1 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: All eyes were turned towards the sky. It was coming soon, 2 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,119 Speaker 1: you see, and the people were excited. Holley's comment was 3 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 1: due to pass by the Earth with a tale twenty 4 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: four million miles long and careening over three million miles overhead. 5 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,639 Speaker 1: The residents of New York City marveled at the heavens 6 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: and wondered what it could all mean. Richard Locke certainly 7 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 1: had an idea. For him, it meant dollars if he 8 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: played his cards right. He was in the business of newspapers, 9 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: a ruthless, cutthroat game in Old New York, one that 10 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,920 Speaker 1: pitted titans and penny press publishers against each other. He 11 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 1: knew you had to give the people what they wanted, 12 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 1: and in this moment, people wanted the stars. But he 13 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: would do them one better. He would also give them 14 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: the moon. On August thirty five, Lock published the first 15 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 1: installment of a new otherworldly story. It would run in 16 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: six parts, with each ending luring its readers to come 17 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 1: back for more. He titled it Celestial Discoveries and hid 18 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,040 Speaker 1: behind the identity of a very real and very famous astronomer, 19 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,960 Speaker 1: John Herschel. But beyond that, the story was what he 20 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: would call today fake news. Over the course of six issues, 21 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: lock I mean, Herschel told readers about what he was 22 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:33,199 Speaker 1: seeing through his superpowered telescope aimed at the moon, plant life, rocks, animals. 23 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: He told of lunar forests, herds of brown bison like creatures, 24 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: even bluish unicorns, in a voice that echoed the same 25 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: travelog sensibilities of America's Age of New imperialism. His dispatches 26 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: read like field notes, and then came the big reveal. 27 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: He had discovered intelligent life on the Moon. They had 28 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: darkish yellow skin, beards and protruding lower jaws. They had 29 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: wings and a striking resemblance to beavers, but lived in 30 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: homes with smokestacks. There was a crystalline temple and another taller, 31 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:12,240 Speaker 1: lighter skinned population. The social hierarchy here, unfortunately, is pretty implicit, 32 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: and just as external pressure to provide any and all 33 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:20,399 Speaker 1: evidence mounted, the paper reports that Herschel's lab very conveniently 34 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: burned down. That was the end of that, or was 35 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 1: it The real Herschel was sought out by many readers. 36 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: One group of missionaries even asked how they could go 37 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 1: about sending Bibles to the Moon. Herschel's wife Margaret didn't 38 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: even blame readers for believing the hooks. The ruse had 39 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: gone on for weeks, but the public talked about it 40 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: for much longer. It turns out that Locke's readership didn't 41 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: care if the story was completely true or not. They 42 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: wanted to know how true it potentially could be. It 43 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: was a good tale, whether it was real or not. 44 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: The story had done its job, though it certainly sold papers. 45 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: This blurry line between fact and fiction, the world of 46 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: hoaxes and humbugs would go on to be a defining 47 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,399 Speaker 1: cornerstone of the rest of the century. At that very 48 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: same moment, an intrepid young man arrived in the city. 49 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: We can imagine that for those few weeks in the 50 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 1: fall of eighteen thirty five, he cracked open his issues 51 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: of The Sun and followed along with rapt attention. We 52 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: can picture him making notes and seeing opportunity ahead. The 53 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: world was changing and he was going to be a 54 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: part of it. I'm Aaron Manky and welcome to the 55 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: side show. Taylor had always believed that he was destined 56 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: for greatness. As a young boy in the tiny village 57 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: of Bethel, Connecticut, he felt like a king, a shrewd 58 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: pint sized sales clerk at his father's general store. He 59 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: drove a mean bargain with a mix of Yankee wit 60 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: and thrift. He had big shoes to fill, after all. 61 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 1: He was named after his grandfather, Phineas Taylor, who was 62 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: an old sage and loved by all. Phineas so pleased 63 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: to have a small protege of his own, purchased Taylor 64 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,559 Speaker 1: and I quote the greatest farmland in all of Connecticut, 65 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,039 Speaker 1: which made him the richest kid in town, and everyone 66 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: else knew it. Not a week went by without Uncle 67 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 1: Finn waxing poetic to Taylor of this grand inheritance, a 68 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaker 1: place by the name of Ivy Island. In Taylor's mind, 69 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,280 Speaker 1: it must have looked something like El Dorado. Minds of gold, 70 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: outcroppings of emerald diamonds, all aglow, a place where you 71 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: could pluck rubies from trees and silver from streams. His 72 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: autobiography talks about visions of milk and honey, and on 73 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: a practical level, we can think this picture included some 74 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 1: cows and chickens. Being New England in eighteen twenty two, 75 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,919 Speaker 1: after all, so when the time came to finally visit 76 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: the land, his land. Taylor was ready. He was twelve 77 00:04:57,040 --> 00:04:59,799 Speaker 1: and all grown up. He left town early that morning 78 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: with the family friend. They trekked for hours. And we're 79 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: not talking about rolling hills of grassland. No, they mucked 80 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,839 Speaker 1: through swamp. This couldn't be right, though. We can imagine Taylor, 81 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: like any other kid, asking are we there yet? But 82 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: then they stopped. And where they stopped did it turn 83 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: out to be the island of his wildest dreams? Not 84 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: at all. In front of him was a slice of squishy, 85 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: boggy ground. It was muddy, ugly, dotted with scraggly trees 86 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: and mosquitoes, and filled with stink and snakes. And then 87 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 1: it hit him. This was one of his grandfather's infamous 88 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: practical jokes. And worse, the whole town had been in 89 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:44,159 Speaker 1: on it for years. Taylor had left his home that morning, 90 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: ready for retirement, and returned a laughing stock. We can 91 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: imagine that he went back to his job at the 92 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: Register of feeling a bit miffed and also scheming, because 93 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:58,039 Speaker 1: Taylor never forgot that lesson the years went on. He 94 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: worked hard and loved the barter and banter of country life. 95 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,239 Speaker 1: He was a quick talker, jovial, a teller of tall tales, 96 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: A charmer, he traded in commodities and gossip, but he 97 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: eventually took a job in Brooklyn and developed a taste 98 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:16,159 Speaker 1: for the spectacle of city life. Still home had a 99 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: hold on him. His granddad implored him to come back, 100 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: so he did. It was back in Connecticut that he 101 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: met Charity Hallett. Soon the two were married, and then 102 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:28,039 Speaker 1: Taylor set up a new shop with a co conspirator, 103 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 1: or at least company along for the ride. It was 104 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: here that he kept dreaming of riches and how to 105 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: get them. Taylor's magic was people. His emotional radar was 106 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: finally tuned to the desires, wants, and secrets of his customers, 107 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: catering to their whims and imaginations. At his newly minted store, 108 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:49,479 Speaker 1: he sold everything from bibles to brandy to lottery tickets, 109 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,719 Speaker 1: a little something for everyone. He had a natural sense 110 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: for psychology, and he was going to capitalize on it. 111 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: America in the mid eighteen hundreds, you see, was quickly changing. 112 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 1: Religious revivals were in full swing, the nation was quickly industrializing, 113 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,280 Speaker 1: Immigration was on the rise, and the young country was 114 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:10,760 Speaker 1: beginning to look west to far flung places, the word 115 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: scientist entered the vocabulary for the first time, and a 116 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: war that would fracture the country loomed ahead, and Taylor 117 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: wanted to ride these new waves, so he bought a 118 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: printing press. He believed that words had power and that 119 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: they would take him further than his horse could run. 120 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: He wanted to reach people in the world beyond Bethel. 121 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: On October nineteenth of eighteen thirty one, he began printing 122 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: his weekly Herald of Freedom. It fit right in with 123 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: the trend of independent newspapers being sold on street corners 124 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 1: in major cities across the nation, and Taylor wanted a 125 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: slice of that pie. He wanted the freedom to share 126 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: his ideas, to advertise, to call people to action. He 127 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: saw an opportunity to wrestle control of the narrative, to 128 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: spin yarns in his own fashion, much like his grandfather 129 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,000 Speaker 1: Phineas had done all those years before. It was his 130 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: turn to become a bona fide, widely respected storyteller. Well 131 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,680 Speaker 1: most of the time, you see, Taylor did like to 132 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: get mouths wagging. He loved to stir up controversy with 133 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: his paper, and it wasn't long before his affinity landed 134 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: him in a Connecticut jail for libel. While in this jail, 135 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: Cell one, he decorated with carpets and other cozy furnishings. 136 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: From home, he had an idea. He gathered his friends 137 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:27,360 Speaker 1: and created what he called the Committee of Arrangements. They 138 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: spread the word of his imprisonment and impending release far 139 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,560 Speaker 1: and wide, both through word of mouth and through his 140 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: printing press. We can imagine that on the day of 141 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,840 Speaker 1: his release, he put on his best suit, threw his 142 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: shoulders back, and marched out of his cell and into 143 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 1: a throng of thousands his audience and their applause. Picture 144 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:52,559 Speaker 1: this will you horse drawn carriages astride dusty town roads, 145 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: a marching band, blaring brass cannon, fire on the green, 146 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: sticky champagne, toasts and revelry airing on deep into the night, 147 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: all for him. At twenty two and back in the world, 148 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: he had made a statement. The show business career of 149 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: Phineas Taylor Barnum had arrived. The Mermaid was a game changer. 150 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,079 Speaker 1: It was a decrepit specimen sewn together with the bottom 151 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: half of a fish and the top half of a monkey, 152 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:39,520 Speaker 1: and holy dead p t. Barnum held it in his hands. 153 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:42,320 Speaker 1: He was on the hunt for artifacts with star factor. 154 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: He went about these things with an open mind. You see, 155 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: they didn't have to be perfect, No, they didn't even 156 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:51,000 Speaker 1: have to be real. What they did need was a 157 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:53,439 Speaker 1: thread of a yarn that he could spin up into 158 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,120 Speaker 1: a fantastic tale. And he immediately saw potential in this 159 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: scaly specimen, and had did a few years before. Like 160 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: many people at the time, he had transplanted his growing 161 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 1: family to New York City. It was a bustling, bursting 162 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,720 Speaker 1: metropolis dressed up like a promise. The city was teeming 163 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: with life, a riot of foreign tongues, unrelenting construction, and 164 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:19,440 Speaker 1: air thick with the smells of smoke, cooking and the 165 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:23,400 Speaker 1: perfume of bodies. There was death and there was life, 166 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 1: and a lot of each. For some time he worked 167 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: in the throes of this at another dry goods shop, 168 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:31,960 Speaker 1: and then one day, in eighteen thirty five, a customer 169 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: came in with the story to tell and an offer 170 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 1: to make Barnum was all ears. This customer was in 171 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: show business, but he was tired. He happened to manage 172 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: a very particular, very interesting charge. The purportedly one hundred 173 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: sixty one year old black nanny of George Washington, a 174 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,880 Speaker 1: woman by the name of Joyce Heth. What he wanted 175 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: to know was this, would Barnum be interested in taking 176 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: his show on the road. Now, I can't overstate what 177 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:04,360 Speaker 1: transpired that day. By saying yes, Barnum effectively purchased Joyce 178 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:06,960 Speaker 1: and then paraded her in front of a pain audience. 179 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: We'll get to Joyce's whole story in her own episode 180 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: later this season, but for now, what you need to 181 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:15,480 Speaker 1: know is this. Her life and her death made Barnum 182 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: a huge success, so successful, in fact, that he decided 183 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: to give up his mercantile life and get into full 184 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 1: time show business. He wanted to become a proper showman. 185 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 1: In eighteen forty one, he purchased New York City's American Museum, 186 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:32,559 Speaker 1: two blocks from where the Twin Towers would later stand. 187 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: It was a grand brick building smack at the corner 188 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 1: of Broadway and Ann Streets. Visitors could see wax figures, 189 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: taxidermy art, and even hear lectures. But Barnum's version would 190 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: be a little different. They would be grand, they would 191 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,800 Speaker 1: expand it would be his very own brick and mortar 192 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,960 Speaker 1: world to fill with a menagerie of magical and living curiosities. 193 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: It would be open seven days a week, sunrise till 194 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,679 Speaker 1: way past sunset. Doors flung open for any one who 195 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 1: could pay, and people paid. Interest in science and exploration 196 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 1: in medicine was booming. Yes, he wanted to have legitimate specimens, 197 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:13,280 Speaker 1: but he wasn't above exploiting the ignorance of the masses 198 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:16,679 Speaker 1: in order to serve their fantasies. He acquired objects from 199 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:21,040 Speaker 1: around the world, animals from the ocean, and notably, individuals 200 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:26,319 Speaker 1: with bodies that the Victorian era public saw as abnormal dwarves, giantesses, 201 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:30,320 Speaker 1: people with dark skin, and he attached stories to each 202 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 1: of them, just as he had done with Joyce. Heth 203 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: capitalizing on this young country's expanding leisure time and burgeoning imagination. 204 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:41,719 Speaker 1: He mixed fact and fiction and it was a smash hit. 205 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 1: But to understand how all of this came to be, 206 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 1: we first have to understand what was going on with 207 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: the mermaid that Barnum was holding, because it was this 208 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: very mermaid that helped put this museum, his museum, on 209 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: the map. Moses Kimball appeared on Barnum's doorstep in eighteen 210 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:02,839 Speaker 1: forty two saw the specimen into as the young proprietor 211 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 1: of the Boston Museum. He had something that might be 212 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 1: of interest and offering, one might say, He presented Barnum 213 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:12,200 Speaker 1: with an ugly, withered body roughly three ft long, with 214 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: its mouth a gape in a scream. Barnum took a 215 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 1: closer look. It was weird, but it was believable too. 216 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 1: Even at a time when only presidents and war heroes 217 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:26,959 Speaker 1: count themselves in the ranks of American celebrities. Barnum knew 218 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: he could make this mermaid famous. Then Kimball unspoiled the 219 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 1: Mummy's story. It involved the tale of a ship captain 220 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:39,120 Speaker 1: out of Calcutta, bill, gotten gains and lost fortune. Now, 221 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:42,560 Speaker 1: while you might bring back snow globes or refrigerator magnets 222 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: from trips these days, this guy brought home a mermaid. 223 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,720 Speaker 1: If he was duped into believing its authenticity, we don't know. 224 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 1: But what we do know is that these fabricated Franken 225 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:55,000 Speaker 1: creatures were fairly common in East Asia at the time. 226 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: Barnum knew that too, but he didn't think the general 227 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:02,840 Speaker 1: public would. He christened it the Fiji Mermaid, implying an 228 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:06,479 Speaker 1: exotic origin story far from the reaches of Lower Manhattan. 229 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 1: Folklore across the world has long told stories of mermaids. 230 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: Who was to say that this wasn't a bona fide corpse. 231 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: So he decided to do something clever. Let the public 232 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:21,320 Speaker 1: decide for themselves. Barnum got to work. He blitzed small 233 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 1: town newspapers with fake news. He took pseudonyms and sang 234 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:28,440 Speaker 1: the mermaids praises. He had them postmarked from Alabama and 235 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: South Carolina and Washington, d C. And the papers ran them. 236 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 1: His trusted friend Levi Lyman posed as the esteemed Dr Griffin. 237 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: His backstory was as fake as the mermaids, but it 238 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: landed him an exclusive interview in Philadelphia. The Eastern seaboard 239 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 1: was entranced, credulous, curious. Within a few weeks, Barnum produced woodcuts, engravings, 240 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: and banners of busty, fair life size women with fish tails, 241 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 1: advertising a fleeting one week opportunity to see this merm 242 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: made in the flesh. The city was electrified, it clamored. 243 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: Barnum promised three different city papers exclusive access to his exhibit, 244 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 1: which was a surprise to each editor. When Barnum's exhibit opened, 245 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:17,120 Speaker 1: each of them ran the story anyway. Opening nights arrived, 246 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,920 Speaker 1: the Mermaid packed the hall. Thousands came, paying a quarter 247 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 1: and sweltering in the summer heat, surely shocked at what 248 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: stood on stage before them. The discrepancy was very, very obvious, 249 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 1: but some wondered, could there be some truth here? Maybe 250 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 1: it wasn't the Mermaid in the picture, but it certainly 251 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 1: didn't disqualify it from mirror status. And that is exactly 252 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: what Barnum had hoped for. And the numbers spoke. The 253 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: show was a resounding success, so successful, in fact, that 254 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 1: the Mermaid hit the road on a Southern tour, passing 255 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 1: through the Bible Belt. It was only when the Mermaid's 256 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 1: veracity was attacked in the Charleston papers that Barnum grew concerned. 257 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 1: You see, at Charleston Minister had a bone to pick. 258 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:03,640 Speaker 1: This man's daughters had married sons of the famed naturalist 259 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 1: John Ottobon, and he smelled a fraud. Barnum, to his credit, 260 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:10,880 Speaker 1: countered his accusations. If it was so easy to craft 261 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: a fake, he would give any person who could show 262 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 1: him another example of a fish sewn to a monkey 263 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: five hundred dollars. No one came forward, but a group 264 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 1: of local scientists and naturalists piled on. They thought this 265 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:27,320 Speaker 1: lie was a dangerous one, exploiting the public's trust as 266 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: they so desperately tried to move the legitimacy of their 267 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:33,840 Speaker 1: work forward. The mermaid was evacuated and put on a 268 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:37,760 Speaker 1: slow ship back to New York. Back in the city, 269 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: it sat dusty and dejected in a box on the 270 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 1: top shelf of Barnum's office, and there it rested a spell. 271 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: Barnum thought about what to do next, and of course 272 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 1: he came to the natural conclusion he had eventually put 273 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 1: the mermaid back out for a display. He had learned 274 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 1: something important through his experiment. Though by and large the 275 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: public wasn't upset about his dis option. On the contrary, 276 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,159 Speaker 1: they seem to have actually enjoyed it, reveled in it, 277 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: even wanted more. The show he decided must go on. 278 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:22,840 Speaker 1: The show went on for a good long while. To 279 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 1: be in Barnum's orbit was to have front row seats 280 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,199 Speaker 1: to the spectacle of his life. He was known to 281 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:31,160 Speaker 1: be more attentive to his exhibits than his family, often 282 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,399 Speaker 1: gallivanting on tour meeting presidents, having audiences with the Queen. 283 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:37,760 Speaker 1: But he had an idea that would bring him back 284 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:40,680 Speaker 1: closer to home, an idea that proved, when all was 285 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,440 Speaker 1: said and done, to be disastrous. He thought he knew 286 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:47,159 Speaker 1: what he was getting into, But when Barnum invested in 287 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:50,159 Speaker 1: the Jerome Clock Company with designs on moving it to 288 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:53,639 Speaker 1: his beloved east Bridgeport, Connecticut, he didn't realize he was 289 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 1: buying into a sour deal, one that bankrupted him and 290 00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:00,080 Speaker 1: forced his family out of their palatial estate. They to 291 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: a house by the sea on Long Island, where charities, 292 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:06,720 Speaker 1: health declined. We can imagine that depression loomed large, but 293 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 1: the gears kept turning. His time there offered him space 294 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: that the big city did not. It was a pastoral place, 295 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 1: and we can imagine that it reminded him of Bethel. 296 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:19,959 Speaker 1: It was in this quiet that Barnum incubated, hoping for 297 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:24,879 Speaker 1: a rebirth, ideally spurred on by divine intervention. The newspapers 298 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:29,200 Speaker 1: celebrated his downfall with headlines such as the deceiver has 299 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:33,920 Speaker 1: been duped. People cheered, But Barnum never meant to hurt 300 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,879 Speaker 1: anyone in his line of work. There was no mal intent, 301 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,679 Speaker 1: no malice. He merely meant to charm, to entertain, to 302 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:44,720 Speaker 1: open the world to people beyond the confines of their geography. 303 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:48,399 Speaker 1: This stroke of bad luck, this clock swindle, was something 304 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 1: entirely different. Never one to be alone much, he made 305 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,879 Speaker 1: a friend, a local farmer. While walking the shore. One day, 306 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,880 Speaker 1: they came across a commotion. Just ahead were some men 307 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:03,199 Speaker 1: and a twelve ft black whale, dead but hard and fresh. 308 00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:06,440 Speaker 1: He said, never want to turn down a carcass. Barnum 309 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: fished around in his pocket. While it's true that he 310 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: could have spent the last few dollars on milk and bread, 311 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,360 Speaker 1: he instead spent it on this big, hulking corpse, And 312 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:18,639 Speaker 1: because its shelf life was short, he had to make 313 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 1: quick work of it. He shipped it to his museum 314 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: and exhibited it in a refrigerator. It was a success, too, 315 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: He was able to pay his rent. He took this 316 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 1: as a sign. It all felt pretty providential After all. 317 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: The papers, though, continued to predict his end, but Barnum 318 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,679 Speaker 1: wasn't one to stay down or stay put. In the 319 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 1: winter of eighteen fifty six he went out on more tours, 320 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: again with a few trusted sidekicks, including General Tom Thumb, 321 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,240 Speaker 1: a fellow who would become a lifelong friend. It's seeing 322 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 1: that Barnum was making a comeback without missing a beat 323 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:54,959 Speaker 1: and with no sense of irony. He began a lecture 324 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:59,280 Speaker 1: series called The Art of Money Getting or Success in Life, 325 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:02,080 Speaker 1: and the allowing string of sold out shows sent a 326 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: loud and clear message. He was back, and he was 327 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:09,440 Speaker 1: going to do those newspapers and naysayers won better. He 328 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: was going to run for public office and was going 329 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:15,399 Speaker 1: to do it well. In eighteen sixty five, he was 330 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 1: elected to the Connecticut State Legislature. It was not lost 331 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 1: on him that Americans needed a reprieve from the Civil War. 332 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 1: To his museum, he added pro unionist exhibits, lectures, and plays, 333 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 1: and he also enlisted Pauline Kushman, an actress who had 334 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 1: been a spy for the Union, who regaled audiences with 335 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 1: her tales behind enemy lines. Barnum had become a staunch abolitionist, 336 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 1: running squarely on the antislavery platform. In later years, he 337 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: would amend his story about his time with Joyce. Heth 338 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 1: again and again and again his guilt was clear, even 339 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:53,960 Speaker 1: if his conscience was not. On July thirteenth, eighteen sixty five, 340 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: Barnum was at the podium speaking to the legislature when 341 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:00,080 Speaker 1: he was slipped a note, casting his eyes downward and 342 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: barely missing a beat. He continued on about the state's 343 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 1: train system. But that piece of paper, well, it held 344 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: some devastating news. At that very moment, it seems Barnum's 345 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: Great American Museum was burning to the ground. Was it 346 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 1: a furnace failure, Was it set by Confederate sympathizers. Will 347 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 1: never truly know. But what we do know is this 348 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,399 Speaker 1: around noon and employee came running from the basement yelling fire. 349 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:38,280 Speaker 1: There were no sprinkler systems or fire extinguishers. There wasn't 350 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:40,879 Speaker 1: even a fire code at the time. This place was 351 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,720 Speaker 1: a labyrinth of Barnum's own design and a veritable tinder box. 352 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:49,480 Speaker 1: Window panes exploded, flames licked up the walls, and smoke 353 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,879 Speaker 1: poured out as thick as oil. The most famous building 354 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 1: in New York City was choking. The air was gone, 355 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 1: gobbled up by the fire birds flew from the building's belly. 356 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:03,720 Speaker 1: Snakes evacuated down Broadway. There are even reports of firefighters 357 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: saving a seal named Ned and rumors of a lion 358 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: that escaped to roam the streets. Any movable artifacts were 359 00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:14,680 Speaker 1: launched from the windows, including a wax likeness of Jefferson 360 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:18,399 Speaker 1: Davis wearing a dress. The roof was collapsing, the walls 361 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 1: were caving in. Two whales recently kidnapped from the coast 362 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: of Labrador boiled in their own salt water tanks before 363 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: firefighters broke their glass. They collapsed through the building and 364 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: landed on Broadway, where they spent weeks rotting there in 365 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:34,720 Speaker 1: the summer heat because no one could figure out how 366 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:39,119 Speaker 1: to move them. Upon reading the note, Barnum, true to 367 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 1: his unruffled form, finished his speech, folded it back into 368 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,679 Speaker 1: his pocket, and went home to Bridgeport. He left for 369 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 1: New York City the following day. Once there, he assessed 370 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,879 Speaker 1: the carnage, and wouldn't you know it, he decided to 371 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:55,399 Speaker 1: begin again. Mere months after the tragic fire, he opened 372 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:58,360 Speaker 1: a new version of his museum about a mile uptown. 373 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:02,000 Speaker 1: He found more artifact x and more guests. This was 374 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:06,200 Speaker 1: all fine until it wasn't. Because this new museum eventually 375 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 1: burned down as well. We can only imagine the tenacity 376 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,600 Speaker 1: and blind faith it would require to believe that this 377 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,679 Speaker 1: would all eventually work out. After all, he had sold 378 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,720 Speaker 1: thirty eight million admission tickets at the time when the 379 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:22,000 Speaker 1: population of his country was only thirty five million. He 380 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:26,359 Speaker 1: knew he was onto something. At sixty, this master of 381 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: reinvention was now free to embark on his next act, 382 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:49,639 Speaker 1: the creation of the American side show. P. T. Barnum 383 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,880 Speaker 1: was the ultimate showman and he could sell just about anything, 384 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:55,160 Speaker 1: So it should come as no surprise that there are 385 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,400 Speaker 1: countless stories about his business dealings, more than we could 386 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,440 Speaker 1: ever fit into a single epiodode. But if you stick 387 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:04,199 Speaker 1: around through this brief sponsor break, my friend and co 388 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 1: producer Robin Miniter, will share one more golden tail. Jenny 389 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: Lynde wasn't going to be played for a fool. She 390 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: was a woman self possessed, the lady Gaga of the 391 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 1: Victorian age. Jenny counted the Queen and her cronies among 392 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,879 Speaker 1: her most rabid fans. In fact, Jenny believed her voice 393 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:38,040 Speaker 1: to be divinely gifted, and for this reason she never 394 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:42,199 Speaker 1: took it for granted. She dressed plainly, lived modestly, and 395 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 1: curated a private life according to her deep seated faith, 396 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 1: and she did this stunningly well. By the way, for 397 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,720 Speaker 1: a very long while. But by the time she neared 398 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:56,480 Speaker 1: her seven performance, she found herself about to turn thirty 399 00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:02,479 Speaker 1: and totally exhausted. Marriage betrothals had been broken, and a 400 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: dear friend of hers had passed away. So she retreated 401 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: into herself and into retirement, stumbling into a personal and 402 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: professional crossroads. Until that is, she was offered a lot 403 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,479 Speaker 1: of money. You see, word of her success had traveled 404 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,560 Speaker 1: far and wide. Jenny was the most famous opera singer 405 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:24,400 Speaker 1: in the world, after all, and when P. T. Barnum 406 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: heard whispers of this, he saw dollar signs, so he 407 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,919 Speaker 1: decided to shoot his shot. When Barnum's man came knocking, 408 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: Jenny was ready to shake him down. He wanted to 409 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: cut a deal with her for two years of her time. Now, 410 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 1: if Barnum was ruthless about money, Jenny was in a 411 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,880 Speaker 1: position to best him. She negotiated to bring along two servants, 412 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 1: a music director and a companion, as well as having 413 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 1: every single expense taken care of along the way. On 414 00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:55,159 Speaker 1: top of that, she required Barnum to deposit the modern 415 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,119 Speaker 1: equivalent of six and a half million dollars into her 416 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 1: bank account, all before she had even left her house 417 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:05,120 Speaker 1: To head off towards America before she had even met him, 418 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 1: and Barnum agreed to all of her terms. Jenny set 419 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 1: off on a steamership and Barnum got to work. For 420 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,720 Speaker 1: six months, he peppered the papers with news of her 421 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,960 Speaker 1: impending arrival in her great success in Europe, cranking his 422 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:21,359 Speaker 1: ink splash star making printing presses like never before. In fact, 423 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 1: on September two of eighteen fifty, the New York Herald 424 00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 1: dedicated five of its six front page columns to the 425 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: Swedish Nightingale, who would soon be arriving on the American 426 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: mail steamer the Atlantic. By the time the ship docked, 427 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,480 Speaker 1: Barnum had drummed up enough interest that thousands of people 428 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:39,160 Speaker 1: had gathered to meet her. The throngs arrived in their 429 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:43,200 Speaker 1: Sunday best, hanging from the docks and waving madly. And yes, 430 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:45,159 Speaker 1: it was also true that he had hired some of 431 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,040 Speaker 1: these people to just stand around, but few would know 432 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:51,240 Speaker 1: this at the time. This was an arrival fit for 433 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: a queen, but it was all for Jenny. It was here, 434 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:59,880 Speaker 1: at long last, that the two finally made their acquaintance way. 435 00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 1: Jenny wondered had Barnum first heard her sing, Actually, he 436 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:07,360 Speaker 1: said as he handed her a bouquet of red roses, 437 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:10,400 Speaker 1: he never had. When it came down to it, he 438 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:14,719 Speaker 1: wasn't even that interested in her voice. What excited him 439 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,679 Speaker 1: most about her was what she represented to him, the 440 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:21,159 Speaker 1: access to the upper echelons of society and something that 441 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:24,199 Speaker 1: wasn't immediately afforded to him while trying to push a 442 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: frank and fish monkey on a pedestrian Lower Manhattan audience. Basically, 443 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 1: he was just interested in her reputation, and as any 444 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:35,480 Speaker 1: woman knows, a reputation can be a very powerful thing. 445 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,200 Speaker 1: In the case of Jenny Lynn, she won the game. 446 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 1: Her tour of America was hugely successful. The narratives that 447 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:46,320 Speaker 1: Barnum spun around her were of the most agreeable kind 448 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:48,919 Speaker 1: and actually set her up for even more success in 449 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,520 Speaker 1: the future. But as you'll see, she was an anomaly 450 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:55,680 Speaker 1: in our collection of stories to come. As we will 451 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,080 Speaker 1: soon learn, most of the folks who entered Barnum's orbit 452 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:06,080 Speaker 1: rarely on themselves in a position to ever escape. Sideshow 453 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:10,000 Speaker 1: was written by Robin Miniter, with executive production, narration and 454 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:13,800 Speaker 1: audio editing by me Aaron Mankey. Research for the series 455 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:17,240 Speaker 1: was done by Taylor Haggerdorn and Sam Alberty. Graham and 456 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:20,200 Speaker 1: Mild Presents was created in partnership with I Heart Radio. 457 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:22,800 Speaker 1: You can learn more about this show and everything else 458 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:26,679 Speaker 1: from Grim and mild Over at Grimm and mild dot com, and, 459 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 1: as always, thanks for listening.