P. T. Barnum
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Phineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus with James Anthony Bail
Barnum, c. 1855–1865
Entertainers associated with Barnum: Charles Stratton ("General Tom Thumb") and his bride Lavinia Warren, alongside her sister Minnie and George Washington Morrison Nutt ("Commodore Nutt")
Castle Garden, New York, venue of Lind's first American concerts
A parody of Lind's first American tour for Barnum, New York City, October 1850
General Tom Thumb
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Charles Sherwood Stratton, better known by his stage name "General Tom Thumb", was an American with dwarfism who achieved great fame as a performer under circus pioneer P. T. Barnum.
P. T. Barnum
…American Museum, which he renamed after himself. He used the museum as a platform to promote hoaxes and human curiosities such as the Fiji mermaid and General Tom Thumb. In 1850, he promoted the American tour of Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind, paying her an unprecedented $1,000, equivalent to $38,700 in 2025, per night…
Stratton at 10 years of age
The wedding couple as they appeared on February 21, 1863, cover of Harper's Weekly magazine
Tom Thumb wedding gift photo album