Editing P. T. Barnum

{{short description|American showman and politician (1810–1891)}}
{{Redirect|Barnum|other uses with the name Barnum}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{POV|date=November 2021|talk=NPOV}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2025}}
}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = File:P. T. Barnum - 02176a (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Barnum, {{circa|1855–1865}}
| office              = Mayor of [[Bridgeport, Connecticut]]
| term_start          = 1875
| term_end            = 1876
| state_house3        = Connecticut
| district3           = [[Fairfield, Connecticut|Fairfield]]
| term_start3         = 1866
| term_end3           = 1869 <!----Four one-year terms, from body text.---->
| birth_name          = Phineas Taylor Barnum
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1810|7|5|mf=yes}}
| birth_place         = [[Bethel, Connecticut]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1891|4|7|1810|7|5|mf=yes}}
| death_place         = [[Bridgeport, Connecticut]], U.S.
| resting_place       = [[Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport]]
| occupation          = {{hlist|Showman|entrepreneur (entertainment as founder and promoter)|politician|author|publisher|philanthropist}}
| blank1              = Known for
| data1               = Founding the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus|Barnum & Bailey Circus]]
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] (until 1854)<br />[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] (after 1854)
| signature           = PT Barnum Signature.svg
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Charity Hallett|1829|1873|reason=d.}}
* {{marriage|[[Nancy Fish]]|1874}}
}}
| children            = 4
}}
'''Phineas Taylor Barnum''' (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated [[hoax]]es and founding with [[James Anthony Bailey]] the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus]].<ref>[http://asp6new.alexanderstreet.com/atho/atho.detail.people.aspx?personcode=per0026627 North American Theatre Online: ''Phineas T. Barnum'']</ref> He was also an author, publisher, and [[philanthropist]], although he said of himself: "I am a showman by profession&nbsp;... and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me."<ref name="Kunhardt 1995 vi">{{harvnb|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|1995|p=vi}}</ref> According to Barnum's critics, his personal aim was "to put money in his own coffers".<ref name="Kunhardt 1995 vi" /> The adage "[[there's a sucker born every minute]]" has frequently been attributed to him, although no evidence exists that he had coined the phrase.<ref>Shapiro, Fred R. (2006). ''The Yale Book of Quotations''. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 44.</ref>

Barnum became a small-business owner in his early twenties and founded a weekly newspaper before moving to [[New York City]] in 1834. He embarked on an entertainment career, first with a variety troupe called "Barnum's Grand Scientific and Musical Theater", and soon after by purchasing [[Barnum's American Museum|Scudder's 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]].<ref name="Philip B. Kunhardt, et al., p. 73">{{harvnb|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|1995|p=73}}</ref> In 1850, he promoted the [[Jenny Lind tour of America, 1850–52|American tour]] of Swedish opera singer [[Jenny Lind]], paying her an unprecedented $1,000, {{Inflation|index=US|value=1000|start_year=1850|fmt=eq}}, per night for 150 nights. He suffered economic reversals in the 1850s from unwise investments, as well as years of litigation and public humiliation, but he embarked on a lecture tour as a [[Temperance movement|temperance]] speaker to emerge from debt. His museum added America's first aquarium and expanded its wax-figure department.

Barnum served two terms in the Connecticut legislature in 1865 as a Republican for [[Fairfield, Connecticut]]. He spoke before the legislature concerning the ratification of the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]], which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude: "A human soul, 'that God has created and Christ died for,' is not to be trifled with. It may tenant the body of a Chinaman, a Turk, an Arab, or a [[Hottentot (racial term)|Hottentot]]—it is still an immortal spirit."<ref name="Barnum 1888">{{Cite book |first=Phineas |last=Barnum |year=1888 |title=The life of P. T. Barnum |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofptbarnum00barn |via=Ebook and Texts Archive – American Libraries |location= Buffalo, N.Y.  |publisher=The Courier Company. |page= [https://archive.org/details/lifeofptbarnum00barn/page/237 237]}}</ref> He was elected in 1875 as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he worked to improve the water supply, bring gas lighting to streets and enforce liquor and prostitution laws. He was instrumental in the inception of [[Bridgeport Hospital]] in 1878 and was its first president.<ref name="kunhardt2"/> The circus business, begun when he was 60 years old, was the source of much of his enduring fame. He established P. T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome in 1870, a traveling circus, menagerie and museum of "freaks" that adopted many names over the years.

Barnum was married to Charity Hallett from 1829 until her death in 1873, and they had four children. In 1874, a few months after his wife's death, he married [[Nancy Fish]], his friend's daughter and 40 years his junior. They were married until 1891 when Barnum died of a stroke at his home. He was buried in [[Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport]], which he designed himself.<ref name="Rogak, Lisa 2004">{{cite book |last=Rogak |first=Lisa |year=2004 |title=Stones and Bones of New England: A guide to unusual, historic, and otherwise notable cemeteries |publisher=Globe Pequat |isbn=978-0-7627-3000-1}}</ref>

==Early life and family==
Barnum was born in [[Bethel, Connecticut]], the son of innkeeper, tailor and storekeeper Philo Barnum (1778–1826) and Philo's second wife, Irene Taylor. Barnum's maternal grandfather Phineas Taylor was a [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]], legislator, landowner, [[justice of the peace]], and lottery schemer who had a great influence upon him.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

==Career beginnings ==
Barnum ran several businesses, including a general store, a book-auctioning trade, real estate speculation and a statewide lottery network. He started a weekly newspaper in 1831 called ''[[The Herald of Freedom]]'' in [[Bethel, Connecticut]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Barnum |first= Phineas Taylor |title = Barnum's Own Story: The Autobiography of P.T. Barnum |date= 1927 |publisher= Viking Press | location= New York |page= 41|chapter= Chapter V, Brief Editorial Career, Removal to New York |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0CQYAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA41  }}</ref> His editorials against the elders of local churches led to libel suits and prosecution, and he was imprisoned for two months. While incarcerated, Barnum sought the help of [[L.F.W. Andrews|Rev. L.F.W. Andrews]], publisher of the ''Gospel Witness'' from Hartford. Barnum and Andrews then published a joint paper, the ''Herald of Freedom and Gospel Witness.''<ref>{{cite news| title = Gospel Witness, A Card| work= Herald of Freedom and Gospel Witness| location = Bethel, CT| date = October 17, 1832| page= 1| volume= 2| issue = 1| via=Connecticut Digital Archive |url  = https://collections.ctdigitalarchive.org/islandora/object/60002%3A92#page/1/mode/2up }}</ref> They dissolved their partnership a year later in October 1833.<ref>{{cite news| title = Bad News | work= Boston Post| location = Boston, MA| date = October 29, 1883| page= 2| volume= 5| issue = 39| via=Newspapers.com |url  = https://www.newspapers.com/image/56416882/?terms=%22Herald%20of%20freedom%22&match=1 }}</ref> Barnum then moved the publication of the paper to neighboring [[Danbury, Connecticut]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Bailey |first= James Montgomery |title = History of Danbury, Conn. 1684–1896 |date= 1896 |publisher= Burr Printing House | location= New York |page= 197|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=RcbiAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22herald+of+freedom%22+1831&pg=PA197   }}</ref>

In November 1834, after publishing 160 issues of the ''Herald of Freedom'', Barnum passed control of the paper to his brother-in-law, John W. Amerman, who published the paper for another year in [[Norwalk, Connecticut]]. When Amerman sold the paper to Mr. George Taylor, the Barnum family's connection to the ''Herald of Freedom'' ended.<ref>{{cite book |last= Barnum |first= Phineas Taylor |title = Struggles and Triumphs or Forty Years' Recollections of P.T. Barnum |date= 1872 |publisher= Warren, Johnson & Co | location= Buffalo, NY |chapter = Chapter IV Struggles for Livelihood | url= https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/50115/pg50115-images.html#CHAPTER_IV }}</ref> Barnum sold his store in 1834.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

He began his career as a showman in 1835 at the age of 25 with the purchase and exhibition of a blind and almost completely paralyzed slave woman named [[Joice Heth]], whom an acquaintance was billing around Philadelphia as [[George Washington]]'s 161 year-old former nurse. Slavery was already outlawed in New York, but Barnum exploited a loophole that allowed him to lease Heth for a year for $1,000, borrowing $500 to complete the sale. Barnum forced her to work for 10 to 12 hours per day, and she died in February 1836 at no more than 80 years of age. Barnum hosted a live autopsy of Heth's body in a New York saloon to demonstrate her actual age before spectators paying 50 cents each.<ref name=Mansky>{{citation |url= https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-pt-barnum-greatest-humbug-them-all-180967634/ |title= P. T. Barnum Isn't the Hero the 'Greatest Showman' Wants You To Think |last= Mansky |first=Jackie| work = smithsonianmag.com |publisher= Smithsonian |date= December 22, 2017}}</ref><ref name=freed>{{cite web|url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA02/freed/Barnum/joiceheth.html|title=Joice Heth| first=Robin |last=Freed| publisher=MA candidate, [[University of Virginia]] American Studies Department |access-date=April 8, 2007|archive-date=May 18, 2002|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20020518211717/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA02/freed/Barnum/joiceheth.html}}</ref>

==Showman and promotions==
{{Main|Barnum's American Museum}}

[[File:The Fairy Wedding group - From photographic negative in Brady's National Portrait Gallery, from photographic negative by Brady. LCCN2017659631.jpg|thumb|Entertainers associated with Barnum: Charles Stratton ("[[General Tom Thumb]]") and his bride [[Lavinia Warren]], alongside her sister [[Minnie Warren|Minnie]] and George Washington Morrison Nutt ("[[Commodore Nutt]]")]]

Barnum had a year of mixed success with his first variety troupe, Barnum's Grand Scientific and Musical Theater, followed by the [[Panic of 1837]] and three years of difficult circumstances.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} He purchased [[Barnum's American Museum|Scudder's American Museum]] in 1841, located at [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] and [[Ann Street (Manhattan)|Ann Street]] in [[Manhattan]]. Renaming it Barnum's American Museum, he improved it, upgrading the building and adding exhibits.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

It became a popular showplace. He added a [[lighthouse]] lamp that attracted attention up and down Broadway and flags along the roof's edge that attracted attention in daytime, while giant paintings of animals between the upper windows drew attention from pedestrians.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} The roof was transformed to a strolling garden with a view of the city, where Barnum launched [[hot-air balloon]] rides daily.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} A changing series of live acts and curiosities were added to the exhibits of stuffed animals, including [[Albinism|albinos]], [[Gigantism|giants]], [[Dwarfism|little people]], jugglers, magicians, exotic women, detailed models of cities and famous battles and a menagerie of animals.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

===Fiji mermaid and Tom Thumb===
[[File:barnumad.png|right|thumb|An 1866 newspaper advertisement for [[Barnum's American Museum]] located on [[Ann Street (Manhattan)|Ann Street]] in Manhattan]]
In 1842, Barnum introduced his first major hoax: a creature with the body of a monkey and the tail of a fish known as the [[Fiji mermaid|"Feejee" mermaid]]. He leased it from fellow museum owner [[Moses Kimball]] of Boston who became his friend, confidant and collaborator.<ref>Schweitzer, Marlis. "Barnum's Last Laugh? General Tom Thumb's Wedding Cake in the Library of Congress." ''Performing Arts Resources'' 2011; 28.: 116. ''Associates Programs Source Plus.'' Web. December 8, 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Stabile | first1 = Susan M. | year = 2010 | title = Still(Ed) Lives |journal=[[Early American Literature]] |volume = 45 | issue = 2| pages = 371–95 | doi=10.1353/eal.2010.0020| s2cid = 201754107 }}</ref> Barnum justified his hoaxes by calling them advertisements to draw attention to the museum. He said, "I don't believe in duping the public, but I believe in first attracting and then pleasing them."<ref>{{harvnb|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|1995|p=47}}</ref>

He followed the mermaid act by exhibiting the four-year-old actor Charles Stratton, billed as the 11-year-old [[General Tom Thumb]]. Stratton was taught to imitate famous figures such as [[Hercules]] and [[Napoleon]].

In 1843, Barnum hired the Native American dancer [[Do-Hum-Me]], the first of many Natives that he would present. During 1844–45, he toured with General Tom Thumb in Europe and met [[Queen Victoria]], who was amused<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/401800.html|title='We are not amused' – the meaning and origin of this phrase| first=Gary|last=Martin|website=Phrasefinder|date=December 11, 2023 }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=May 2021}} but saddened by Stratton, and the event was a publicity coup. It opened the door to visits with royalty throughout Europe, including the [[tsar of Russia]], and enabled Barnum to acquire many new attractions, including [[automaton]]s and other mechanical marvels. During this time, he bought other museums, including artist [[Rembrandt Peale]]'s [[Peale's Philadelphia Museum|Philadelphia Museum]] (the nation's first major museum),<ref>{{cite web| url= http://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/peales-philadelphia-museum/ |title=Peale's Philadelphia Museum | publisher = Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia| website= philadelphiaencyclopedia.org}}</ref> and the [[Baltimore Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Golden Age of Baltimore Theater: A History from Shakespeare to Vaudeville|year=2024|first=Charles|last= Mitchell|isbn=9781467154482|publisher=The History Press}}</ref> By late 1846, Barnum's American Museum was drawing 400,000 visitors per year.<ref name="Philip B. Kunhardt, et al., p. 73"/>

===Jenny Lind===
{{Main|Jenny Lind's tour of America}}
[[File:Jenny Lind New York Concert.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Castle Clinton|Castle Garden]], New York, venue of Lind's first American concerts]]
Barnum became aware of the popularity of [[Jenny Lind]], the "Swedish Nightingale", during his European tour with Tom Thumb when her career was at its height in Europe. Barnum, admittedly unmusical, had never heard Lind's voice<ref name=rogers>Rogers, Francis. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/739200 "Jenny Lind"], ''The Musical Quarterly'', Vol. 32, No. 3 (July 1946), pp. 437–48 {{subscription required}}</ref> but he offered her the chance to sing in the US at $1,000 a night for 150 nights, with all expenses paid.<ref name=Kunhard92>{{harvnb|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|1995|p=92}}</ref>

Lind demanded the fee in advance, and Barnum agreed. She used the fee to raise a fund for charities, principally endowing schools for poor children in Sweden.<ref name=miller>Miller, Philip L. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3051579 "Review: P. T. Barnum Presents Jenny Lind: The American Tour of the Swedish Nightingale"], ''American Music'', Spring 1983, pp. 78–80 {{subscription required}}</ref> Barnum borrowed heavily on his mansion and his museum to raise the money to pay Lind.<ref name= Kunhard92/> He was still short of funds, so he persuaded a Philadelphia minister that Lind would be a positive influence on American morals, and the minister lent him the final $6,000. The contract also afforded Lind the option of withdrawing from the tour after 60 or 100 performances, paying Barnum $50,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=50000|start_year=1850}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) if she did so.<ref name= miller/>

Lind and her small company sailed to the US in September 1850. She was a celebrity before she arrived, following Barnum's months of preparations. Nearly 40,000 people greeted her at the docks and another 20,000 at her hotel, and merchandise was sold.<ref name=Kunhardt99>{{harvnb|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|1995|p=99}}</ref> When Lind realized how much money she stood to earn from the tour, she insisted upon a new agreement, which Barnum signed on September 3, 1850. This paid Lind the original fee plus the remainder of each concert's profits after Barnum's $5,500 management fee. Lind was determined to accumulate as much money as possible for her charities.<ref name= rogers />

[[File:Panorama of Humbug with Jenny Lind.jpg|thumb|250px|A parody of Lind's first American tour for Barnum, New York City, October 1850]]
The tour began with a concert at [[Castle Clinton|Castle Garden]] on September 11, 1850. It was a major success, recouping Barnum four times his investment. [[Washington Irving]] proclaimed, "She is enough to counterbalance, of herself, all the evil that the world is threatened with by the great convention of women. So God save Jenny Lind!"<ref name= Kunhardt99/> Tickets for some of her concerts were in such demand that Barnum sold them at auction, and public enthusiasm was so strong that the press coined the term "Lind mania".<ref name=mania>Linkon, Sherry Lee. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30227283 "Reading Lind Mania: Print Culture and the Construction of Eighteenth-Century Audiences"], ''Book History'', Vol. 1 (1998), pp. 94–106 {{subscription required}}</ref> The blatant commercialism of Barnum's ticket auctions distressed Lind,<ref name=mania /> and she persuaded him to reserve a substantial portion of tickets at reduced prices.<ref name=observer1>"Jenny Lind's Progress in America", ''The Observer'', October 6, 1850, p. 3.</ref>

On the tour, Barnum's publicity always preceded Lind's arrival and generated enthusiasm, as he had as many as 26 journalists on his payroll.<ref name= hambrick>Hambrick, Keith S. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4232081 "P. T. Barnum Presents Jenny Lind – The American Tour of the Swedish Nightingale"], ''Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association'', Vol. 22, No. 2 (Spring, 1981), pp. 208–09 {{subscription required}}</ref> After New York, the company toured the East Coast with continued success and later traveled through the southern states and [[Cuba]]. By early 1851, Lind had become uncomfortable with Barnum's relentless marketing of the tour, and she invoked a contractual right to sever her ties with him. They parted amicably, and she continued the tour for nearly a year under her own management.<ref name=rogers /> Lind performed 93 concerts in the US for Barnum, earning her about $350,000, while Barnum netted at least $500,000, {{Inflation|US|500000|1851|fmt=eq}}.<ref>"America", ''The Times'', June 28, 1851, p. 5.</ref>

===Diversified activities===
[[File:P. T. Barnum letter to Henry Ashley, 1882-06-28.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=follow image link for full transcript|Barnum's hand-written letter of June 28, 1882, to Henry Ashley of the ''[[New York Clipper]]'', on paper headed with Barnum's monogram. ]]

Barnum's next challenge was to change public attitudes about the theater, which was widely regarded as a salacious enterprise. He wanted theaters to become palaces of edification and delight as respectable middle-class entertainment. He built New York City's largest and most modern theater, naming it the Moral Lecture Room. Barnum hoped that this would avoid seedy connotations, attract a family crowd and win the approval of the city's moral crusaders. He started the nation's first theatrical matinées to encourage families and to lessen the fear of crime.

The theater opened with ''[[The Drunkard]]'', a thinly disguised [[Temperance movement|temperance]] lecture. Barnum had become a teetotaler after returning from Europe. He followed it with melodramas, farces and historical plays performed by highly regarded actors. He edited [[Shakespeare]]an plays and other works such as ''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin]]'' to render them more palatable for family audiences.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

Barnum organized flower shows, beauty contests, dog shows and poultry contests, but the most popular were baby contests. In 1853 he started the pictorial weekly newspaper ''Illustrated News''. He completed his autobiography one year later, which sold more than one million copies over the course of numerous revisions. [[Mark Twain]] loved the book, but the ''British Examiner'' thought it "trashy" and "offensive" and wrote that it inspired "nothing but sensations of disgust" and "sincere pity for the wretched man who compiled it."<ref>{{harvnb|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|1995|p=120}}</ref>

In the early 1850s, Barnum began investing to develop [[Bridgeport, Connecticut|East Bridgeport, Connecticut]]. He extended substantial loans to the Jerome Clock Company to lure it to move to his new industrial area, but the company went bankrupt by 1856, taking Barnum's wealth with it. This began four years of litigation and public humiliation. [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] proclaimed that Barnum's downfall showed "the gods visible again", and other critics celebrated Barnum's public dilemma. However, Tom Thumb offered his services, as he was touring on his own, and the two began another European tour. Barnum also started a lecture tour, mostly as a temperance speaker. By 1860, he emerged from debt and built a mansion that he called Lindencroft, and he resumed ownership of his museum.

[[File:Barnum and Commodore Nutt.jpg|upright|thumb|right|Barnum with [[Commodore Nutt]], photograph by [[Charles DeForest Fredricks]]]]

Barnum created America's first [[aquarium]] and expanded the [[Wax sculpture|wax figure]] section of his museum. His "Seven Grand Salons" demonstrated the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]]. The collections expanded to four buildings, and he published a museum guidebook that claimed 850,000 "curiosities".<ref>{{harvnb|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|1995|p=138}}</ref> Late in 1860, [[Conjoined twins|Siamese twins]] [[Chang and Eng]] emerged from retirement and appeared at Barnum's museum for six weeks. Also in 1860, Barnum introduced [[Zip the Pinhead]], a [[microcephalic]] black man who spoke a mysterious language created by Barnum. In 1862, Barnum discovered giantess [[Anna Swan]] and dwarf [[Commodore Nutt]], a new Tom Thumb with whom Barnum visited President [[Abraham Lincoln]] at the White House. A year earlier, President Lincoln had visited on February 19, 1861, to which Barnum sent notice to the press for publicity.<ref>Dennett, Andrea Stulman. ''Weird and Wonderful: The Dime Museum in America.'' New York, NY: New York University Press, 1997. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.18574/9780814744215</nowiki>. </ref> 

During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Barnum's museum drew large audiences seeking diversion from the conflict. He added pro-[[Union (U.S. Civil War)|Union]] exhibits, lectures and dramas, and he demonstrated commitment to the cause. He hired [[Pauline Cushman]] in 1864, an actress who had served as a spy for the Union, to lecture about her "thrilling adventures" behind Confederate lines. Barnum's Unionist sympathies incited a [[Confederate Army of Manhattan|Confederate sympathizer]] to start a fire in 1864. Barnum's American Museum burned to the ground on July 13, 1865, from a fire of unknown origin. Barnum reestablished it at another location in New York City, but this was also destroyed by fire in March 1868. The loss was too great the second time, and Barnum retired from the museum business.

{{anchor|Barnum circus}}<!--this anchor referenced in [[Phineas Gage]]-->

==Circus==
{{Main|Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus}}

[[File:Winter Quarters of the Great Barnum-London Show.jpg|thumb|A book engraving of the winter quarters of Barnum's circus in [[Bridgeport, Connecticut]]]]
[[File:Barnum & Bailey 1902.jpg|thumb|A share of Barnum and Bailey Ltd, issued January 24, 1902]]
Barnum did not enter the circus business until he was 60 years old. He established "P. T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & [[Hippodrome]]" in [[Delavan, Wisconsin]] in 1870 with [[William Cameron Coup]]. It was a traveling circus, menagerie and museum of "freaks" that assumed various names: "P. T. Barnum's Travelling World's Fair, Great Roman Hippodrome and Greatest Show on Earth", and "P. T. Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth, and the Great London Circus, Sanger's Royal British Menagerie and the Grand International Allied Shows United" after an 1881 merger with [[James Anthony Bailey|James Bailey]] and James L. Hutchinson, soon shortened to "Barnum & Bailey's". This was the first circus to display three rings.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Mosier | first1 = Jennifer L | year = 1999 | title = The Big Attraction: The Circus Elephant And American Culture | journal = Journal of American Culture | volume = 22 | issue = 2| page = 7 | doi=10.1111/j.1542-734x.1999.2202_7.x}}</ref>

The show's first primary attraction was [[Jumbo]], an [[African elephant]] that Barnum purchased in 1882 from the [[London Zoo]]. The Barnum and Bailey Circus still contained acts similar to his Traveling Menagerie, including acrobats, freak shows and General Tom Thumb. Barnum persisted in growing the circus in spite of more fires, train disasters and other setbacks, and he was aided by circus professionals who ran the daily operations. He and Bailey parted ways in 1885, but they rejoined in 1888 with the "Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth", later the [[Barnum & Bailey Circus]], which toured the world.

Barnum was among the first circus owners to move his circus by train, a suggestion by Bailey and other business partners, and probably the first to own his own train. He became known as the "Shakespeare of Advertising" because of his innovative and impressive ideas.<ref>{{Citation|date=October 10, 2015|pages=103–113|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|language=en|doi=10.1002/9781119201908.ch8|isbn=978-1-119-20190-8|title = There's a Customer Born Every Minute|chapter = The Shakespeare of Advertising's Rules for Jumbo Success}}</ref> In this new business venture, Barnum leaned on the advice of Bailey and other business partners.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

==Author and debunker==
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2021}}

[[File:Barnum Humbug.jpg|thumb|upright|"Hum-Bug", a cartoon by [[Henry Louis Stephens|H. L. Stephens]] (1851)]]
Barnum wrote several books, including ''Life of P. T. Barnum'' (1855), ''The Humbugs of the World'' (1865), ''Struggles and Triumphs'' (1869), ''Forest and Jungle, or, Thrilling Adventures in All Quarters of the Globe''<ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/24499#/summary ''Forest and jungle, or, Thrilling adventures in all quarters of the globe : An illustrated history of the animal kingdom, written in easy and instructive form for boys and girls''. ]</ref> and ''The Art of Money-Getting'' (1880).<ref>[http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/barnum/moneygetting/ The Art of Money-Getting]</ref>

Barnum was often called the Prince of Humbugs and felt that entertainers and vendors perpetrating hoaxes (or "humbugs") in promotional material were justified if the public received value in return. However, he was contemptuous of those who accrued money through fraud, especially the [[Spiritualism (religious movement)|spiritualist]] mediums popular in his day. He testified against noted "spirit photographer" [[William H. Mumler]] in his trial for fraud, and he exposed the tricks employed by [[Mediumship|mediums]] to cheat the bereaved. In ''The Humbugs of the World'', Barnum offered $500 ({{Inflation|index=US|value=500|start_year=1865|fmt=eq}}) to any medium who could prove the power to communicate with the dead.

== Role in politics ==
Barnum was significantly involved in politics. He mainly focused on race, slavery and sectionalism in the period preceding the [[American Civil War]]. He opposed the [[Kansas–Nebraska Act]] of 1854, which supported slavery, and left the Democratic Party because it had endorsed slavery. Barnum joined the new anti-slavery Republican Party.

Barnum claimed that "politics were always distasteful to me", but he was elected to the [[Connecticut General Assembly]] in 1865 as a Republican representing [[Fairfield, Connecticut|Fairfield]].<ref name="Barnum 18882">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofptbarnum00barn|title=The life of P. T. Barnum|last=Barnum|first=Phineas|year=1888|work=Ebook and Texts Archive – American Libraries|publisher=Buffalo, N.Y.: The Courier Company. p. 237}}</ref><ref name="obit2">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0705.html|title=The Great Showman Dead|date=April 8, 1891|work=The New York Times|access-date=July 21, 2007|quote=Bridgeport, Connecticut, April 7, 1891. At 6:22 o'clock to-night the long sickness of P. T. Barnum came to an end by his quietly passing away at Marina, his residence in this city.}}</ref> He hired spies to acquire insider information on the [[New York and New Haven Railroad]] lines and exposed a secret that would raise fares by 20 percent.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}{{vague|date=May 2019}} He said during the ratification of the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]: "A human soul, 'that God has created and Christ died for,' is not to be trifled with. It may tenant the body of a Chinaman, a Turk, an Arab or a Hottentot—it is still an immortal spirit."<ref name="Barnum 18882" /> He acknowledged that he had owned slaves when he lived in the South: "I whipped my slaves. I ought to have been whipped a thousand times for this myself. But then I was a Democrat—one of those ''nondescript'' Democrats, who are Northern men with Southern principles."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G1M_nCbylxoC|title=The arts of deception: playing with fraud in the age of Barnum|last=Cook|first=James W.|date=2001|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-00591-4|oclc=876342914}}</ref>

Barnum was elected for the next four Connecticut legislature sessions and succeeded senator [[Orris S. Ferry]]. He was the legislative sponsor of an 1879 law that prohibited the use of "any drug, medicinal article or instrument for the purpose of preventing conception" and criminalized acting as an accessory to the use of contraception. This law remained in effect in Connecticut until it was overturned in 1965 by the U.S. Supreme Court in its ''[[Griswold v. Connecticut]]'' decision.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://federalbarcouncilquarterly.org/?p=396|title=P. T. Barnum, Justice Harlan, and Connecticut's Role in the Development of the Right to Privacy|date=December 13, 2014|publisher=Federal Bar Council Quarterly|access-date=May 9, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://connecticuthistory.org/connecticut-and-the-comstock-law/|title=Connecticut and the Comstock Law|publisher=Connecticut History|access-date=May 9, 2018}}</ref>

Barnum campaigned for the U.S. Congress in 1867 and lost to his third cousin [[William Henry Barnum]]. In 1875, he served as mayor of [[Bridgeport, Connecticut]] to improve the water supply, bring gas lighting to streets and enforce liquor and prostitution laws. He was instrumental in the inception of [[Bridgeport Hospital]], founded in 1878, and was its first president.<ref name="kunhardt2">{{harvnb|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|Kunhardt|1995}}</ref>

==Profitable philanthropy==

[[File:P. T. Barnum Vanity Fair 16 November 1889.JPG|thumb|160px|A caricature of an elderly Barnum in the London magazine ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', November 1888]]
Barnum enjoyed what he publicly dubbed "profitable philanthropy", saying: "If by improving and beautifying our city Bridgeport, Connecticut, and adding to the pleasure and prosperity of my neighbors, [and] I can do so at a profit, the incentive to 'good works' will be twice as strong as if it were otherwise."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Struggles and Triumphs; Or, Forty Years' Recollections of P. T. Barnum |author=Barnum, P. T. |year=1883 |publisher=Buffalo, N.Y.: The Courier Company |page=297}}</ref> He was appointed to the board of trustees of [[Tufts University]] prior to its founding. He extended several significant contributions to the school, including a gift of $50,000, {{Inflation|US|50000|1883|fmt=eq}}, in 1883 to establish a museum, later known as [[Barnum Museum of Natural History]], and hall for the department of natural history.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Russell |last=Miller |title=Light on the Hill, Vol. 1 |url=http://dl.tufts.edu/catalog/tei/tufts:UA069.005.DO.00003/chapter/c4s2 |work=The Archives at Tufts University |publisher=Tufts University |date=July 16, 2008 |access-date=September 3, 2014 |archive-date=September 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904000240/http://dl.tufts.edu/catalog/tei/tufts:UA069.005.DO.00003/chapter/c4s2  }}</ref> Tufts made Jumbo the Elephant the school's mascot. Tufts students are known as Jumbos.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Get to Know Tufts|url=http://www.tufts.edu/home/get_to_know_tufts/ |date=April 22, 2010}}</ref>

==Personal life and death==

On November 8, 1829, Barnum married Charity Hallett,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barnum.org/ntf00169.htm|first=Patrick W.|last=Barnum|publisher=Barnum Family Genealogy (official website)|title=A One-Name Study for the Barnum/Barnham Surname: Notes for Phineas Taylor Barnum / Charity Hallett|access-date=December 10, 2017|archive-date=December 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211053607/http://www.barnum.org/ntf00169.htm}}</ref> and they had four children: Caroline Cornelia (1833–1911), Helen Maria (1840–1915), Frances Irena (1842–1844) and Pauline Taylor (1846–1877).<ref name=charity-ancestry>{{cite web|url= http://www.barnum.org/nti00491.htm|title= A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname|publisher= Barnum.org|access-date= January 6, 2020|archive-date= February 20, 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200220220309/http://www.barnum.org/nti00491.htm}}</ref> His wife died on November 19, 1873.<ref name=charity-ancestry /> In 1874, he married [[Nancy Fish]], the daughter of his close friend John Fish and 40 years Barnum's junior.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barnum.org/nti00015.htm|first=Patrick W.|last=Barnum|publisher=Barnum Family Genealogy (official website)|title=A One-Name Study for the Barnum/Barnham Surname: Notes for Nancy Fish|access-date=December 10, 2017|archive-date=December 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211053541/http://www.barnum.org/nti00015.htm}}</ref>

Barnum died from a [[stroke]] at home in 1891 at the age of 80.<ref name="obit2"/> He is buried in [[Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport|Mountain Grove Cemetery]] in [[Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport|Bridgeport]], [[Connecticut]], a cemetery that he designed.<ref name="Rogak, Lisa 2004"/>

==Legacy==

Barnum built four mansions in [[Bridgeport, Connecticut]]: [[Iranistan]], Lindencroft, Waldemere and Marina. Iranistan was the most notable, a [[Moorish Revival]] architecture designed by [[Leopold Eidlitz]] with domes, spires and lacy fretwork inspired by the [[Royal Pavilion]] in [[Brighton]], England. It was built in 1848 but it was destroyed by fire in 1857.<ref>[http://www.barnum-museum.org/core.htm Barnum Museum Core Exhibits] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630081729/http://www.barnum-museum.org/core.htm |date=June 30, 2007 }}</ref> The Marina was demolished by the University of Bridgeport in 1964 in order to build a cafeteria.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

[[File:P. T. Barnum Monument (1887), Seaside Park, Bridgeport, CT - April 2016.JPG|thumb|180px|''P. T. Barnum'', an 1887 sculpture by [[Thomas Ball (artist)|Thomas Ball]], Seaside Park, Bridgeport, Connecticut]]
[[File:Bridgeport obverse.jpg|thumb|180px|Obverse of the 1936 commemorative [[Bridgeport, Connecticut, Centennial half dollar|Bridgeport Centennial half dollar]] ]]
At his death, critics praised Barnum for his philanthropy and called him an icon of American spirit and ingenuity. He asked the ''Evening Sun'' to print his obituary just prior to his death so that he might read it. On April 7, 1891, Barnum asked about the box-office receipts for the day, and a few hours later, he died.<ref name="obit2"/>

In 1893, a statue in Barnum's honor was erected by his former partners [[James Anthony Bailey|James Bailey]], James A. Hutchinson and W. W. Cole at [[Seaside Park (Bridgeport, Connecticut)|Seaside Park]] in Bridgeport.<ref>{{Cite news| title=Barnum Statue Unveiled |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1893/07/05/archives/barnum-statue-unveiled-bridgeports-people-pay-a-tribute-to-the.html |date=July 4, 1893 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name=waldo>{{Cite book|author=George Curtis Waldo |title=History of Bridgeport and vicinity, Volume 1 |year=1917 |publisher=S. J. Clarke |pages=279–280 |  url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofbridgep01wald#page/n337/mode/2up |isbn=978-1-144-35927-8 }}</ref> Barnum had donated the land for the park in 1865. His circus was sold to [[Ringling Brothers]] on July 8, 1907, for $400,000, {{Inflation|index=US|value=400000|start_year=1907|fmt=eq}}.<ref name="kunhardt2"/> The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circuses ran separately until they merged in 1919, forming the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus]].

The [[United States Mint]] issued a [[Bridgeport, Connecticut, Centennial half dollar|commemorative coin]] in 1936 for Bridgeport's centennial celebration with Barnum's portrait for the obverse.<ref>{{cite news |last=Slater |first=Chuck |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/18/nyregion/a-coin-true-to-barnum-controversy-and-all.html |title=A Coin True to Barnum, Controversy and All |work=The New York Times |date=November 18, 2001}}</ref> Cartoonist [[Walt Kelly]], a Bridgeport native, named a character in Barnum's honor in his ''[[Pogo (comic strip)|Pogo]]'' comic strip. An ongoing<ref>{{cite web|url= https://barnumfestival.org|title=Welcome to the Barnum Festival|website=barnumfestival.org|access-date=September 1, 2024}}</ref> annual multi-week Barnum Festival has been held since 1949<ref>{{cite web | url= https://barnumfestival.org/history|title= History of the Barnum Festival}}</ref> in Bridgeport.<ref>Michael Knight, [https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/20/archives/barnum-festival-revels-in-hoopla-and-humbug.html "Barnum Festival Revels in Hoopla and Humbug"], ''The New York Times'', June 20, 1975, p. 35.</ref> The Bethel Historical Society commissioned a life-sized sculpture to honor the 200th anniversary of his birth, created by local resident David Gesualdi and placed outside the public library.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Homayon |first=Marietta |url=http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Town-gets-grant-to-promote-Barnum-247169.php|title=Town gets grant to promote Barnum |work=[[The News-Times|The Danbury News-Times]] |date=July 8, 2004}}</ref> The statue was dedicated in September 2010.<ref>{{Cite news| author=FitzGerald, Eileen |url=http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Barnum-s-Ivy-Island-to-be-showcased-at-town-578735.php |title=Barnum's Ivy Island to be showcased at celebration |work=Danbury News Times |date=July 15, 2010}}</ref>

In 1883 Barnum cofounded, with Charles E. Tooker, the [[Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry|Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company]], which continues to operate across [[Long Island Sound]] between [[Port Jefferson, New York]] and Bridgeport. The company owns and operates three vessels, one of which is named the M.V. ''PT Barnum''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.88844ferry.com/about-us/a-look-at-the-fleet/ |title=A Look at the Fleet |work=The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company |access-date=April 18, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=January 12, 1890|journal=[[Brooklyn Eagle|The Brooklyn Daily Eagle]]|location=[[Brooklyn#New York City borough|Brooklyn, New York]]|page=9, col. 5|url=http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031151/1890-01-12/ed-1/seq-9/|issue=1890/01/12|title=SHOWMAN BARNUM'S BARN ATTACHED.|quote=Four [[mechanic's lien]]s have been filed by workmen, of Port Jefferson, against P.T. Barnum, the showman, for labor and materials on the new barn put up last Fall on the farm of P.T. Barnum at Port Jefferson.}}</ref> The [[Barnum Museum]] in Bridgeport houses many of his oddities and curiosities.

==In popular culture==
<!---NOTE: List only works that are entirely about Barnum; do NOT list every appearance of a character modeled on him or mention of his name or other silly ephemera of that nature. All such will be deleted.--->

===Films and television===
* ''[[A Lady's Morals]]'' (1930) – played by [[Wallace Beery]]
* ''[[Jenny Lind (film)|Jenny Lind]]'' (1932) – played by [[André Berley]] 
* ''[[The Mighty Barnum]]'' (1934) – played again by Wallace Beery
* ''[[Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon]]'' (1967) – played by [[Burl Ives]]
* ''Barnum!'' (1986) – played by [[Michael Crawford]]; a filmed version of the Broadway musical (see below), filmed in London
* ''Barnum'' (1986) – played by [[Burt Lancaster]]; made-for-TV movie
* ''P.T. Barnum'' (1999) – played by [[Beau Bridges]]; made-for-TV movie
* ''[[Gangs of New York]]'' (2002) – played by [[Roger Ashton-Griffiths]]
* ''[[The Greatest Showman]]'' (2017) – a pop musical loosely based around Barnum and his circus. [[Hugh Jackman]] plays Barnum and coproduced the film<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/true-story-greatest-showman-how-accurate-are-characters-1063088 |title='The Greatest Showman': 8 of the Film's Stars and Their Real-Life Inspirations |first=Paulina |last=Cachero |date=December 20, 2017 |access-date=September 4, 2018 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine  |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/greatest-showman-hugh-jackman-p-t-barnum-jenny-lind |title=The Greatest Showman: The True Story of P. T. Barnum and Jenny Lind |first=Betsy Golden |last=Kellem |date=December 22, 2017 |access-date=September 4, 2018 |magazine=Vanity Fair }}</ref>
* ''[[Legends of Tomorrow|DC's Legends of Tomorrow]]'' (2018) – [[Billy Zane]] plays Barnum in season 3, episode 2 "Freakshow"
* ''[[I Didn't See You There]]'' (2022) –&nbsp;a disabled filmmaker from Barnum's hometown of [[Bethel, Connecticut|Bethel]] meditates on the ableist legacy of the freak show

===Theater===
* ''[[Barnum (musical)|Barnum]]'' (1980) – Broadway musical based on Barnum's life, starring [[Jim Dale]]
* [[The Greatest Showman (musical)|''The Greatest Showman'']] (2026) – an upcoming stage musical based on the [[The Greatest Showman|2017 film]]

===Books===
* ''The Great and Only Barnum; the Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum''

===Music===
* "U.S. Blues" – a song from the album ''[[From the Mars Hotel]]'' by [[Grateful Dead|the Grateful Dead]]
* "Killer Clowns" – a song from the EP ''[[Killer Clowns From Outer Space]]'' by [[The Dickies]] makes reference to P.T. Barnum and his associate James Anthony Bailey, as well as the often misattributed quote: "there's a sucker born every minute you know" ("There's one born every minute, don't you know?").

==Publications==
* ''The Life of P. T. Barnum: Written by Himself''. Originally published New York: Redfield, 1855. Reprint: Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2000. {{ISBN|0-252-06902-1}}.
* ''Struggles and Triumphs, or Forty Years' Recollections of P. T. Barnum''. Originally published 1869. Reprint: Whitefish, MT: Kessinger, 2003. {{ISBN|0-7661-5556-0}} (Part 1) and {{ISBN|0-7661-5557-9}} (Part 2). {{Internet Archive|22589411.1719.emory.edu|1882 edition}}.
* ''Art of Money Getting, or, Golden Rules for Making Money''. Originally published 1880. Reprint: Bedford, MA: Applewood, 1999. {{ISBN|1-55709-494-2}}.
* ''The Wild Beasts, Birds, and Reptiles of the World: The Story of Their Capture''. Pub. 1888, R. S. Peale & Company, Chicago.
* ''Why I Am a Universalist''. Originally published 1890. Reprint: Kessinger Pub Co. {{ISBN|1-4286-2657-3}}.

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Barnum effect]]
* [[Barnum's Aquarial Gardens]], Boston, Massachusetts (1862–1863)
* [[Cardiff Giant]]
* [[Colonel Routh Goshen]]
* [[Carl Hagenbeck]]
* [[Forest King]]
* [[Human zoo]]
* [[Fedor Jeftichew]]
* [[Nellie Keeler]]
* [[Isaac W. Sprague]]
* [[Wild Men of Borneo]]
* [[Lucia Zarate]]
* [[Zip the Pinhead]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* Adams, Bluford. ''E Pluribus Barnum: The Great Showman and the Making of U.S. Popular Culture''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-8166-2631-6}}.
* Alderson, William T., ed. ''Mermaids, Mummies, and Mastodons: The Emergence of the American Museum''. Washington, DC: American Association of Museums for the Baltimore City Life Museums, 1992.
* Barnum, Patrick Warren. ''Barnum Genealogy: 650 Years of Family History''. Boston: Higginson Book Co., 2006. {{ISBN|0-7404-5551-6}} (hardcover), {{ISBN|0-7404-5552-4}} (softcover), {{LCCN|2005903696}}
* Benton, Joel. ''The Life of Phineas T. Barnum'', [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1576 Unique Story of a Marvellous Career: Life of Hon. Phineas T. Barnum by Benton].
* Betts, John Rickards. "P. T. Barnum and the Popularization of Natural History", ''Journal of the History of Ideas'' 20, no. 3 (1959): 353–368.
* Cook, James W. ''The Arts of Deception: Playing with Fraud in the Age of Barnum''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-674-00591-0}}. Relates Barnum's [[Fiji Mermaid]] and What Is It? exhibits to other popular arts of the nineteenth century, including magic shows and ''[[trompe-l'œil]]'' paintings.
* Harding, Les. ''Elephant Story: Jumbo and P. T. Barnum Under the Big Top''. Jefferson, NC.: McFarland & Co., 2000. {{ISBN|0-7864-0632-1}}. (129 p.)
* Harris, Neil. ''Humbug: The Art of P. T. Barnum''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973. {{ISBN|0-226-31752-8}}.
* {{Cite book |last1=Kunhardt |first1=Philip B. Jr. |last2=Kunhardt |first2=Philip B. III |last3=Kunhardt |first3=Peter W. |title=P. T. Barnum: America's Greatest Showman |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-679-43574-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/barnumillustrate00kunh }}
* {{cite book |last=Lott |first=Eric |title=Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-19-507832-9 |pages=76–78 }}
* Reiss, Benjamin. ''The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum's America''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-674-00636-4}}. Focuses on Barnum's exhibition of [[Joice Heth]].
* Saxon, Arthur H. ''P. T. Barnum: The Legend and the Man''. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995. {{ISBN|0-231-05687-7}}.
* Uchill, Ida Libert. ''Howdy, Sucker! What P. T. Barnum Did in Colorado''. Denver: Pioneer Peddler Press, 2001. {{OCLC|47773817}}<!--Listed Invalid {{ISBN|0-9604468-1-0}}{{Please check ISBN|reason=Check digit (0) does not correspond to calculated figure.}}}}-->
* Jefferson, Margo. ''On Michael Jackson''. New York: Pantheon, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-307-27765-7}}. Critique of [[Michael Jackson]], including his obsession with P. T. Barnum and "Freaks."
* ''The Colossal P. T. Barnum Reader: Nothing Else Like It in the Universe''. Ed. by James W. Cook. Champaign, [[University of Illinois Press]], 2005. {{ISBN|0-252-07295-2}}.
* {{cite book |title=Barnum: An American Life |publisher= Simon & Schuster |year=2019 |isbn=978-1501118623 |first=Robert |last=Wilson}}
* Woolf, John. ''The Wonders: Lifting the Curtain on the Freak Show, Circus and Victorian Age'' (London: Michael O'Mara, 2019) {{ISBN|1782439935}}

==External links==
{{external links|date=February 2019}}
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote|P. T. Barnum}}
{{Wikisource author}}
'''Digital collections'''
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/p-t-barnum}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=2816}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Phineas Taylor Barnum}}
* {{Librivox author |id=1855}}

'''Physical collections'''
* [http://www.barnum-museum.org/ The Barnum Museum]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150909210528/http://dl.tufts.edu/catalog/ead/tufts:UA069.001.DO.MS002 Phineas Taylor Barnum papers, 1818–1993]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070208200010/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA02/freed/Barnum/museumessay.html Barnum's American Museum]
* [http://www.lostmuseum.cuny.edu/home.html The Lost Museum] – A virtual reproduction of Barnum's American Museum; includes a collection of primary source materials

'''Biographical information'''
* [http://www.barnum.org/fam00169.htm P. T. Barnum's genealogy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524211407/http://www.barnum.org/fam00169.htm |date=May 24, 2018 }} at the ''Barnum Family Genealogy'' website
* {{Find a Grave|56}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051208054722/http://www.ringling.com/explore/history/ptbarnum_1.aspx P. T. Barnum at Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150913050348/http://dl.tufts.edu/catalog/tei/tufts:UA069.005.DO.00001/chapter/B00011 Entry on P. T. Barnum in the Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History]
* Full text of ''[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1576 The Life of Phineas T. Barnum]'' by Joel Benton, from [[Project Gutenberg]]

'''Scholarship and analysis'''
* [http://www.circusesandsideshows.com/owners/ptbarnum.html Barnum's circus affiliation]
* [https://ultrarunninghistory.com/p-t-barnum/ P.T. Barnum – Ultrarunning Promoter (1874)]
* [http://www.houseofdeception.com/Barnum's_Writing.html House of Deception] – An article about Barnum's handwriting & signature
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041214085446/http://www.historybuff.com/library/refbarnum.html P. T. Barnum did not say "There's a sucker born every minute"]
* [http://www.ptbarnum.org P. T. Barnum, the Shakespeare of Advertising]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060215081501/http://www.bridgeportmath.org/bergh/index.html P. T. Barnum and Henry Bergh] [[Henry Bergh|Bergh]] was founder of the [[American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] (ASPCA).

'''Other links'''
* [https://www.facebook.com/ptbarnum Facebook Page] Bethel Historical Society, P. T. Barnum Monument, "P. T. Barnum – The Lost Legend" Documentary.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111026233445/http://historybuff.com/audio/barnum.mp3 An 1890 recording of Barnum's voice]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111031011904/http://www.bridgeport.edu/welcome/locations/bridgeport.aspx Marina Mansion]
* [http://www.circus2circus.com Tribute to Ringling Bros.and Barnum & Bailey Circus by brothers Charles Elias Disney & Daniel H. Disney]
* {{IBDB name|424971}}

{{Barnum}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnum, P. T.}}
[[Category:P. T. Barnum|*]]
[[Category:1810 births]]
[[Category:1891 deaths]]
[[Category:American entertainment industry businesspeople]]
[[Category:19th-century American memoirists]]
[[Category:Burials at Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport]]
[[Category:Connecticut Democrats]]
[[Category:Connecticut Republicans]]
[[Category:Mayors of Bridgeport, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Bridgeport, Connecticut]]
[[Category:People from Fairfield, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus]]
[[Category:Members of the Universalist Church of America]]
[[Category:Museum founders]]
[[Category:19th-century Christian universalists]]
[[Category:American circus owners]]
[[Category:American slave owners]]
[[Category:American abolitionists]]
[[Category:19th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:19th-century mayors of places in Connecticut]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly]]