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April 8, 2018

From a Museum to a World Renown Circus: The Creations of P.T. Barnum

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.

Museum Attraction | Courtesy of Pintrest

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

Barnum and Bailey | Courtesy of Black Ink PR

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

Ringling Brothers | Courtesy of Pintrest

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.

  1. Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2013, s.v. “First Modern American Circus,” by Geralyn Strecker.
  2. P.T. Barnum, The autobiography of P.T Barnum:clerk, merchant, editor, & showman (England:Ward & Lock, 1855), 86.
  3. P.T. Barnum, Life of P.T. Barnum (Buffalo: The Courier Company, 1888).
  4. “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.
  5. John Headley, Confederate Operations in Canada and New York (Nabu Press, 2010): 327.
  6. Margo DeMello, Encyclopedia of Body Adornment (Westport, Conn: Greenwood, 2007), 25-26.
  7. 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/.
  8. “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.
  9. Linda Simon, The Greatest Shows on Earth: A History of the Circus (London, UK: Reaktion Books, 2014): 85.
  10.  A Pioneer Showman (Public Opinion Company: January 1, 1906), 486.
  11. Ernest J. Albrecht, From Barnum & Bailey to Feld: The Creative Evolution of the Greatest Show on Earth (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2014), 27.
  12.  Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2010, s.v. “Bailey, James Anthony,” by James Craddock.

Tags from the story

Barnum and Bailey’s Circus

James Bailey

Jumbo

P.T. Barnum

Ringling Brothers

Recent Comments

Natalie Childs

I loved this article. P T Barnum was such a weird quirky guy, and it is crazy that he was even a politician. It’s really interesting that the circus as we know it started as a museum. Even though it burned down twice, Barnum really showed his resolve and his love for entertainment as he pushed through hard times. Great article!

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08/04/2018

3:32 pm

Caroline Bush

Interesting article! Its really interesting to hear about how the circus originally started as a museum, which is something I never knew about. I really enjoyed the details that this article included and how it managed to tell the journey of the circus began to how it ended up merging. I cant believe that the circus burned down twice and their main elephant died yet through it all the circus still persevered. Overall this was a very interesting article that I really enjoyed reading.

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08/04/2018

3:32 pm

Belia Camarena

Great job on this article! I really enjoyed reading it, and it was very informative. The only knowledge I had of P T Barnum was from watching the greatest showman, so a lot of this content was new. I had no idea that he was a politician, or that the reason his museum burned down was because of his opposition to slavery. I also really liked that although he faced many roadblocks, he kept trying until he succeeded.

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08/04/2018

3:32 pm

Constancia Tijerina

I enjoyed reading this article very much! I knew of the Ringling Brothers and that is what captured my eye at first. What had intrigues me most is how a creative man such as P T Barnum could also be a politician! I know of how the circuses mainly came about, however this article captured my eye on how even after so many dreadful events, he still managed to keep his dreams from “burning”. This article really helps depict the passion Barnum had for his entertainment and passion of show. Amazing article!

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08/04/2018

3:32 pm

Timothy ODekirk

The origins of the circus is unknown to me and this article really extended my knowledge on this topic. When I younger, I used to love going to the circus with my family. However, I did not know who founded this incredible entertainment factor and this article has helped me to learn that. What intrigued me the most while reading this article was Jumbo the elephant and how the magnificent beast became famous. In addition, I find it interesting how due to financial trouble, the circus decided to display Jumbo’s skeleton for my audiences to see. Overall this article was an extremely interesting article to read.

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08/04/2018

3:32 pm

Alexandra Cantu

This was such a fun article to read. The images used made your paper come to life. I never knew P.T Barnum advocated for African American That was something interesting. Barnum was such a go getter never losing track of what he wanted even after his museum would be burned to the ground. I like how it went from Barnum to Bailey to the Ringling Brothers! Good article.

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08/04/2018

3:32 pm

Cristina Cabello

This is a very informative article of an event that recently happened. I find it really hard to give up something that was worked so hard for. I liked how you developed this article. You started off with the present then continued to describe how Phineas Taylor Barnum first purchased the Scudder’s Museum then created his own creation. You did described this article well. Good Job!

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08/04/2018

3:32 pm

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