P.T. Barnum: A Captivating Guide to the American Showman Who Founded What Became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

Explore the Captivating Life of P.T. Barnum
He wasn't always the Great Showman. In fact, Phineas Taylor Barnum grew up in relative poverty with only his wits to help him along. When his father died, the fifteen-year-old boy entered the working world as a shopkeeper's assistant. In leaps and bounds, he worked his way from assistant to shop owner, lottery office owner, and eventually, entertainment promoter. The bulk of his career was focused on his beloved American Museum, where thousands of ticket-holders flocked every day to look at the human oddities, stuffed animals, live whale, and American memorabilia. In the Barnum and Bailey Circus, we see the culmination of the renowned man's life's work.
Some of the topics covered in this book include:
The Inn-Keeper's SonLottery ManiaThe Herald of FreedomLeasing Joice HethBarnum's American MuseumGeneral Tom Thumb Goes to EnglandThe Swedish Nightingale'The Drunkard' at the Moral Lecture RoomBankruptcy and CriticismThe Family ManPublicist, Showman, AuthorThe Nancy Fish EraThe Greatest Show on EarthMore PolitickingThe Blackface MinstrelsThe Last ShowAnd much more!