Becoming Barnum: The Journey to Fame and Fortune

"Speaker Name","Start Time","End Time","Text"
"PT Barnum","00;00;00;20","00;00;23;24","I wish to give my parting thanks to the British public, and to assure them that I shall ever gratefully cherish most pleasant memories of their kindness and hospitality, even higher than the pecuniary success with which they have crowned my efforts to please them. I thus address the world through the medium of the latest wonderful invention, Edison’s phonograph, so that my voice, like my great show, will reach future generations, and be heard centuries after I have joined the great, and as I believe, happy majority"
"Narrator","00;00;26;04","00;00;55;04","Welcome to Becoming Barnum. The Journey to Fame and Fortune. A podcast presented by the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and based on their award winning blog series. Support for this project is presented to the Barnum Museum from the city of Bridgeport. American Rescue Plan Act funds Peoples United, a division of M.A. Bank and the Connecticut Humanities and National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the Federal American Rescue Plan Act."
"Narrator","00;00;57;02","00;01;31;13","The Barnum Museum has a special treasure in its collection a 750 page copy book of Letters written by Phineas Taylor Barnum when he was traveling in Europe in the 1840s, introducing his young protege, General Tom Thumb, to high society and royalty as well as millions of ordinary people. Barnum's lively letters to friends, family members and business associates reveal him more completely as a person, at times struggling mightily to make the three year tour a success, all the while directing the management of his American Museum from afar."
"Narrator","00;01;32;14","00;01;57;29","They also offer insights into Barnum as a husband, father and nephew and as a mentor to the child actor entertainer whose popularity resulted in their meteoric rise to fame and fortune. In his mid-thirties at the time. Barnum proved himself a tireless, go getter, calculating risk taker and astute entrepreneur for decades before his name was attracting crowds to the greatest show on earth."
"Narrator","00;01;59;03","00;02;28;19","These letters offer a window into the hardscrabble era of showbusiness, revealing how Barnum went about acquiring hiring and commissioning attractions and promoting his museum and the General Tom Thumb tours in Europe. Join us as we travel back in time to learn through Barnum's own words about the real person behind the legendary P.T. Barnum."
"Narrator","00;02;31;18","00;03;01;26","Read and reflect. Then do as you please. Over the past few months of reading Barnum's letters in his 1845 to 1846 copybook, we have been surprised to find relatively few to charity. His wife. Though it is clear that Barnum missed his wife and daughters very much while he was in France. Correspondence thus far suggests a marital relationship that was often out of sync, compounded by charities chronic health problems."
"Narrator","00;03;02;17","00;03;39;06","He was a man of boundless energy. While she suffered from inertia, or so it seemed, from Barnum's viewpoint. That said, we may know more than Barnum did at this time about charities condition. She was pregnant with a daughter who would be born March 1st, 1846, and thus could have been feeling quite tired in autumn of 1844. Charity and Daughters Caroline, age 12, and Helen, age five, had made the journey across the Atlantic to join Barnum in England, where they spent several months together there, as well as in Brussels and Paris before returning to America."
"Narrator","00;03;40;07","00;04;03;24","Our volume of letters begins in July, after Barnum and General Tom Thumb's entourage left Paris to begin their countryside tour. So at that point, Barnum was on his own again, allowing for the weeks that charity and the girls would have spent on the return voyage. Barnum picked up his pen to write to his wife on August 13th, feeling a bit peaked that he had not heard from her of their safe arrival."
"Narrator","00;04;04;18","00;04;06;28","In fact, all his letters home include a."
"PT Barnum","00;04;07;02","00;04;08;05","Why don't you write me."
"Narrator","00;04;08;05","00;04;18;18","Refrain that suggests Charity was not inclined to put pen to paper? More than ten weeks later, on October 25th, while on a brief trip to London, he wrote to say."
"PT Barnum","00;04;19;00","00;04;28;26","I am very sorry that your letter to me of the 12th September was not plainly directed. Otherwise I should have got it sooner. It was 38 days in getting to Paris."
"Narrator","00;04;29;07","00;04;34;24","He hinted that it was her fault due to inadequate instructions and advised in future that she."
"PT Barnum","00;04;35;04","00;04;40;02","Paid a postage for steamer price and tried to continue to have your letters come by steamer."
"Narrator","00;04;40;19","00;05;05;18","Three previous episodes have focused on Barnum's family letters, and this week we will follow up on some of the story threads that have been left loose. Returning for a moment to an August 13th letter, we learned that Barnum and Charity had discussed purchasing property in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with Barnum even sketching his idea for a half circle driveway, flanked by gates and describing the landscaping and outbuildings he wanted."
"Narrator","00;05;06;25","00;05;31;18","Along the way, we have also discovered how very determined Barnum was that his eldest daughter receive a top notch education, something he had not had. Further, he was adamant that she be enrolled in a boarding school that would afford the best opportunities to attain fluency in French, as well as complete a rigorous course of studies appropriate for a young lady, meaning weighted toward literature and history more than sciences."
"Narrator","00;05;32;24","00;06;02;07","Not hearing from charity for weeks. Barnum surmised that she was not making Carolyn's education her highest priority. And so he asked his uncle Allanson tailor to intercede and make decisions. By then it was October, and he felt justified in his concern on this matter, while also bearing the strain of constant worry about Helen's health. Regarding these last two topics, we can easily settle them with the October 25th letter in which a reassured Barnum responded to charity."
"PT Barnum","00;06;02;14","00;06;23;21","I am much relieved to hear that you and Helen are both better. God granted my continue. I am also rejoice to hear that Carolyn is well situated in school. When you write Give Her My Love and say that I do hope she has good sense enough to see the great importance of her improving this particular period of her life and devoting it to the acquirement of knowledge."
"Narrator","00;06;24;21","00;06;50;25","As far as purchasing property. The saga continues without conclusion, though we do know that eventually 17 acres were purchased and the magnificent Oriental Villa called a stan was built. But that's our own crystal ball. At the time of these letters, the outcome was quite uncertain. Barnum had previously chided Charity for not providing complete and comparable information about two properties she was considering."
"Narrator","00;06;51;09","00;07;18;11","Now, six weeks later, Barnum's guidance to her is full of mixed messages. For example, go ahead if you wish. But I prefer that you don't. And by the way, I don't trust your judgment when it comes to the price. One can only imagine how charity felt about her husband's obvious lack of confidence in her. But to be fair, the majority of married men in this time period would never even have considered allowing their wives to engage in real estate transactions."
"Narrator","00;07;18;24","00;07;24;14","So perhaps Barnum was more advanced than most husbands in that regard. He cautioned her."
"PT Barnum","00;07;24;27","00;07;48;11","As for buying that house in Bridgeport, I really hope that before this time you have got over the buying fever and do not desire to purchase till I return. For it's my opinion, we should both regret it if I wait out $14,000 for a place on Golden Hill. I think I could urge many good reasons for not buying, but for your remaining tranquil and satisfied in the same old house till I get home."
"PT Barnum","00;07;48;26","00;08;01;17","But I have not time to write those reasons. And therefore I shall not do it. I can only repeat that I think it is best not to buy now when after all, you may do as you think best about it, and I'll agree not to find fault."
"Narrator","00;08;01;22","00;08;04;21","While echoing reassurance that he'd accept her decision."
"PT Barnum","00;08;04;21","00;08;22;08","If you think it will not be much against our own interest for you to wait till I get home, I prefer it. But if you think otherwise, you must go ahead and I will not blame you afterwards. I give it as my private opinion that you don't know whether the real value of the place is 6000 or $14,000."
"PT Barnum","00;08;22;19","00;08;34;20","And if you buy it, I expect to find that you are cheated to the tune of at least four or $5,000. Still, if you choose to wish it, I repeat, I authorize you to do so and will not grumble."
"Narrator","00;08;34;29","00;08;46;19","He continued with instructions on the need for insurance and making absolutely certain that the title to the property was clear. Barnum concluded his discussion with rather pointed and belittling remarks."
"PT Barnum","00;08;46;27","00;09;06;28","If you buy and get cheated, it will serve me right and learn me. Never to trust you to make big purchases again. You can buy dresses, etc. first rate for if you get sick of them as you often do, you make the merchants take them back, but that cat won't jump in this case. So if you buy, you must remember there is no backing out afterwards."
"PT Barnum","00;09;07;07","00;09;16;12","We shall be stuck for life there. That's all I have got to say about the house. Read and reflect. Then do as you please. And I will be satisfied."
"Narrator","00;09;16;22","00;09;39;29","Consulting our crystal ball once again. We know that Barnum himself would go on to make serious financial blunders, and the most consequential one in terms of his family's well-being occurred just a few years ahead in the 1850s. That episode, protracted as it was humbled him as he came to realize his poor decision, was largely caused by a lack of due diligence and his hubris."
"Narrator","00;09;40;17","00;09;47;28","But that's later. For now, we are still left hanging about the property purchase, especially as Barnum had written in September."
"PT Barnum","00;09;48;08","00;09;52;04","I am by no means sure that we had better have a house in Connecticut at all."
"Narrator","00;09;52;13","00;10;03;03","And on another occasion had expressed unhappiness about the behavior of his Bridgeport relatives and whether it would thus be preferable to consider Staten Island, Harlem, Jersey or."
"PT Barnum","00;10;03;08","00;10;04;29","Someplace up the North River."
"Narrator","00;10;05;12","00;10;34;00","Another decision with financial consequences that neither Barnum nor charity had predicted concerned the beautiful dinnerware, gilt silver tea service and other luxury items they had purchased at an estate auction in Paris. The things inside case number eight discusses some of those pieces. And as we learned in a letter to Fortas, Hitchcock, Barnum's museum manager, Hitchcock was having to wrangle the payment of hefty import duties on the crates of magnificent objects Barnum had shipped home."
"Narrator","00;10;35;00","00;10;40;03","In his October 25th letter. Barnum mentioned the situation to charity, telling her."
"PT Barnum","00;10;40;14","00;10;51;14","We missed it very much, that we did not use our porcelain and stuff once in Paris. As then, it would have cost no duty. As it is, Hitchcock had to pay nearly $600 duty."
"Narrator","00;10;51;27","00;11;18;08","An aside for what it's worth. Comparing worth gets very complicated when the desired comparison spans a long period of time. There isn't a simple formula that provides a definitive answer as to today's equivalent of the $600 duty Barnum owed in 1845. If we were looking at year 1900 or later, we could plug the number into a comparison model of household expenditures data that utilizes the value of the consumer bundle."
"Narrator","00;11;18;08","00;11;50;28","And that would probably give us the best point of reference. But there is no such data for households pre 1900 because the consumer bundle would be so very different apples to oranges. So if we just compare purchasing power between 1845 and today using the Consumer Price Index, CPI, the relative value of $600 is $20,900 in today's dollars. Even though the CPI may not be the ideal tool for our purpose, it does indicate that Barnum had owed an astonishing amount."
"Narrator","00;11;51;13","00;12;15;08","If you want to explore the topic of relative worth and methods of comparison in greater depth, go to measuring worth tor.com. Moving on to a different topic in this letter, it seems that Barnum may not have pleased charity in the way he thought his actions should. He refers to getting her name in the newspaper, which most likely was through one of his foreign correspondent letters to the New York Atlas, a Sunday paper."
"Narrator","00;12;15;26","00;12;23;14","He thought she should be delighted, but knowing of charities, retiring nature, one can imagine that deed backfiring. He teased her."
"PT Barnum","00;12;23;26","00;12;42;20","You ought to thank me if you don't for putting your name in the paper. It is not every person that can get their names there. And, you know, a person generally likes to see their name in print. However, you promised to pay me for it. I am much obliged. I know you ought to pay for the privilege and will accept anything you pleased to offer."
"PT Barnum","00;12;42;28","00;12;45;24","And if you are a liberal, perhaps I'll put your name in again."
"Narrator","00;12;46;07","00;12;53;26","With November on the horizon, Barnum's worries about little Helen's health, pepper his accounts to charity. On October 12th, he wrote."
"PT Barnum","00;12;54;12","00;12;59;28","I am continually in a state of alarm on Helen's account, especially as the cold weather approaches."
"Narrator","00;13;00;24","00;13;03;14","A couple of weeks later. His next letter counseled."
"PT Barnum","00;13;03;28","00;13;07;06","Don't think of sending Helen out of the house to school this winter."
"Narrator","00;13;07;22","00;13;13;22","In addition to the health concerns Barnum genuinely missed Helen in a consoling tone, he wrote Charity."
"PT Barnum","00;13;14;09","00;13;27;23","You Talk of being lonesome. My dear, how can you be lonesome when you have our dear little Pat Helen to amuse you? I should never be lonesome with her. But I am excessively so without you or either of our dear children."
"Narrator","00;13;28;09","00;13;37;15","Barnum was indeed smitten with his little girl and knowing it would be many long months before he would see her again. He closed his October 25th letter with."
"PT Barnum","00;13;37;26","00;13;43;02","599,876 kisses for dear little Helen and."
"Narrator","00;13;43;02","00;13;44;04","The advice to his wife."
"PT Barnum","00;13;44;18","00;13;48;20","You must try to keep yourself warm and comfortable and keep sufficient help."
"Narrator","00;13;49;13","00;13;58;09","Alas, he did not leave it at that. Once again, sounding vexed, he let Charity know of his great disappointment that letters from home were so infrequent."
"PT Barnum","00;13;58;22","00;14;08;26","Give my love to all our friends. I am sorry that none of them nor you have got spirit enough to write me. But such, it seems, is the case."
"Narrator","00;14;10;26","00;14;45;15","News in a post-script. My present ideas. The last section read and reflect mainly focused on P.T. Barnum, October 25th, 1845, letter to his wife, charity at home in Bridgeport, Connecticut. While he was traveling in Europe. But there is a post-script separated from the letter that tells us more. You will recall that one of the major concerns was whether charity would go ahead and purchase a home she liked or wait until Barnum returned, which would be a good long time."
"Narrator","00;14;45;20","00;15;08;26","And according to other letters, not likely before May of 1846, if then, Barnum was clearly reluctant to allow charity to make such a major decision. Without him. Though, with the span of many weeks between their letters, he realized she might already have bought the property. Such were the days when overseas communication was very slow, leaving the current state of affairs uncertain."
"Narrator","00;15;10;04","00;15;35;24","While we had expected to move on exploring more letters from Barnum's brief trip to London, which provided delightful heads up on his plans for General Tom Thumb's return to the city in December, we will postpone that topic and return to stateside. Money matters instead. The aforementioned postscript was found in the copy book following a long letter to museum manager Fortas Hitchcock, and we had wrongly assumed it belonged to that letter."
"Narrator","00;15;36;15","00;16;04;28","It's important because it provides additional insight on where the Barnum stood at that moment in their lives. Wrangling decisions concerning a new chapter of domestic life. And some of it relates to Barnum's communication with Hitchcock. So let's pick up the Bridgeport story again and then segway to another update on Barnum's proposed museum investments in America. We will see that Barnum kept Hitchcock very busy managing his financial affairs, both business and personal."
"Narrator","00;16;05;15","00;16;30;03","While we know that Barnum and Charity eventually chose to build a house. In fact, a very grand one inspired by the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England. We don't know exactly when the idea to build such an extraordinary home arose. One might assume the seed was planted when Charity was with her husband in England from late 1844 to mid 1845, as they probably had an opportunity to see the palace."
"Narrator","00;16;30;20","00;16;59;00","If so, then the current correspondence about the purchase of property would presumably be focused on getting that plan in motion, such as Barnum's August 13th letter containing a driveway sketch and wish list. Instead, these later letters suggest indecision, though they reveal Charity's inclination to buy rather than build. So this tells us that the idea to essentially replicate a portion of the Royal Pavilion was nowhere near half baked in October 1845."
"Narrator","00;16;59;19","00;17;12;07","However, from the post-script, we learned that Barnum had not given up the idea of building a home even while telling Charity to go ahead and purchase the $14,000 home if she felt truly compelled to have it."
"PT Barnum","00;17;13;08","00;17;34;22","My present ideas are in favor of buying or building a fine house not too large, about three quarters of a mile out of Bridgeport or some other town and get a few acres of land with it so that we can have plenty of room for our gardens, orchards, pigs, poultry, etc. and the whole would not cost half so much as a house with no land in the middle of the town."
"PT Barnum","00;17;35;22","00;17;47;12","Again, our property would yearly increase in value as the town extended and reached nearer to our house. And when we had business in town and did not wish to walk, we should have horses and vehicles to."
"Narrator","00;17;48;06","00;18;09;19","The postscript ends here. Incomplete despite additional blank space. From this, it sounds as if the home charity wish to purchase was an in-town property, which she would probably have thought more convenient than one further out. Again, advising his wife on what she should learn before committing to buy the property, Barnum's Post-Script suggested."
"PT Barnum","00;18;10;01","00;18;22;09","If you really think seriously of buying that place, you ought to know how much the whole yearly taxes are for. I expect they are very high in Bridgeport. And after learning that, you could better judge whether it is best to buy it."
"Narrator","00;18;22;20","00;18;35;03","Noting that good water is an indispensable, necessary something he had also emphasized in a previous letter, he suggested that charity examine the property as carefully as she would a length of fabric she wished to purchase."
"PT Barnum","00;18;35;27","00;18;58;02","If you was buying a piece of linen for our family or a piece of calico for yourself, you would critically examine its quality before purchasing. Of course, you see how much more necessary it is for you to thoroughly examine this House in all its parts before buying, if it has got to be much altered to suit us. Don't buy for it is better to build than to repair and alter."
"Narrator","00;18;58;23","00;19;03;23","As for getting a better price from the seller, Barnum recommended she adopt this strategy."
"PT Barnum","00;19;04;13","00;19;29;21","After all, if the owner wishes to sell and if he does not see that you are overanxious about it, you can get his lowest price. And after he is named that say suppose he names 13,000 genitalium, you give him 11,000 and positively no more and 10 to 1. After a week's reflection, he will accept your offer, where he will know that although cash will always buy houses, houses will not always fetch cash."
"Narrator","00;19;30;17","00;19;43;11","Perhaps feeling resigned to the idea that charity would purchase the intown house or another before he returned, he recommended she consider the benefits of also buying some of the furnishings if they were a good fit to the rooms."
"PT Barnum","00;19;43;29","00;19;58;17","And if you buy, perhaps there may be some furniture which is peculiarly appropriate to the house and which they would sell better, cheaper for us than to buy elsewhere, especially good carpets fitted to the rooms, etc.. If so, of course you'll buy that."
"Narrator","00;19;58;17","00;20;07;28","Also writing on the same date a Ford is Hitchcock at the American Museum. Barnum included an instruction to provide the funds that charity might require."
"PT Barnum","00;20;08;15","00;20;27;23","My wife has written me that she wishes to buy a place in Bridgeport, which will cost about $14,000. I have written that I think it it better not be bought till I get home. Still telling her to buy, if all things considered, she thinks best. And in that case, I have told her to consult you about the money matters and learn what payments you could make."
"PT Barnum","00;20;28;17","00;20;36;29","Should she buy? I hope you and the person selling can so arrange as to have the payments made in such sums and at such times, and shall suit both."
"Narrator","00;20;38;05","00;21;02;08","At the same time. Potential financial obligations for Barnum's business loomed large, depending on Hitchcock's decision about buying Peale's Museum in New York and or Appeals Philadelphia a museum. And there were complexities in regard to Peale's Baltimore Museum. Barnum had at one point thought to purchase a half interest for his uncle and Taylor, but then recently learned that Taylor was trying to do that himself."
"Narrator","00;21;02;23","00;21;10;01","Thus, if Taylor's investment came to pass, Barnum would need to change. Another plan he had in mind to Hitchcock, he wrote."
"PT Barnum","00;21;10;20","00;21;30;08","I am anxious to hear whether you want the Philadelphia Museum or whether you have thought best to buy Peale's or neither. My uncle Allanson Taylor writes me that he expected to take half of the Baltimore Museum from Young Peale. If he has done this. I am not very anxious for the president to buy the New York Museum. Or truth to tell."
"PT Barnum","00;21;30;11","00;21;51;21","One object in instructing you to buy it was that I had a strong idea of building a museum in Baltimore and running a little peale opposite a thing which I will not think of if Mr. Taylor has an interest in his museum. For poor fellow, he has had a hard row to hoe during the last 12 years of his life, and I shall be rejoiced if Fortune will once more smile on him."
"Narrator","00;21;52;24","00;22;17;29","As he had done at least once before. Barnum made an effort to keep Taylor and Hitchcock's relationship cordial and profitable. He told Hitchcock he had sensed a sour feeling between the two regarding both men as dear friends. He wanted to cultivate a friendly and harmonious feeling between the three of them, allowing them to accommodate each other and pull together, explaining the value of such cooperation."
"Narrator","00;22;18;12","00;22;19;10","He wrote Hitchcock."
"PT Barnum","00;22;19;27","00;22;42;09","Depend on it, my dear fellow, this course will prove for the ultimate interest of all three of us, whether he, Taylor now is or is not a partner in the Baltimore Museum. I have got some Dodgers brewing which will give our several kingdoms, museums, great powers, and it is much to our mutual interest that, like great empires, we cultivate feelings of amity and peace."
"Narrator","00;22;43;03","00;22;57;09","Barnum then went on to express worry that all the potential investments personal and business might come to fruition about the same time. Nevertheless, he remained steadfast in assuming the risks and trusting in Hitchcock's judgment."
"PT Barnum","00;22;57;24","00;23;20;26","If Taylor has got an interest in that museum, and if also my wife wishes to buy that place in Bridgeport and drawn you for funds, I shall not be sorry to learn that you have not bought Peale's Museum, but damn it, I had had so many minds about that cursed eyesore that I will not direct regarding it again, but my standing order shall be by it or not as you think best, and I'll be satisfied."
"Narrator","00;23;21;29","00;23;42;28","Added to all this, Barnum dearly wished to provide $1,000 to Oliver Taylor, presumably a family member on his maternal side, who had asked him for a $5,000 loan until he could reclaim a debt owed him, or if not so much as could be spared $1,000 to allow him to purchase a bakery. To Hitchcock, Barnum wrote."
"PT Barnum","00;23;43;10","00;23;50;17","Now I am going to do a thing which you will say is foolish, but I don't care. I will do it where I can't sleep nights till I do it."
"Narrator","00;23;51;07","00;23;57;03","Authorizing him to pay Taylor $500 at sight and again three months later, he added."
"PT Barnum","00;23;57;19","00;24;01;12","I can't be happy if I refuse him and I won't refuse him."
"Narrator","00;24;01;24","00;24;11;16","Though Barnum had previously complained about distant relatives and people unknown to him demanding money, Oliver Taylor's plight clearly struck a chord. He told Hitchcock."
"PT Barnum","00;24;12;01","00;24;24;01","He is a high spirited, goodhearted, unfortunate and much abused man, and he has been once almost as prosperous in life as I am. But he is now without a friend on earth, except his wife."
"Narrator","00;24;25;10","00;24;28;03","Of the money that he hardly expected would be repaid."
"PT Barnum","00;24;28;09","00;24;31;01","Barnum added God grant it may help him."
"Narrator","00;24;31;10","00;24;37;14","Knowing of Hitchcock's strict adherence to instructions and inclination to anxiety, Barnum reassured him."
"PT Barnum","00;24;37;22","00;24;53;26","Don't get frightened at all these drafts on your finances. But if you see yourself likely to be cramped, let me know what it wants and I'll send you my notes, which you must get discounted until we get in funds again. I have got no money here. Bad luck to it, but live on hold."
"Narrator","00;24;54;11","00;25;21;04","We'll soon find out if the General Tom Thumb tours will once again pile up the tin. Upon their return to Paris and then on to London. Stay tuned. Thanks for listening to this episode of Becoming Barnum. The Journey to Fame and Fortune. This podcast was produced by the Barnum Museum. All episodes are based on the blog series Barnum's Letters From Abroad by Adrian St-Pierre, curator of the Barnum Museum."
"Narrator","00;25;21;27","00;25;52;18","Editing and Sound Design are by Rui Pena and narration by William Sarris. Kathleen Ma is our executive director and John Swing is our chief operations officer. Please visit our Web site at WW Dot Barnum Dash Museum dot org to learn more about the museum. Don't forget to connect with us on social media and visit the Barnum Museum's YouTube channel for behind the scenes presentations of our fascinating collections and more stories about the legendary showman."
"Narrator","00;25;53;03","00;26;05;26","Please tune in next time as we continue our adventures in Europe with P.T. Barnum."