“The Greatest Showman on Earth”
Presentation created by Robert L. Martinez
Primary Source: The Story of US by Joy Hakim
• A man took a brick from a spot near P.T.
Barnum’s American Museum, walked a
block with it, exchanged it for an identical
brick, did the same thing with that brick,
and another…
…. until he carried a brick through the
door of Barnum’s American Museum.
• Now what’s coming may seem strange to
you, but it is true. People who saw the
incident became curious, so they followed
the strange man to see where he was
going to put the brick.
• Usually a big crowd followed him. When
they got to the museum they had to pay
admission to get in, and they did.
• When they got inside the museum they
realized they had been fooled; that P.T.
Barnum had outwitted them and made
them enter his museum with his “brick
trick.”
• But, instead of being angry most of them
laughed. Barnum called himself “the Prince
of Humbug,” and a humbug is a hoax or an
imposter.
P.T. Barnum admitted that he
became famous fooling people.
No one seemed to mind,
Barnum was probably the most
successful showman America
has ever had.
• In his American Museum were: a collection
of stuffed animals, paintings, a family of
“trained” fleas, musicians, a “real”
mermaid, and assorted oddities.
P.T. Barnum and Tom Thumb
• There weren’t many museums in those
days, and most of Barnum’s exhibits were
special, but there was also much
tomfoolery (tricks, fakes.)
Museum Guidebook
• One door was marked To the Egress.
Well, most people had no idea what an
egress was so they went through that door
thinking they would find a strange animal
or who-knows-what.
• Egress is another word for exit. Once they
were through the door they were outside
and had to pay to get back in again, and
they did.
• P.T. Barnum had a knack for fooling
people and for taking their money. He fit
right in with the times.
• It was a time when some big businessmen,
called “robber barons,” acted as if they
owned the country, and they practically
did.
• It was also a time when some people,
called reformers, tried to make the country
better, and did a pretty good job of that.
Child Labor
• Since most Americans couldn’t get to New
York to the American Museum, Barnum
took his showmanship and laughter
around the country.
• He built a circus, the Barnum and Bailey
Circus. He called it “The Greatest Show on
Earth.”
• The word circus comes from the Latin
word for “round.” Romans had circuses.
So did the Egyptians, way back, more than
4,000 years ago. But it wasn’t until 1770, in
London, that there was a modern circus,
with a ring and horseback acts and clowns.
• P.T. Barnum made circuses bigger and
better. He introduced three rings, and he
built a circus so large that 20,000 people
could sit under one big tent. Then he took
his circus out to towns across America.
• It was luck for Barnum, that railroads were
beginning to cross the land. Barnum used
trains to transport his show. It took 60
railroad cars to carry the whole circus.
• The railroads ran special trains to bring
spectators to the circus towns. Today, the
Ringling Bros. circus continues to travel by
train.
• America was still mostly farms then, and,
of course, there was no radio or
television. So you can see that when the
circus came it was the biggest event of
the year, especially for children.
• The circus would unload at the railroad
tracks and march through town in a big
parade.
• Barnum’s circus added a word to the
English language. Do you ever say
something is “jumbo sized” when you
mean it is large?
Jumbo Jet or French Fries ?
• The star of Barnum’s circus was an
elephant whose name was Mumbo
Jumbo, but everyone called him Jumbo.
Jumbo was said to be the largest
elephant in captivity.
• There was a serious side to Barnum. He
became a congressman and was a
strong supporter of equal rights and of
the 14th Amendment.
• And he fought for prohibition, which
means he tried to outlaw the sale of
liquor.
• Phineas Taylor Barnum fit the age in
which he lived. He combined its
extremes, an obsession with money
and a desire to do good.
The Circus is as
popular as ever.
• Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey
celebrity and family friend, Bello with
my daughter Austin.
Are you ready to run away to
work for the circus ?
My daughter Austin Renee.