Phineas Taylor Barnum profile picture

Phineas Taylor Barnum

I am here for Networking

About Me


American showman, b. Bethel, Conn. As a youth I worked at diverse sales jobs and managed a boarding-house. I made my first sensation in 1835 when I bought and exhibited Joice Heth, a slave who claimed she was 161 years old (she was about 80) and had been the nurse of George Washington.In 1842 I opened the American Museum in New York City and immediately became famous for my extravagant advertising and my exhibits of freaks. Among my great attractions were the Fiji Mermaid (formed by joining the upper half of a monkey to the stuffed lower half of a fish), “General Tom Thumb,” who was viewed by over 20 million people, and the original Siamese Twins, Chang and Eng. In 1850, I managed the American tour of the Swedish singer Jenny Lind and, with my talent for publicity, made it a huge financial success. In 1855 I retired from show business; I served as mayor of Bridgeport, Conn., and in the Connecticut legislature.Driven into bankruptcy by unwise business ventures, I reopened the American Museum and then organized the famous circus, “The Greatest Show on Earth,” which opened in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1871. In 1881 I merged with the most successful competitor, James A. Bailey. The stellar attraction of the circus was Jumbo, the 61/2-ton African elephant that I purchased from London Zoo despite the furious protests of the Brits and elephant fanciers, including Queen Victoria.My autobiography was published in 1855 and went through many editions. I also wrote Humbugs of the World (1865), Struggles and Triumphs (1869), and Money Getting (1883).

My Interests

Imparting wisdom such as ... Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant.There's a sucker born every minute.Those who really desire to attain an independence, have only set their minds upon it, and adopt the proper means, as they do in regard to any other object which they wish to accomplish, and the thing is easily done.More persons, on the whole, are humbugged by believing in nothing than by believing in too much.Every crowd has a silver lining.

I'd like to meet:

Paola Righetti Gerry Cottle Charles Hawtrey Howard Stern Max Clifford Michael Crawford Tony Hawks Johnny Knoxville Sir Cliff Richard Peaches Geldof Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Peter Rogers, Bernie Ecclestone amy Victoria Secrets Models

Music:

Lind, Jenny (Swedish soprano) Moore: Pageant of P.T. Barnum; Carpenter: Adventures in a Perambulater (Classical Album)

Movies:

P.T. Barnum - America's Greatest Showman ( P.T. Barnum - American Dreamer Jumbo Dime Museum Barnum (1986 Film) The Greatest Show On Earth Trapeze

Television:

American Inventor REVEALED WITH JULES ASNER The Simpson's HOLLYWOOD SQUARES Anything on the Discovery Channel King Of The Hill Jay Leno Show

Books:

The Life of P. T. Barnum, Written by ME Neil Harris, Humbug: The Art of P. T. Barnum . AH. Saxon, P. T. Barnum: The Legend and the Man (1989). In Praise of the Missionary Position State of Fear by Michael Crichton Finnegans Wake by James Joyce

Heroes:

Pedro Martinez Peter Rogers, Bernie Ecclestone Michael Eavis Richard Branson Halle Selassie Michael Flatley Joe Montana Richard Simmons

My Blog

Is celebrity the spice of life?

Ah, the whiff of Hollywood - it bends and distorts even the strongest of minds. Failing to fall in to that category by a very long way indeed is my current favourite desperate celebrity, Victoria Beck...
Posted by Phineas Taylor Barnum on Wed, 25 Jul 2007 05:08:00 PST

Ego Converters will save the planet

Laid up in England recovering from a terrible bout of flu - a terrible trauma for a man as old as myself, though the circus life leaves one hardy even at my ridiculously great age, thank goodness - I ...
Posted by Phineas Taylor Barnum on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 06:16:00 PST

The physical and metaphysical jails of Paris Hilton

My dear friends, again it's been a while since I logged in to the vast and beautiful world of MySpace, but I at least have a reasonable excuse. I have been touring the depths of India looking for side...
Posted by Phineas Taylor Barnum on Sat, 26 May 2007 03:52:00 PST

Personality politics

I am intrigued to hear from Britain that Gordon Brown, the new Prime Minister in waiting, who will be replacing Tony Blair in the summer, will reject celebrity culture. I am not certain this is possib...
Posted by Phineas Taylor Barnum on Mon, 14 May 2007 05:59:00 PST

A meal for the lions

I have watched with interest the unfolding soap opera that has been the story of the British soldiers taken hostage and then released by Iran. What a fascinating selection of people they are, moaning ...
Posted by Phineas Taylor Barnum on Thu, 12 Apr 2007 03:13:00 PST

Beautiful freaks

Advancing age can mean a lot of things - the hardening of the arteries, the onset of disease and disfunction, but take it from the man who helped create it - show business keeps you young.There is - a...
Posted by Phineas Taylor Barnum on Mon, 26 Mar 2007 03:33:00 PST

Heather McCartney and the art of money getting

My dear friends,There will hopefully be another attraction at my Parade of Bestial Celebrity when it finally opens; Heather McCartney.I have the perfect venue for her - a sunken room (which, in common...
Posted by Phineas Taylor Barnum on Mon, 12 Mar 2007 11:29:00 PST

How to conquer Iran bloodlessly

My dear friends,Speculation abounds about the President planning to attack Iran, which strikes me as a costly and risky affair, endangering the lives of the many for the needs of no-one is sure who. W...
Posted by Phineas Taylor Barnum on Tue, 27 Feb 2007 06:08:00 PST

Every crowd has a silver lining

I am delighted to read that Paris Hilton, that waxed and buffed overlord of celebrity excess, is taking seriously my earlier proposition that we work together by doing a little research.She has been r...
Posted by Phineas Taylor Barnum on Thu, 22 Feb 2007 01:26:00 PST

Bald Britney, freak show queen

This way for a sight of the incredible potato-headed pop star!Britney Spears: bald and beautiful!!Roll up, roll up and see the skinhead pop godess!!!Entrance only $5, with a free Greatest Hits album t...
Posted by Phineas Taylor Barnum on Mon, 19 Feb 2007 06:56:00 PST