling men raked in cash. They were very honest about it, demanding that there be no cons or thieves on circus grounds. But they didn't miss a trick when it came to selling.
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Trace the development of the Greatest Show on Earth
from the year that Barnum got into the circus business. |
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