1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Since we had our prior episode on P. T. 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,480 Speaker 1: Barnum as last week's Saturday Classic, this week we're returning 3 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: to a follow up episode on some of Barnum's biggest 4 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:18,239 Speaker 1: side show acts and other stars. These are changing Ing Bunker, 5 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: Charles Sherwood Stratton who was known as General Tom Thum, 6 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 1: Jenny Lynn, and Jumbo the Elephants. And of course this 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: means that this episode is largely about an industry that 8 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: turned people's disabilities and differences into carnival attractions. And as 9 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 1: another heads up, it does involve a pretty horrifying animal 10 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:40,599 Speaker 1: death towards the end of the episode. This originally came 11 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 1: out on Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, 12 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio Hello and welcome to 13 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Sarah Dowdy and I'm Blan choker Boy. 14 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: And when we talked about the Prince of Humbug P. T. 15 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: Barnum recently, we really focused on what a diverse career 16 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: he had. He wasn't all about the circus that of 17 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: course didn't even come along until he was in his 18 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: sixties and was long after he had already established his name. 19 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: And he also ran menagerie's, He managed a museum filled 20 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: with wax works and taxidermy animals, and he had hoaxes 21 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: like the Fiji Mermaid. Early in his career he staged 22 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: minstrel shows and other quote low forms of entertainment, and 23 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 1: later he of course mounted freak shows like ten in One, 24 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: and even took a swing at some kind of highbrow 25 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 1: entertainment acting as an impressario for a famous European opera singer. 26 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: He did a lot of stuff he did. So today 27 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: we're going to visit a few stages of Barnum's career, 28 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: taking a closer look at the acts that made him 29 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: famous and seeing how some of his performers could become 30 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: incredibly famous and successful themselves. But since we'll be starting 31 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,919 Speaker 1: with some of Barnum's most famous quote freaks before moving 32 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: on to more conventional and animal stars, it might be 33 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:09,360 Speaker 1: good to discuss that strange combination of exploitation and success 34 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: that existed in the sideshow world of the eighteen hundreds. 35 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,399 Speaker 1: I mean, the fact that some freak show stars did 36 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: achieve success might be surprising to modern audiences, because today 37 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: it can actually be really disturbing to read the details 38 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: of many of Barnum's prized acts, especially the ones involving 39 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: people with physical disabilities, it really can be. I mean, 40 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:33,079 Speaker 1: everything seems wrong about exhibiting a six year old Burmese 41 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: girl and allowing audience members to touch her just because 42 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 1: she had hair covering her body, as Barnum did in 43 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: fact do with kral Ferini, who was billed as the 44 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: Missing Link. And some stories from Barnum's contemporaries are really 45 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: just plain tragic. Theodore Lent, for instance, who toured Europe 46 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: with another hair covered woman, this time Mexican born Julia Pastrna, 47 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: eventually married her, but when she died after having there 48 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: still born baby, Lent had both of them mummified and 49 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: continued to exhibit them. But for some of these stars, 50 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:10,079 Speaker 1: a disability or an unusual skill actually really did bring 51 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: fame and fortune, with many of the biggest names finding 52 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,399 Speaker 1: a way to separate their stage identity is so called freaks, 53 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: from their off stage identities as normal business people and performers. 54 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: One of Barnum's hit acts, Isaac W. Sprague, the American 55 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: human skeleton who weighed only forty three pounds, was as 56 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: much of a marketing man as Barnum himself. He wrote 57 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: an autobiography, and he sold trading cards and all the 58 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: profits went to him. Yeah, And the trading card business 59 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: was a big deal for a lot of these performers 60 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: because whereas the showman would get a cut of their performances, 61 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: they could pocket all that money from the trading cards. 62 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: And according to Laura Grand in History Magazine, Barnum quote 63 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: built a strong rapport with the majority of his freaks 64 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: in the US, And to me that made sense. It 65 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: seems like it would be a bad idea to do otherwise, 66 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: because with so competition from other showmen, it would be 67 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: bad business to alienate your performers. And we're going to 68 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: see some of that what kind of alienation can happen 69 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: there with our first entry on this list. But the 70 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: first act that we're going to discuss kicked off the 71 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,479 Speaker 1: heyday of small American freak shows and really set a 72 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 1: standard to for side show performers making serious money and 73 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: living lives that were also completely apart from their work 74 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:30,479 Speaker 1: on stage. So Ladies and Gentlemen, Chang and Ang Bunker. 75 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,600 Speaker 1: These first entries on our list were associated with Barnum, 76 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: but probably less so than some of the later acts 77 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: that we're going to discuss, but still they could be 78 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: the names that you're most likely to recognize today because 79 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: Changang Bunker Sarah mentioned they were the original Siamese twins, 80 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 1: which meant basically that was the first time that the 81 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: word Siamese twin or the term Siamese twin was used 82 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:56,719 Speaker 1: to describe this particular joint condition exactly. They were born 83 00:04:56,839 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: May eleven, eighteen eleven, on a houseboat in Siam, which 84 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 1: is out Thailand, and they were connected from birth by 85 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: a band of tissue between their chests and stomachs. Their 86 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:08,839 Speaker 1: umbilical cord fed into this band, and when they were born, 87 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,480 Speaker 1: they were twisted so that they faced different directions. So 88 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: their mother sort of untwisted that band almost so that 89 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: each baby faced the same direction. If you see pictures 90 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: of them, they just looked like two guys standing next 91 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: to each other. And as they grew she really encouraged 92 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,720 Speaker 1: them to be as active as possible. They could run, 93 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,360 Speaker 1: they could swim, something that's very amazing. They could fight 94 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: each other, which they did a lot too, and they 95 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: could maneuver the houseboat that they lived on too. And 96 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: they would also work on stretching that band a little bit, 97 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 1: stretching in enough so that eventually they could each stand 98 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: relatively upright, and they would usually pose with their arms 99 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,279 Speaker 1: around each other's shoulders. They were healthy too, and they 100 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 1: survived smallpox, the same outbreak that killed three of their 101 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: other siblings, and when their father died when they were eight, 102 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 1: They helped support their family by raising ducks while their 103 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: unique medical condition earned them an audience before the King 104 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 1: of Siam. Interestingly, the king's predecessor had briefly considered having 105 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: them executed. When he learned of their existence, he changed 106 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: his mind. He decided there was nothing threatening about them, 107 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: but still a close call for little Chang and Ang there. 108 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 1: Each boy, of course, also had a completely separate identity. 109 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:25,160 Speaker 1: Chang was considered to be very outgoing, kind of had 110 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,600 Speaker 1: a quick temper. Ang was considered to be very thoughtful, 111 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: introspective and right away. This was something that distinguished them 112 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:36,360 Speaker 1: from earlier conjoined twin acts like the Colorado Brothers from 113 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: early seventeenth century Genoa, which was an act that featured 114 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 1: Lazarus and his smaller, incomplete twin who couldn't speak, he 115 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: couldn't really control his own movements. It was basically Lazarus 116 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: that was in charge. The draw with Chang and Ang 117 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 1: was that they were each so independent in a way, 118 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: so distinct, and their distinct personalities, combined with their cooperative coordination, 119 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: eventually caught the eye of Scottish merchant Robert Hunter, who 120 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 1: partnered up with a captain Able Coffin to exhibit the 121 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: Boys in nine They bought the nearly grown teens from 122 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: their mother, and according to Holly Martin in the Journal 123 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: of American Culture, they were billed as quote the Monster 124 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: and then quote the Siamese Double Boys, and they were 125 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: pretty much a hit from the start. At first, they 126 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: also felt comfortable with their working arrangement because they'd get 127 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: what they saw is a fair cut of what was 128 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: made the profits, and they'd invest in their own act 129 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: by adding tricks like flips and somersaults, making the show 130 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: a little more exciting for folks. But in eighteen thirty one, 131 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: Coffin took soul management and the brothers, who were displeased 132 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: by their take. He reduced what they were making significantly, 133 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: they decided to ditch their management. They left Coffin and 134 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 1: managed themselves, and this started a very profitable stage in 135 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: their career. They met Barnum, they briefly worked at his museum. 136 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: The three men apparently didn't get along that well, so 137 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 1: they left Barnum and just continued to break it in 138 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: touring the US, Cuba, Canada, Europe, and even eventually earned 139 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:13,040 Speaker 1: enough to retire from show business to North Carolina and 140 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: buy a farm. And they also at that point became 141 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: naturalized citizens and took the last name Bunker. Chang soon 142 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: began courting Adelaide Yates, the daughter of a neighboring Quaker family, 143 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: while and courted her sister, Sarah. Neighbors were not in 144 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:40,840 Speaker 1: favor of this. They protested it because it was doubly 145 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: scandalous to them conjoined twins who were also ethnically Chinese 146 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,119 Speaker 1: and from Siam. It just wasn't something that the neighborhood 147 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: approved of, not at all. They even smashed out windows 148 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:53,559 Speaker 1: in the Yates family home. But the two couples were 149 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 1: married anyway in eighteen forty three, and while at first 150 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,440 Speaker 1: they all shared one home, after a few years Chang 151 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: and Aang set up their own houses and Mount Airy, 152 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: which is interestingly the real Mayberry Andy Griffin this hometown. 153 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:08,800 Speaker 1: Their houses were about a mile and a half away 154 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:11,239 Speaker 1: from each other, and so to do this, they obviously 155 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: had to set up a different kind of arrangement, and 156 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 1: Chang and Ang, since they couldn't separate from each other, 157 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: would spend three days with one wife and one family 158 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 1: in one house, and then they would go to the 159 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: other brother's house and spend three days there, and each 160 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: twin would be the master of his own household. So 161 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: the twin who wasn't living there would sort of, you know, 162 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: keep his own opinions to himself for three days and 163 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: then expect that of his brother. But the whole master 164 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:42,560 Speaker 1: of the household thing really has extra significance considering that 165 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: Chang and Ang also owned thirty three slaves between them. 166 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:48,200 Speaker 1: I mean, they owned quite a bit of land and 167 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: they had quite a few slaves working on it, something 168 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 1: that I think often surprises people about them, but in 169 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: a way fit into this normality they were trying to 170 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: achieve as large landowners, which at the time in North 171 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 1: Carolina might have met slaveholders, so they were trying to 172 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:06,960 Speaker 1: fit in with that. Seems like Chang and Adelaide ultimately 173 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,160 Speaker 1: had ten kids, while Ang and Sarah had nine, and 174 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: the whole family was primarily engaged in farm work, but 175 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: the brothers would still pick up extra cash by touring 176 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 1: now and again, sometimes with the wife and the kids 177 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 1: in tow. And their early performances had emphasized their conjoined state, 178 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,560 Speaker 1: but also their Chinese heritage, and in these later shows 179 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: they always appeared in western clothes, and they wanted to 180 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: emphasize that normalcy that you mentioned, Sarah. There were farmers 181 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 1: with wives and big families, and that's how they wanted 182 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: to be seen, just like you, but obviously not quite so. 183 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:43,160 Speaker 1: After the Civil War and after emancipation, Chang and Ang 184 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:46,439 Speaker 1: didn't have any money anymore. They were broke, they couldn't 185 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: farm the farm, and they returned to show business more fully, 186 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: even going back to Barnum, who employed them until they 187 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: were over sixty years old. In eighteen seventy four, Chang, 188 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: who had become a heavy drinker and who had suffered 189 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 1: from a stroke, died of bronchitis, and before a doctor 190 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 1: could arrive to separate the two brothers, Ang died. At 191 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: the time, I think the diagnosis was that he had 192 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,959 Speaker 1: died of shock, which it would be rather shocking, I'm sure, 193 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:17,319 Speaker 1: but later analysis suggests that he probably died of blood 194 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: loss because they did share an artery, and Ang may 195 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:23,760 Speaker 1: have just been pumping blood and not having it pumped 196 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 1: back into his body, since Chang was dead at that point, 197 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: and they didn't know that until later write that they shared. 198 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:31,559 Speaker 1: It was in the or that they realized they shared 199 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 1: an artery after the autopsy, but they didn't come up 200 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 1: with this idea until the nineteen sixties. It's interesting too 201 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: that the brothers had long sought out separation and had 202 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:45,439 Speaker 1: nearly attempted surgery in Philadelphia after they got engaged. They 203 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: were each willing to die if it meant a chance 204 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 1: to live independently, but their wives stepped in. The wives 205 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: begged them not to risk the surgery. They didn't want 206 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:56,679 Speaker 1: them to die. So, like we said, Chang and Eng 207 00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: aren't super associated with Barnum. But the next treat on 208 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:03,719 Speaker 1: our list certainly is. In eighteen forty two, P. T. 209 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 1: Barnum met the boy who would become his most famous star, 210 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: Charles Stratton, who was the four year old son of 211 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 1: a Bridgeport carpenter. And when Stratton was born, he was 212 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:16,960 Speaker 1: a pretty large baby. He was about nine pounds, but 213 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:20,319 Speaker 1: before he was even one year old, he basically stopped 214 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: growing and by the time he met Barnum, he was 215 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:27,319 Speaker 1: four years old, fifteen pounds and inches tall. After his 216 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: teens he did grow a little bit more. He reached 217 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 1: forty inches, ultimately in seventy pounds, but he had a 218 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:37,320 Speaker 1: fairly small stature for much of his life. Though Stratton 219 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: was Barnum's distant cousin, he drafted him for a show, 220 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: calling him General Tom Thumb and teaching him how to 221 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 1: sing and dance and do imitations of people like Hercules, 222 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:50,400 Speaker 1: and having him pretend to be eleven years old rather 223 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: than five, so that his small stature would be even 224 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: more impressive. Barnum started Stratton out on three dollars a week, 225 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: but as the little boy proved to be kind of 226 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:04,920 Speaker 1: a natural performer with as Barnum said, quote a keen 227 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 1: sense of the ludicrous, he raised Charles's rate to fifty 228 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: dollars a week. So in eighteen forty four Barnum and 229 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 1: Stratton left for Europe, where they would do these sell 230 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 1: out shows in London's Egyptian Hall. And Barnum, as we 231 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:23,720 Speaker 1: discussed in the earlier episode, was always hankering for more prestige, 232 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,199 Speaker 1: not just more money. He wasn't just about money. He 233 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:29,840 Speaker 1: was interested in prestige and a wider audience, and that 234 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 1: was something he really did get through Tom Thumb when 235 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 1: Baroness Rothschild heard about the act and invited the two 236 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 1: over for dinner. And the dinner alone was an achievement 237 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,600 Speaker 1: for Barnum, but he used it as an opportunity for 238 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: stirring up some humbug like like he always did. He 239 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:50,679 Speaker 1: dropped hints that the General General Tom Thumb might like 240 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:55,080 Speaker 1: to meet Queen Victoria, and soon enough an invitation to 241 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,720 Speaker 1: meet the Queen did arrive. According to Peter Carlson in 242 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 1: American History, before Stratton could enter with Barnum, they got 243 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:05,959 Speaker 1: some very specific instructions, so this was upon their visit 244 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 1: to the Queen. They were told not to speak directly 245 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 1: to the Queen and not to turn their backs. They 246 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,000 Speaker 1: were escorted into the Queen's picture gallery and presented before 247 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: a twenty five year old Victoria, her husband, Prince Albert, 248 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:23,760 Speaker 1: and the court, and Barnum later described the entry as such. 249 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: He said, quote the General walked in looking like a 250 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: wax doll gifted with the power of locomotion. The General 251 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 1: advanced with a firm step, and as he came within 252 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 1: Haaling distance made a very graceful bow and exclaimed good evening, 253 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen. So before a performance where he exhibited 254 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: his impressions. Apparently the British really loved his Napoleon impression. 255 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: Victoria spent some personal time with the little boy. They 256 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 1: walked hand in hand around the gallery. She told him 257 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:56,280 Speaker 1: about the pictures, asked him about things he liked, and 258 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 1: he even asked her this is very cute. He asked 259 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 1: her if he could meet her three year olds on 260 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 1: the Prince of Wale. She tells him no, he's asleep 261 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 1: right now. They do ultimately meet, though, when it came 262 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:09,760 Speaker 1: time for them to leave, Tom kind of dramatically fended 263 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 1: off one of Victoria's poodles with this cane. It was 264 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: sort of like the sword fight pantomime. And I think 265 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 1: there's an engraving of it, right, Yeah, I might have 266 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: to put that one up on Pinterest at some point. 267 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 1: Victoria's impressions of the night, though, are particularly interesting, since 268 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:27,040 Speaker 1: she was clearly bothered a bit by what she found 269 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 1: to be troubling about this act. What we might consider 270 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: to be troubling today exactly a very young boy away 271 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:36,960 Speaker 1: from his parents and performing around the world for money, 272 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: and she saw this as we as you said, as 273 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 1: we would see it. She wrote, quote after dinner, we 274 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: saw the greatest curiosity I, or indeed anybody ever saw 275 00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: a little dwarf. He made the funniest little bow, putting 276 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 1: out his hand and saying much obliged, ma'am. One cannot 277 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: help feeling sorry for the poor little thing, and wishing 278 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 1: he could be properly cared for. For the people who 279 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 1: show him off tease him a good deal. I should 280 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,640 Speaker 1: think he was made to imitate Napoleon and do all 281 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 1: sorts of tricks. So that's sort of the perception that 282 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: folks had a guess of Stratton when he was so 283 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: young five years old, six years old, working under Barnum. 284 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: But as he got older, the relationship between him and 285 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:20,080 Speaker 1: Barnum did clearly become more one of business partners, with 286 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: Stratton making a good living and creating a life for 287 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 1: himself off the stage. Laura Grand wrote that Stratton quote 288 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: made his stage persona a caricature completely separate from his 289 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: identity as Charles Stratton. He was able to shed his 290 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 1: guys of Tom Thumb at the end of each day, 291 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 1: not that his personal life and stage career didn't intersect 292 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,280 Speaker 1: at times. Probably the most famous event in Stratton's life 293 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: was his eighteen sixty three marriage to Lavina Warren, a 294 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:52,120 Speaker 1: little person from Middleborough, Massachusetts with Mayflower ancestors, and Lavigna 295 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 1: called the quote Queen of Beauty in the New York 296 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: Times write up of their marriage and Stratton were married 297 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 1: at Grace Episcopal Church, New York City with people like 298 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: the Asters and the Vanderbilts and attendants, and during their 299 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: honeymoon they even got to visit the White House. It 300 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:10,879 Speaker 1: was considered to be one of the biggest celebrity marriages 301 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 1: of the century. Our next act moves away from the 302 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: kind of side show entertainments that Barnum was best known for. 303 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:30,159 Speaker 1: While he was visiting London to such great acclaim with 304 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:33,119 Speaker 1: Little Tom Thumb, he happened to hear about a singer 305 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:36,120 Speaker 1: who was selling out shows in England and Ireland, Jenny Lynn, 306 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:40,400 Speaker 1: who was better known as the Swedish Nightingale, and Barnum, 307 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: who didn't even bother to attend one of her shows 308 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:47,199 Speaker 1: or request some sort of sample performance, pitched Lynd on 309 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:50,679 Speaker 1: this one D fifty date US tour with a guarantee 310 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:53,600 Speaker 1: of one thousand dollars per show was apparently a pretty 311 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 1: unheard of some at the time, so Lynn did negotiate 312 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: for a little bit more. Though she was very charitably minded, 313 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 1: and she negotiated with Barnum to make some further donations 314 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:09,399 Speaker 1: on top of that too, charities of her choosing. She did, eventually, though, agree, 315 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,919 Speaker 1: and left Liverpool in August of eighteen fifty for her 316 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:16,159 Speaker 1: big American tour. Just a little background on Lynn. She 317 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 1: was born in Stockholm in eighteen twenty and was already 318 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: a European star. Charlotte Bronte, in fact, was a huge fan. 319 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:26,840 Speaker 1: According to Cassandra fell In Bronte studies, and she had 320 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: debuted in Sweden in eighteen thirty eight and had studied 321 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:33,919 Speaker 1: opera in Paris, where she perfected her coloratura and became 322 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,640 Speaker 1: known for her range, stretching from the B below middle 323 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: C to high G. And when she teamed up with 324 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 1: Barnum she actually had been considering leaving the stage. He 325 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 1: really made her an offer she couldn't refuse, though, so 326 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: for six months leading up to that big US debut, 327 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:53,520 Speaker 1: Barnum stirred up his humbug again, even though in this 328 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:56,640 Speaker 1: case Lynn's talents really did prove to be much more 329 00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: than hype. He would write articles about how beautiful she 330 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: it's how sweet and good she was. He would run 331 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:06,400 Speaker 1: these poetry contests like pitch us your best poem about 332 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 1: Jenny Lynde, and he ultimately stirred up what was called Lindamania. 333 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: People were just so excited to hear this young woman 334 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:17,119 Speaker 1: saying even though they were just going on his word 335 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 1: for it, and I mean it worked as tactics really worked. 336 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:23,960 Speaker 1: There were more than thirty thousand people waiting for her 337 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,240 Speaker 1: steamer when it arrived in New York. Twenty thousand more 338 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:31,160 Speaker 1: lined the route to her hotel. And Barnum wasn't stingy 339 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: with this either, with with her, after seeing how successful 340 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,960 Speaker 1: that she was. After finally hearing her and realizing how 341 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,879 Speaker 1: good she was, he renegotiated her contract after just a 342 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:45,000 Speaker 1: few shows. But he made out pretty well too. He 343 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: probably made close to a half a million dollars that year, 344 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:50,640 Speaker 1: and it did give him some of that legitimacy that 345 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: he was hoping for. He was working with a famous 346 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,200 Speaker 1: opera singer here. It was different from his American Museum 347 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:01,320 Speaker 1: kind of performance as he normally promote did. Other people 348 00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:03,480 Speaker 1: made a lot of money off of Jenny Lynn too, 349 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:06,199 Speaker 1: though when we mentioned her in the last episode, we 350 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:10,399 Speaker 1: talked about how she was just this huge merchandizing sensation, 351 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:14,280 Speaker 1: one of the earliest sensations of that magnitude, and people 352 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 1: marketed porcelain around her. You could get Jenny Lynde hats 353 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:20,960 Speaker 1: and face cream, sheet music. That's maybe the thing that 354 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:25,399 Speaker 1: makes the most sense here, pianos, chairs, and even a 355 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 1: crib which I did a little Google searching earlier. Today, 356 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:32,359 Speaker 1: the Jenny lynd crobe is still a very well known 357 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:36,000 Speaker 1: type of crib. It looks exactly how you would imagine 358 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,639 Speaker 1: a baby's crib to look, nothing old fashioned about it. 359 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: So you can still pick one up, I guess you can. 360 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,720 Speaker 1: After her grand u s tour, Lynd married her accompanyist 361 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,199 Speaker 1: Otto Goldschmidt and lived in Dresden in England, where she 362 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,080 Speaker 1: eventually taught at the Royal College of Music before she 363 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 1: died in eight seven. So our final entry is a 364 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: very different one from this classic opera singer. It rivals 365 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 1: only Tom Thumb is Barnum's most famous act and even 366 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,640 Speaker 1: today you probably associate Ringling Brothers in Barneum Bailey Circus 367 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 1: with elephants, but Jumbo was the original and the most 368 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:15,359 Speaker 1: famous elephant of them all. So Jumbo had been captured 369 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 1: in East Africa when he was four years old and 370 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:21,919 Speaker 1: was purchased by a the very an animal collector. He 371 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,399 Speaker 1: started out his public life though in Paris at the 372 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:30,160 Speaker 1: Gardonde Plance and ironically, considering his eventual size, I mean 373 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:32,040 Speaker 1: you can get a good idea of it by his name. 374 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,159 Speaker 1: His Paris owners were really disappointed with how tiny he was, 375 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,119 Speaker 1: and according to Bill Kelly in American History, they didn't 376 00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: realize that African elephants grow more slowly than Indian elephants do, 377 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 1: and so they thought they just had a dud of 378 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: an elephant. He was not as big as they were hoping, 379 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 1: so after they traded him for a rhino, the African 380 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:55,959 Speaker 1: elephant wound up in London, where he was named Jumbo, 381 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,360 Speaker 1: which they believed meant elephant, and he started to grow. 382 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,400 Speaker 1: Eventually got up to eleven and a half feet tall, 383 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:05,200 Speaker 1: and Jumbo spent most of his life there. He entertained 384 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:08,680 Speaker 1: kids who visited the zoo and even gave rides Barnum 385 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:12,359 Speaker 1: on one of his England visits. Coveted him. He said quote, 386 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,160 Speaker 1: I have often looked wistfully on Jumbo, but with no 387 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: hope of ever getting possession of him, as I know 388 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,600 Speaker 1: him to be a great favorite of Queen Victoria, whose 389 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 1: children and grandchildren are among the tens of thousands of 390 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: British juveniles whom Jumbo has carried on his back. I 391 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: did not suppose he would ever be sold. Finally, though, 392 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:34,720 Speaker 1: knowing that Jumbo's temper had worsened lately, his British owners 393 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,200 Speaker 1: unloaded him on. Barnum didn't tell him about the temper. 394 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 1: Probably I'm an angry elephant on that on her hand, right, 395 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: But he sold him for a ten thousand dollars to Barnum. 396 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:48,719 Speaker 1: So the British public, though, was very upset about this. 397 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:50,920 Speaker 1: They were mad. I mean, think of the children who 398 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:55,000 Speaker 1: loved Jumbo so much. And Jumbo's keeper, Matthew Scott remembered 399 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:58,919 Speaker 1: people actually picketing the zoo and thousands of kids lining 400 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,160 Speaker 1: up to see Jumbo, just crying their hearts out. And 401 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:04,919 Speaker 1: it was too bad for them because Barnum was going 402 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,639 Speaker 1: to be taking his ten thousand dollar elephant back to 403 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:11,120 Speaker 1: the States, and in eighteen eighty two he had Jumbo 404 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,440 Speaker 1: and his elephant friend from the zoo named Alice, but 405 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,919 Speaker 1: on board a ship. Poor Jumbo here, he did not 406 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,600 Speaker 1: enjoy his transatlantic trip at all. He was apparently very 407 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: seasick and apparently had daily beer rations. I can't imagine 408 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 1: that's in a normal elephants rations today. Yeah, well probably not. 409 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:33,440 Speaker 1: But it's sad that he just didn't get unlimited beer 410 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 1: if he needed it. Poor thing one state side. Jumbo 411 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:41,160 Speaker 1: helped make Barnum's new circus a hit, also helping transform 412 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:43,679 Speaker 1: the Three Ring Circus to something more akin to what 413 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,359 Speaker 1: it is today, which is, of course kind of a spectacle. 414 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 1: He even grew some more and his temper issues disappeared, 415 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: so Barnum didn't have to worry about that after all. Well, 416 00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:57,119 Speaker 1: and Barnum also pulled another Jenny Lynde and marketed his 417 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,119 Speaker 1: new elephant like crazy. You could buy Jumbo every thing. 418 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:02,600 Speaker 1: I don't know about, Jumbo face cream or Jumbo cribs. 419 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 1: He applied the elephant's name to all sorts of products, 420 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:11,160 Speaker 1: and eventually Jumbo became ubiquitous enough to mean very large. 421 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,120 Speaker 1: I mean that's how we think of it today. Something 422 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:17,479 Speaker 1: is Jumbo size. So then, after four seasons with the circus, 423 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,920 Speaker 1: where Jumbo had certainly earned back his ten thousand dollars 424 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 1: and really helped make Barnum's circus a hit. He was 425 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: killed in a railway accident, and he and Barnum's tiniest elephant, 426 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:34,800 Speaker 1: strangely also named Tom Thumb. We're crossing some rail road 427 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: tracks with their keeper, and an unexpected engine came speeding through. 428 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,920 Speaker 1: It knocked Tom Thumb out of the way. He rolled 429 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,560 Speaker 1: down an embankment, and Jumbo just panicked and he tried 430 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:49,080 Speaker 1: to run, but he was hit by the train in 431 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,560 Speaker 1: a crash that also killed the engineer. Barnum, who had 432 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,400 Speaker 1: kind of hedged his bets for a while and seen 433 00:24:55,480 --> 00:25:00,440 Speaker 1: about whether Jumbo's hide and skeleton could be preserved. I 434 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:02,440 Speaker 1: think he wrote about it like God forbid anything ever 435 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 1: happens to Jumbo, but just in case, so he did 436 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:07,480 Speaker 1: have a plan in place, and he had the elephants 437 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:12,040 Speaker 1: skeleton and hide saved and set up this big funeral procession, 438 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 1: even spinning a whole story that Jumbo had died trying 439 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:17,680 Speaker 1: to push the baby Tom Thumb out of the way 440 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:21,920 Speaker 1: of the train. So while the hide was eventually destroyed 441 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,119 Speaker 1: in a fire, jumbo skeleton can sometimes be seen in 442 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 1: the American Museum of Natural History, so you can still 443 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,440 Speaker 1: check that out now and again, hey, your spects to Jumbo. 444 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,639 Speaker 1: So it's been fun talking about these different acts, and 445 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 1: it's been interesting to coming across all the names that 446 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,879 Speaker 1: you can find just a little tidbit of information on. 447 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:44,160 Speaker 1: These are obviously all pretty well documented, pretty well researched 448 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,639 Speaker 1: figures because they were so famous, but there are so 449 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:50,040 Speaker 1: many names, you just get the most tantalizing little peek 450 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:57,840 Speaker 1: at what their life must have been like. Thank you 451 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 1: so much for joining us on this Saturday. Since this 452 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:02,679 Speaker 1: episode is out of the archive, if you heard an 453 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,360 Speaker 1: email address or Facebook U r L or something similar 454 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 1: over the course of the show, that could be obsolete now. 455 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,919 Speaker 1: Our current email address is History Podcast at i heart 456 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,679 Speaker 1: radio dot com. 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