P. T. Barnum Essay, Research Paper

Phineas Taylor Barnum: Master of Media An 1820-1866 Retrospective The illustrious career of showman P.T. Barnum forever changed the landscape of modern enterprise. Through tactful ingenuity and crafty creativity Barnum realized an unsurpassed popularity among the press. His antics as promoter extraordinaire revitalized a worn, emasculated post-Civil War nation. “We ought to have a big show,” Barnum declared. “The public expects it, and will appreciate it (Wallace: 5). Appreciate it they did: Barnum grossed $400,000 in his first year of operation. Barnum s systematic exploitation of available media outlets redefined modern advertising and marketing, virtually inventing the essence of promotion as it is now known. His innovative talent was his ability to create something out of nothing turning an unknown into a superstar. He remarks on his use of media The very great popularity which I have attained I ascribe almost entirely to the liberal and persistent use of the public journals of this country (Barnum: 149). The notion of creating value where none existed was his hallmark. Barnum was a proliferator of spectacle, it was not so important that the uniqueness be real, only that he could portray it as real (Turner). Barnum was 60 years old when P.T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Circus made its debut. At the time, it was the largest circus in American history. By 1872, Barnum was already referring to his enterprise as “The Greatest Show on Earth” — and it was! “P.T. Barnum’s Traveling World’s Fair, Great Roman Hippodrome and Greatest Show On Earth” covered five acres and accommodated 10,000-seated patrons at a time … and, to reach more people, took to the rails. By this time Barnum s personal fame exceeded the likes of his show. Many a letter from around the globe labeled Mr. Barnum, America are reported arriving without fail. Barnum knew every important person of his time from presidents and queens to celebrities and inventers. He went buffalo hunting with General Cluster, was friends with Mark Twain and Abe Lincoln. President Garfield called him the Kris Kringle of America (Vitale: 8). Aside from his skills as tenacious promoter of products, Barnum was first and foremost, a promoter of himself. He was a famous speaker, a best-selling author, a politician, a showman, an investor, an entrepreneur, and a marketing genius. Born on July 5, 1810, in Bethel, Connecticut, Barnum was the oldest of five children. He showed his flair for salesmanship at an early age, selling lottery tickets when he was just 12 years old. At age 19, Barnum decided on being an editor for a small weekly newspaper at a time when editors had to be armed for fear of horse-whippingsand shootings from angry readers. Barnum was so blunt and frank in his editorials that he was arrested, sued for libel, and served sixty days. When he was 25, Barnum surged ahead as showman. He paid $1,000 to obtain Joice Heth, a woman who claimed to be 161 years old and the nurse of George Washington. “Unquestionably the most astonishing and interesting curiosity in the world!” read one of Barnum’s handbills. Barnum exhibited her in New York and New England, raking in about $1,500 per week. In 1841, Barnum purchased Scudder’s American Museum on Broadway in New York City. He exhibited “500,000 natural and artificial curiosities from every corner of the globe,” and kept traffic moving through the museum with a sign that read, “This way to the egress” — “egress” was another word for exit, and Barnum’s patrons would have to pay another quarter to reenter the Museum. This type of quirky marketing flavor would typify his career. A year later, he exhibited “The Feejee Mermaid,” supposedly an embalmed mermaid purchased near Calcutta by a Boston seaman. Belief in the authenticity of the mermaid and many other features was mixed. Yet, conversely, Barnum’s ability to capture the imagination of the public was never questioned. Society starved for some form of unity and the “collective act of looking” by all members of society brought some unity to a nation that was continually being separated by class, gender, culture, and religion (Thomson 5). The odd entertainment instilled by Barnum helped to establish a common ground among a fragmented country. The American museum burned to the ground on three occasions. Barnum lost his fortune each time. Many newspapers and advesaries rejoiced over Barnum s demise, heralding his travesty as an orchestrated production rivaling one of his own creations. The Fall of Barnum made headlines everywhere. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a long time foe who despised barnum s money grubbing tactics lamented the gods are visible again (Bennett). With each tragedy, his dogmatic drive and determinism coupled with a tenacious business sense propelled the rebuilding of his empire. Such adds to the mystique of a man able to recover so successfully amidst such adversity. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Barnum was his boundless personal optimism, his faith that he could turn any setback into a means to greater success (Kunhardt: 123).

In 1842, Barnum hired the tiny 6 year old Charles Stratton, who became world-famous as General Tom Thumb. The two became close friends, and so successful that, in 1844, they had an audience in England with Queen Victoria. With General Tom Thumb, Barnum had created America s first true superstar. He gave the wise public of the 19th century shameless hucksterism, peerless spectacle, and everything in between — enough entertainment to earn the omnipotent title “master showman” (Desmond). By 1853 he started New York s first illustrated newspaper and helped it to achieve a circulation of 500,000. His personal popularity soared, everything he promoted attracted droves of people. He was once a partner with tycoon commodore Vanderbilt, a bank president and later, mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut. As a renowned statesman Barnum made a bid as a possible candidate for the U.S. presidency. In 1862, it is reported that PT Barnum arranged to have six beluga whales caught in the St. Lawrence River in New York and shipped by train in boxes of seaweed to his museum in New York. He eventually trained them, and advertised that the public could come see them tow a woman in a car. Barnum strategically used the eminent likes of Civil War photographer Mathew Brady as his personal promoter. Brady was in charge of arranging a large portion of the photo spreads used for Barnum s acts. He photographed Barnum on many occassions and is considered a pioneer publicist. Barnum and Brady were almost contemporaries, with a similar ability to catch the public eye. Brady opened his first studio across the street from Barnum’s museum in 1844. Barnum had a bold talent for publicity, and he happily profited from the public’s taste for what he called “Humbug.” This use of a lofty manufactured jargon captures Barnum s innovative marketing savvy. Many words and descriptions introduced by Barnum are commonplace today. He created the namesake and identities of most all of his performers, catering to the public s demand for the strange, bizarre and fantastic. Grandstanding , Let’s get the show on the road , Siamese Twins and Rain or Shine are all expressions woven into Americana by Barnum himself. “Barnum was at the forefront of virtually every American change in the nature of nineteenth-century entertainment” (Braudy 499). The culture created by Barnum and his freaks was that of a democratic theater which asserted “that there were kinds of spiritual grandeur and uniqueness that flourished best in the eyes of others”(Braudy 498). Touted as The most widely known American that ever lived by the Washington Post shortly after his death in 1891, P.T. Barnum personified the capitalist expansion of his day and embodied the spirit of salesmanship for yonder generations like no other. Distinguished by his profound timing and foresight, Barnum s innovative style is considered far ahead of his day yet, in typical fashion, so appropriately on time. Maybe no other generation could have appreciated the likes of Barnum without a predecessor such as himself. Moreover, as a man bent on perfect timing, Barnum s methodical ability to captivate, motivate, negotiate, and orchestrate on a grandiose scale was his true rub. The strategic manipulation, spinning of the press, and its influences continues to fuel to prowess of the media today. BibliographyPrimary sourcesBarnum, P.T.. The Life of P.T. Barnum, Written by Himself. New York, 1855.Bennett, James Gordon.. Memoirs of James Gordon Bennett and His Times as a Journalist. New York, 1855. Secondary sourcesBraudy, Leo. The Frenzy of Renown. New York: Oxford University, 1986 Desmond, Alice Curtis. Barnum Presents Gen. Tom Thumb. New York, 1954. Vitale, Joe. There s A Customer Born Every Minute: P.T. Barnum s Secrets to Business Success. New York, American Management Asc.1998. Wallace, Irving. The Fabulous Showman. New York, Knopf Press. 1959 Kunhardt, Philip. P.T. Barnum. New York: Knopf Press, 1995. Thomson, Rosemarie Garland, Editor. Freakery. NewYork: New York University, 1996.Turner, E. S. (Ernest Sackville). The shocking history of advertising. Harmondsworth, Eng.. Penguin Books, 1965. .