In May 2017, a historic event happened: Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus shut down. Almost two centuries ago, it was created by the well-known P. T. Barnum. It had not started off as Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey, or even Barnum and Bailey. It first started as a museum in New York City as the American Museum.
In 1841, Phineas Taylor Barnum purchased the Scudder’s Museum and renamed it the American Museum. He filled this with all different kinds of oddities, from a fabled 161-year-old woman named Joice Heth, who was supposed to have been George Washington’s slave, to a midget named General Tom Thumb, to a FeeJee mermaid, which was the upper half of a monkey sewn to the lower half of a fish.1 Barnum repeatedly fooled the public into believing his outrageous oddity claims, all for the purpose of making money for himself, and also to satisfy curiosities about the odder things in life. Barnum named himself the Prince of Humbug, and the public loved that even more than being duped.2
“The noblest art is that of making others happy.”3
In 1865, Barnum was elected to the Connecticut legislature as a Republican representative. He was noted saying “A human soul, ‘that God has created, and Christ died for,’ is not to be trifled with. It may tenant the body of a Chinaman, a Turk, an Arab, or a Hottentot – it is still an immortal spirit” during one of the sessions on the discussion of African American voting rights. Barnum was a Unionist who advocated for the right of African Americans to vote, despite his years of being a supporter of slavery.4 The same year he was elected as a representative, his first museum was burned down by Confederate sympathizers.5 He was determined not to fail. Barnum rebuilt in a different location, only for another fire to burn this museum down three years later, in 1868; but this time the cause was unknown.
Despite the huge setback, this was one of the stepping stones in creating Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. Defeated by the fires and large loss of money, Barnum retired. In 1871, W. C. Coup convinced Barnum to step out of retirement and go on the road with a travelling circus, “P. P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome.” By 1872, it was being called the “Greatest Show on Earth” by none other than Barnum himself, though the rest of the country believed it as well. For eight years, Barnum and Coup took the circus around the country.6
In 1880, Barnum took the next step in creating Barnum & Bailey. He met James A. Bailey, who owned the Great London Circus, and partnered with him to create “P.T. Barnum’s Greatest Show on Earth, And the Great London Circus, Sanger’s Royal British Menagerie and The Grand International Allied Shows United,” later shortened to Barnum and Bailey’s Circus.7 Bailey was a man happy to give Barnum the light and hide in the background, running the logistics of the circus, earning him the name “King of Circus Men.”8 Josephine Robinson described the two men in a statement: “Mr. Barnum was the advertiser, who loved the limelight, who rode around in the ring, and announced who he was. But Mr. Bailey was the business man, content to be invisible, demanding it in fact, and interested only in the success of the show.”9
Give the people the best—spare no expense doing it—and they’ll reward you greatly. – James A. Bailey10
In 1882, Barnum and Bailey purchased Jumbo, an elephant that they claimed to be the biggest in the world. Jumbo would bring in thousands of people until he was hit by a freight car in 1885, after which the circus was financially devastated. Instead of giving up on the Jumbo act, Barnum and Bailey displayed Jumbo’s skeleton. The show continued and achieved one of Barnum’s lifelong dreams, travelling to Europe, where the circus toured in 1889 for the winter months. In London, a multitude of shows were played, such as the Nero or The Destruction of Rome.11
In 1891, a shock came to the entertainment world: Phineas Taylor Barnum passed away at eighty-one years old in his home. His death left the circus to Bailey, who ran the circus for fifteen years, introducing new shows and acts such as Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.12 Shock hit the United States again when, in 1906, James A. Bailey passed away in his home from erysipelas.
In 1907, the Ringling Brothers purchased the circus from Bailey’s wife. The brothers ran the circus separately until 1919 when the circuses merged creating the famous Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. The new circus traveled the United States until it was dismantled ninety-nine years later.
- Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2013, s.v. “First Modern American Circus,” by Geralyn Strecker. ↵
- P.T. Barnum, The autobiography of P.T Barnum:clerk, merchant, editor, & showman (England:Ward & Lock, 1855), 86. ↵
- P.T. Barnum, Life of P.T. Barnum (Buffalo: The Courier Company, 1888). ↵
- “The Lost Museum Archive,” P. T. Barnum’s Speech on “Negro Suffrage,” May 26, 1865 (excerpts) https://lostmuseum.cuny.edu/archive/p-t-barnums-speech-on-negro-suffrage-may-26. ↵
- John Headley, Confederate Operations in Canada and New York (Nabu Press, 2010): 327. ↵
- Margo DeMello, Encyclopedia of Body Adornment (Westport, Conn: Greenwood, 2007), 25-26. ↵
- “P.T. Barnums Greatest Show on Earth, and Great London Circus, Sangers Royal British Menagerie & Grand International Allied Shows,” The Library of Congress, 1879 https://www.loc.gov/item/99471610/. ↵
- “James A. Bailey, King Of Circus Men, is Dead. News Kept From Performers Till The Show Was Over. Widow Gets Circus Stock. Showman Died Of Erysipelas At His Country Home Near Mount Vernon After A Week’s Illness,” New York Times, April 12, 1906. ↵
- Linda Simon, The Greatest Shows on Earth: A History of the Circus (London, UK: Reaktion Books, 2014): 85. ↵
- A Pioneer Showman (Public Opinion Company: January 1, 1906), 486. ↵
- Ernest J. Albrecht, From Barnum & Bailey to Feld: The Creative Evolution of the Greatest Show on Earth (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2014), 27. ↵
- Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2010, s.v. “Bailey, James Anthony,” by James Craddock. ↵
67 comments
Melissa Garza
I really liked reading about Barnum and his Greatest Show on Earth. I have heard of PT Barnum and I recently watched the Greatest Showman which is a musical portrayal of his story and I loved it. This article gave me a good insight on what entertainment consisted of in the late 1800’s. It is very interesting because I didn’t even know that he was elected a republican representative. Overall this article was very informative and was very well constructed.
Aaron Sandoval
This article was well done and interesting read, after reading this article, I learned more about Barnum than I had known before. I enjoyed how you incorporated his time as a representative, and not just his stage presence, incorporating this shows that there was more than just one side to Barnum, I also liked the incorporation of quotes, it gives us a clearer look into the mentality of Barnum and Bailey.
Sara Guerrero
I have heard of the Ringling Bros. but I’ve always heard negative things like their animals and how they abuse them and traumatize them. Reading about the Ringling Bros. in this publication really shows the commitment and the effort the brothers put into making their circus successful. Although, my mindset won’t change to what their animals had to go through, no doubt that they made the greatest circus.
Nicholas Robitille
I was surprised to see so much I hadn’t known about Barnum & Bailey’s circus and the men behind them. I had always thought that Barnum had been just a ringmaster and creator, but had overall not done much more. I was shocked to see that he had actually become a legitimate Republican Representative. I am truly confused on how dumbo was hit by a train however; how does that even happen? Overall informative, but I wish you had continued further.
Mauro Bustamante
The article talked about how the “Greatest Show on Earth” stared and finished, this relates to a movie called ” The Greatest Showman” which goes on about his circus and how it started and etc. This article also goes to show what type of entertainment people would have access back in the day, back in the day you would have to go to the circus to even see an elephant whereas nowadays you can look it up on the internet. This article was amusing and very informative about what type of entertainment society was interested back then.
Priscilla Poorbaugh
I remember going to the circus when I was younger and having so much fun. I thought this was a good article and it was very informative. It gave facts and interesting information that I did not know about the circus. Honestly all I knew about that circus was based off of “The Greatest Showman,” but I dont remember them talking about how the show was bought and all of that, so that was new information for me.
Jesus Parker
Interesting read on how the “Greatest Show On Earth” came and went. I always thought it was and always has started off as a circus. I found it interesting how it was the combination of one man’s museum and another man’s ideas. It also goes to show what type of entertainment people would have access back in the day, back in the day you would have to go to the circus to even see an elephant whereas nowadays you can look it up on the internet.
Sabrina Doyon
Poor Jumbo! I really like how the human brain works. We crave stories and interesting details that seem impossible. I never got to see the circus but I remember my parents told me about it once. It comes from such humble beginnings. A dusty, dinky, little museum to a large amazing menagerie of entertainment. Crazy how determined Barnum was to continue with this dream. And he definitely succeded! Even today people are talking about the circus and even movies are inspired by the story!
Michael Thompson
I mean this was a major part of history, as this was the circus, forever going to paint what society thinks of the great circus, with the tents and the clowns, etc. I was surprised by the history of Barnum and Bailey. I didn’t know that Barnum and Bailey were separate, and that the fact that Barnum was a congressman surprises me the most, because he seems to me like he wanted to have fun. But at the same time, it shows that he wanted to toot his own horn, and there isn’t any better way to do that than through politics, so I guess in ways he was and wasn’t perfect for the job in my eyes.
Yazmin Garza
The first time I heard about P. T. Barnum was when I watched the Greatest Showman. I know the movie did not cover Barnum’s entire life, but the fact that Barnum was a congressman seems like a big detail to excluded. It is hard to imagine that man invented the circus was seen fit to make legislative decisions, but I suppose that it speaks true to Barnum’s charming persona and his way with words.