WEBVTT - PT Barnum: More Complicated Than You've Heard 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:04.560 Welcome to Stuff you should know from how Stuff Works 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:13.720 dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:21.080 There's Charles W. Chuck Bright. There's Jerry Hello. Hello, Hello, Hello. 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.800 Jerry's got a top hat on. I know, I don't 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:28.240 know why. I don't know. She's trying to be all 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:34.440 Mr Monopoly or P. T. Barnum. Oh yeah, I forgot 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:38.680 he wore a top hat allegedly. Oh no, he did. 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:41.280 I saw a picture of it. Yeah, Hugh Grant certainly did. 0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:47.159 Hugh Grant, Hugh Jackman, Hugh Laurie. I think it's no, 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:51.320 it's Clive Owen. You're thinking, yeah, Hugh Jackman, Man, where's 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.280 that top hat? Like a champ? He does? Um, I 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:57.760 don't know how much you went on the internet for 0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:01.040 this one, because this is a pretty comprehensive article actually was, 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:05.840 but um, The Greatest Showman really set the Internet on 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:09.120 fire Man and a lot of like it really brought 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:11.640 out a lot of people saying like, whoa, whoa whoa 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:18.520 whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Yeah, this is the the 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:22.480 very definition of the word fantasy. Yeah, it seemed like 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:26.600 that movie was can be best described as a musical 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:33.240 whitewashing mm hmm in every sense of that word. So 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:36.679 let's destroy it. Yeah, I mean after reading this, I 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:40.959 didn't think, like man P. T. Barnum, what a complete 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:44.720 a whole. No, he was just a lot more complicated 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:47.160 than that and did a lot of stuff that you 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.800 just shouldn't just pass over because you can't figure out 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:57.600 lyrics too. What what why? What raps with racism? Uh? Yeah, 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:01.640 I mean he was. He was definitely an enigma and um, 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:05.320 it seems like he did some good. But also, I 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:09.000 mean he was a hustler man for sure. So this 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:12.320 is what I didn't fully understand until researching this chuck. 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:15.639 He he was He's known as the greatest showman, right, 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:19.639 but there were plenty of other showmen out there at 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:23.079 the time, which makes sense because you have to have 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:26.640 something to compare, to be compared to, to be the greatest, right. 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:29.720 But I I guess I had just assumed he was 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:32.200 like the first or the originator. No, he was not 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:35.720 the first showman. He was a great showman. What he 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:41.280 really left his mark on was introducing America to pure, 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:47.560 unadulterated hucksterism and using it for marketing. Humbug that's what 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:49.200 he called it, and he had he had a lot 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:53.760 of quotes somewhere somewhere, definitely something he said like every 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:57.160 crowd has a silver lining, which means you can shake 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:58.880 it out of him and get some money from a 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:02.160 bunch of people. Right, Yeah, the one about a sucker 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:07.280 board every minute. That's never been successfully attributed to him. Well, yeah, 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:11.000 And one thing is for sure, and uh is that 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:14.400 his autobiography is I think if you order it, it 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:18.280 comes with a salt lick, so you can just lick 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:21.600 on that salt while you're reading it. Right. I don't 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:23.600 know what that means, but it seems like something that 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:27.720 they would do. Yeah, I mean he he uh. I 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:30.160 think when the man is writing about himself, it's like, 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:33.360 you know what, you may just want to believe a 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:35.400 third of this. I would take it with a grain 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:37.880 of salt, but so much so that you need an 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:42.840 actual salt lick. I got it, now, I got it. So, 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:44.920 So there is one quote that I think kind of 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:47.640 describes this guy best, or at least his philosophy, and 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:52.920 it also kind of reveals like you can't call him harmless, 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:57.520 but also the intentions were not entirely evil, right, he 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:01.720 had a quote it said that, um, people don't mind 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:05.000 being deceived so long as they're being amused at the 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:09.160 same time, which it does, and it largely lets him 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:11.240 off the hook as far as being a huckster. Right. 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:16.200 But the thing that that The Greatest Showman really glossed over, 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:20.760 just outright ignored, was that a lot of the the 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:25.039 amusements that he was presenting to the public were extraordinarily 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:29.960 degrading two people at the time, Um, they were super racists. 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:34.240 There were, um, just a lot of There was just 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:36.920 a lot of exploitation. He made his money not just 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:41.520 by hustling Americans, but by exploiting other Americans too, right. Um. 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:45.000 And again, like this, a lot of this is contextual. 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:49.400 It's not necessarily fair for later generations to judge previous generations, 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:53.919 although it's really fun to do. Um. But yes, you 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:57.159 could say, like this guy was exploitative even even in 0:04:57.200 --> 0:05:01.440 compared even compared to like his contemporary right. Perhaps so 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:04.400 he is just this very complex character who I think 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:07.440 you and I can agree was not an evil person. 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:11.920 He just did some horrible things here there. Should we 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:14.240 go back in time? Yes, let's all right, let's go 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.240 back to the beginning, let's hop in the way back machine, 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:21.560 which is appropriately steampunky right now. It takes many forms. 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:23.560 I don't know if people realize that it has a 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:27.960 clock without the glass and you can see the parts inside, 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:38.359 but it doesn't actually function. It's strictly for decoration. So 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:42.360 let's go back to eight ten, back to Bethel, Connecticut, 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:46.320 where this man was born, Mr Phineas Taylor Barnum. Um. 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:48.160 He had sort of a mixed family life. He I mean, 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:50.279 he was they point out in this article. He was 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:54.680 firmly American. His great great great grandfather came over from 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:59.839 England as an indentured servant in the seventeenth century. Eventually 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:04.080 became a landowner, but they didn't It's not like they 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.360 had a ton of money. His dad, Filo great name, yeah, 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:11.600 all these are great names. Was he was not super successful. Um. 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:14.240 So it was kind of up to young pt to 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:17.440 Um to make his own way in life. Right as 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:22.520 his father was a farmer, which introduced um Phineas to 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:26.640 the idea that he really hated like manual, mindless work. Now, 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:29.880 he didn't like doing that farm work, but it's that's 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:32.279 not to say he didn't like work. He just liked 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:35.840 very specific kinds of work where his energies were appropriately 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:38.880 chanted building people out of money. Sure, yeah, I mean 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:41.039 that was that was kind of it. He liked. Um. 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:43.880 He was the definition of the word enterprising, right, she 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:46.280 could figure out a way. He could look at something 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:49.520 literally look at something that you couldn't you could almost 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:52.359 not give away, you certainly couldn't sell, and turn it 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:56.320 into pure profits like like he got into lauteries for 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:58.680 a little while once, right, Yeah, I mean he went 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:00.320 he went to work. He left the farm into work 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:03.479 at a country store and realized quickly, like, just because 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.480 you're in the country doesn't mean there aren't like swindlers 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:09.000 and cheaters out here. So he kind of learned some 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:11.600 of the tricks of the trade there. His old man 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:14.640 died when he was fifteen, uh, and he was kind 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:16.480 of his his mom had his mom had to get 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:19.160 a job. But he was basically like, all right, it's 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:21.680 kind of up to me now to provide for my family. 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:25.360 So he moved got that another job as a store clerk, 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:28.680 and as you said, got into lotteries. Yeah, And he 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:32.440 was early on pursuing a career at clerkship, which I 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:35.280 guess is a thing. But but yeah, so there's this. 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:38.680 He saw easy money and lottery, so he set up 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:41.640 one himself. Apparently when he was working for these owners 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:45.600 of the store, um, they were away at one point 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:49.720 and he got his eyes on some um tin kitchenware 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:53.080 that just would not sell. So he took some other 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:55.680 stuff that wouldn't sell at that store. These things weren't his, 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:58.679 by the way, and he traded him for a bottle 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.600 collection of I guess was the thing that people wanted 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:06.040 at the time. And he put those things up as prizes, right, 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:08.360 and he started a lottery and these were the prizes, 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:11.480 and there were cash prizes. But he ended up selling 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:14.920 like a thousand tickets or something like that in this 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:18.560 little town store, um based on these prizes and some 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.680 cash prizes, saying like half of all tickets were going 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.040 to be winners and you might win a bottle or 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:26.760 you might win like a tin muffin pan, but you 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:29.040 could also win this cash. And so these things that 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:31.840 had just been sitting on these shelves forever were suddenly 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:35.480 turned into something valuable thanks to his marketing expertise. And 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:38.560 this is while he's still a teenager. Yeah, it's we've 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:41.559 covered this and something before that. Lotteries were a thing 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:45.040 back then that someone could just cook up, you know, 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:47.200 Like it's not like the lotteries we have today, like 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:52.079 be sanctioned, uh, sanctioned ways of stealing people's money, right, 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.400 But back then, you could just cook up a lottery 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:55.680 in a small town and be like, you know what 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:58.719 I've got. Uh. It was almost like a Ponzi thing, 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:01.200 like I can raise money, give away some of that 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:04.560 money and prizes, and then keep the rest, right. I 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:08.720 think that was in our lotteries episode. Oh really yeah, Okay, Well, 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:10.480 in order to do that, though, you have to be 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:14.360 a natural born salesperson, which is what he was. You 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:16.600 really do And like lottery has been played like a 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:19.600 theme throughout his early career, like that's how he ended 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.640 up making his initial I don't know if fortune is 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:25.400 the right word, but that's how he staked himself and 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.920 his family was through lotteries and working in stores and 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:32.080 then eventually owning stores like general stores, grocery stores, that 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.360 kind of thing. But the lotteries are where he made 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.080 his money, and he actually figured out that you could 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:40.880 make more money with less work than having to go 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.520 to the trouble of setting up a lottery. Like you said, 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:47.800 anybody could just set up a lottery, um by taking 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:52.079 tickets from somebody else's lottery and selling them further out 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:55.240 at an increased price. But then he figured out one 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:57.679 more thing, Chuck, You didn't even have to go out 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:00.080 and sell these things yourself. You could hire other are 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.600 people to sell them even further out. All you had 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:04.480 to do was give them the tickets and collect the 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:06.880 money that they brought you. So he ended up making 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:11.880 money by basically expanding other people's lotteries for a while, 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:14.320 that's right. And in the middle of this, and he 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:16.280 had moved to Brooklyn at this point, he's kind of 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:19.079 kind of hopping all over the place there in the northeast. 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:22.320 But uh and and to be fair, we're hopping kind 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:27.439 of all over his early life right now. Yeah, chronologically. Yeah. Yeah. 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.160 So in this time period he met um who would 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:33.760 become his wife, a woman named Charity Hallett, who he 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:38.160 described in his autobiography as a fair, rosy cheeked buxom girl, 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:42.720 beautiful white teeth. Did I mention she had big boobs, 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:49.040 but those teeth, man. Uh. So they would get married 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:53.440 and I think they had four daughters, Um. But during 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:55.760 all this time he he did he had a little 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:59.480 Josh Clark in him, because how do you mean, Well, 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:04.080 he was writing letters to local papers that weren't getting published, 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:05.640 so he said, you know what, I'm gonna start my 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:09.120 own paper. Yeah, where he clarked himself a paper I'll 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:13.320 see you all in hell media. Yeah, and much like yourself, 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:16.400 you started your own paper, which was kind of cool. Sure, 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:18.920 I mean like, if people won't print your crank ideas, 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:22.040 go start your own paper. It's like if you want 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:25.720 to get your manifesto out there and either either yeah, 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:28.360 either become un obomb or esque, which we don't recommend, 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:30.320 or start your own paper. That's right. And his was 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:34.160 called Harold of Freedom, which is terrible. And this is 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:36.719 where it gets a little weird because he he kind 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:40.400 of went after people. Um was eventually hit with a 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:44.080 libel suit and spent sixty days in jail. But that 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:46.240 sold a lot of papers, and he was also hailed 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:50.720 as a hero because apparently he was legitimately exposing corruption. 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:54.400 So to me, Chuck, that one really stood out, um, 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:59.960 because it shows just how huge this guy's life still 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.880 where he is. That that even if you make a 0:12:02.920 --> 0:12:05.160 movie out of it all. The best you can hope 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:07.439 for is to pick like five or six or ten 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.240 different things and try to find a thread throughout him. Right, 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:14.800 whether that's an accurate portrayal or not, it can't possibly be, 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:17.720 because this guy's life was just so enormous and he 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:20.400 did so many things, and he was such an outsize 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:24.559 character that a lot of times you either vilify him 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:28.400 or glorify him, and it was much more a combination 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.120 of both of those things. And I think that example 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:33.200 really says it all. Like he had his his notions, 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:35.400 and he started his own paper and ended up going 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:38.360 to jail and subscription boosted, so he ended up making 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:40.600 money from it. But at the same time, he was 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:43.680 legitimately trying to call out corruption in this town that 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:48.480 he cared about. So his character was much more complex 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:52.360 than than you get just from just about any source 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:57.760 unless you read biographies about him. Agreed. Um, So finally 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:01.760 he says, or I'm sorry, Connecticut said no more lotteries 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:04.679 in Connecticut. So he's like, all right, what am I 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:07.600 doing here? Even if I can't do this little scam? 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:09.920 He's like, I love this time, but not that much. 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:12.839 So in eighteen thirty four, he left the paper, shut 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:16.319 that down, moved his family to New York City, and uh, 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:19.480 should we take a break? Perfect ail, Right, we're in 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:21.400 New York City and we'll be back right after this. 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:25.000 If you want to know then you're in luck. Just 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:48.439 listen up to chuck shoo. Shoot, I got a falafel? 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:51.839 Is it good? It's pretty good? Is it from the 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:54.920 Hallau guys? Of course? Man? Who else you going to 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:59.040 get a falafel from? That's good stuff? Yeah? Uh so, man, 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:02.760 this guy really just reading through this thing. He did 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:08.360 so many jobs, right, he was a factotem dozens and 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.480 dozens of jobs through his lifetime. Yeah, and I'm glad 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:15.600 he didn't just stick to clerking, right, or even lottery. 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:21.160 He had this thing like something about show business attracted 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:24.880 this guy. I don't know what it was. Maybe nobody 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.000 but him knows what it was. Maybe he doesn't even 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:29.000 know what it was. But he was attracted to the 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:35.400 idea of like wowing and amusing and amazing crowds. And 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:39.440 he he did that pretty early on. I think he 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:45.120 was twenty five when he got into exhibiting a human 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:48.400 being who he purchased and owned for a while, which 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.760 by the way does not show up in the Greatest Showman. Right, 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:54.680 And this is after in New York he started a 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:57.600 boarding house for a while and co owned a grocery 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:01.680 store for a while, right, And so like his life 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:03.680 is full of him just trying to do these kind 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:06.760 of regular things and then being like, Nope, I gotta 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:09.240 go buy a lady and put her on display. Right, 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:11.640 And this is after Chuck. By the way, he had 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:15.120 come down with smallpox for a while. Oh did we 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:18.160 miss a small box. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like, 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:20.960 this guy had a huge life. But let's get a 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:25.240 Joyce Heath right, because she is a very controversial part 0:15:25.400 --> 0:15:29.080 of um P. T. Barnum's life. She was the first, 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:32.000 his first foray in the show business. And there's no 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:34.240 other way to put it. Like he purchased her. She 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:39.200 was a slave and elderly slave, um who he purchased 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:42.960 from another promoter who had been touting her as General 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:48.400 George Washington's nursemaid from when George Washington was a child. 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:53.080 This is eighteen thirty five, right, she was supposedly a 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:57.480 hundred and sixty one years old. Yeah, so he negotiates 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:00.440 a price. He went, he went and sour, and she 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:04.480 was blind, she had no teeth, she was partially paralyzed, 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:07.480 but she could talk and tell her story. Yeah, she 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:12.040 told stories about young George as a boy. And and 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:15.320 to be fair, she she was already being exploited. It's 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.920 not like he which is not great, but it's not 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:22.320 like Barnum introduced this into her life. No, he just 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:26.320 purchased her and took it over, took over the exploitation 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:30.240 for for a thousand dollars, and he toured with her 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:34.160 until she died. Um not that long later, just like 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:37.960 a year later, not even inty six. He made a 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:41.280 lot of dough Um and it was it was sort 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:43.720 of a watershed moment for him where I think he 0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:46.560 was like, wait a minute, I've realized that I can 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:51.880 get people um in a room by cooking up these 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:55.800 stories and and getting things in the newspaper and printing 0:16:55.800 --> 0:17:00.520 these posters. Uh. And even if, like if if business 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.840 was down, he would do these crazy things like one 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:07.280 of them when business was down, appearing with Heth. At 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:10.679 one point he accused her of being a robot what 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:14.200 they called at the time an automaton in an anonymous 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:16.919 letter to the editor in a newspaper. Yeah, a robot 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:21.080 made of whalebone rubber in springs. So everyone was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:25.399 Not only is she George Washington's nurse maid, but she's 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:28.960 really a robot. Right. What that did was it got 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:32.800 the people who had been avoiding going to see her, 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:35.600 because even at the time, people were like, this is 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:40.159 pure exploitation. This woman is being exhibited like a giraffe 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:43.120 would be or something like that. She's an old lady's 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:45.919 working or ten to twelve hours a day. Some people 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:49.399 think that he worked her to death literally, um. And 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.959 so there was part of the press that was saying 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:55.880 and reporting on this with with great distaste. So there's 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:58.320 a segment of American society who would not be caught 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:02.159 dead seeing George Washington's a hundred and sixty year old 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:07.080 nurse maide, but they would conceivably go see an autonomouton 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:10.040 if that's really what was going on. So he managed 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:15.480 to dupe the very people who were critical of this 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:20.080 exploitation that he was undertaking. He got everybody in that one. Well, yeah, 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:22.960 and it gets even worse. Um. Finally, when she passed away, 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:27.000 he actually sold tickets to a public autopsy in a 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:31.719 saloon so people could come look at this poor woman's insides. 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:35.440 And this is where it was finally revealed. Doctor said 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:39.480 she's maybe like eight eight one years old at most, right, 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:43.240 And this was so so Jane um McGrath kind of 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:47.639 walks past, like what a controversy this was. Like this 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:51.159 guy had been like very much touting that she was 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:54.439 the nurse Maide, like he supposedly had the bill of 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:58.280 sale to George Washington's father for her. So like he 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:00.720 was saying, like, this is legitimately hundred and six year 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:03.560 old woman, so in this autopsy that he charged for. 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:06.720 When when it was exposed that she was actually half 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:09.879 that age, um, it was there was a bit of 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:12.639 disgrace there and he had to learn to roll with 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:15.680 the punches. And it was about this time that that 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:20.800 he basically said to himself, you can you can take 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:22.879 this as a lesson and go on the straight and narrow, 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:28.200 maybe get back into clerking, or you can double maybe 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:32.280 triple and quadruple down on this and and see where 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:34.600 that goes. And he chose the ladder of the two 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:38.240 for sure, that's right. He sure did. The next thing 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:40.679 that he did the next person that he kind of 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:45.600 took under his wing. Was his greasy greasy wing? Was 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:52.080 someone called signore senior? Is that senior? Yeah? Was it 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:56.080 spelled that way? Uh? That is the Italian spelling of senor. 0:19:56.359 --> 0:20:00.080 Oh well, let me turn it on then, s an 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:07.159 Daniel Antonio. Antonio had an extra bit in there. Senor 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:12.240 Antonio is another way to say, well, sure, if you're 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:14.720 a dullard, I'm a bit of a dullard. Chuck. I 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:17.440 think you know that after ten years, So this guy, 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:22.000 we're really milking that tenure thing. Huh. I've got my 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:24.760 s y s k ten your army short. I see that. 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:28.080 It's very nice, thank you. I've been working on my bucksomeness. 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:33.960 You're quite bucksom. So. Senor Antonio was a balancer. He's 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:36.879 he's one of these guys like a plate spinner, walked 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:40.399 on stilts, juggles. Um. He could throw things in the 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:43.880 air and catch them very fast. Yeah, he's like a hippie. 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:47.159 Yeah exactly. He would be on tour with he'd had 0:20:47.200 --> 0:20:50.240 those little sticks what are those called, devil sticks? Devil 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.200 sticks or a hackey sack, any of those things. You 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:55.359 pull a hackey stack out of his ear at any moment. 0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:57.600 So this guy, he said, all right, you need to 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:01.840 be my newest client. I will make you famous. Change 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:06.760 your your stage name from Senior Antonio to Senor Viva 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:10.480 La because that's a little more I don't know, exciting. 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:16.680 I guess Senor Antonio. Yeah, it's a lateral move. Uh. 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:19.200 Here's the thing, though, is there were a lot of 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:21.439 dudes out there spinning plates. So he it wasn't like 0:21:21.520 --> 0:21:26.000 he was so unique, but uh, Barnum thought, you know what, 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:28.760 I think you're better than the rest. So here's what 0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:31.600 I'll do. And again this is just another example of 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:35.120 how how good he was at promotion. He said, I'll 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:38.920 do a free performance for a theater. Uh, and I'll 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:42.800 even be your assistant on stage. And people came, and 0:21:42.800 --> 0:21:45.399 so the theater said, all right, I guess if people 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:48.680 come for free, they'll pay. I think I think what 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:51.800 he was saying was he Yeah, I think that's exactly. 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:53.720 I think you're right. He just wild them enough. I 0:21:53.760 --> 0:21:57.200 think that's that's the impression I have. Yeah. But even still, 0:21:57.560 --> 0:22:01.520 despite Vivala being genuinely good, he was I think head 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:06.000 and shoulders above most of his contemporary spinners. Yeah, I 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:08.520 think people saw in the press. Oh there's a really 0:22:08.560 --> 0:22:11.760 good plate spinner. We saw a plate spinner at you know, 0:22:11.840 --> 0:22:14.120 the at the office last week. So I'm not gonna 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:16.560 go anywhere to see another plate spinner. I'm certainly not 0:22:16.600 --> 0:22:20.399 gonna pay. So Barnum had a pretty good idea, but 0:22:20.440 --> 0:22:24.600 it actually came out of um an uncomfortable situation that 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:29.960 fell into his lap with Robert's another plate spinner. Yeah, 0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:33.280 so this is a rival plate spinner who apparently would 0:22:33.320 --> 0:22:36.480 go to prove West Coast. Yeah, he was. He was 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:41.080 a crip and he would go to uh Vivalo's performances 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:45.000 and heckle him. I guess you call that plate spinning boo, 0:22:45.160 --> 0:22:49.159 terrible plate spinning stuff like that. And so uh p T. 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:50.960 Barnum cooked up a thing where he was like, all right, 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:55.440 I'll of for one thousand American dollars to anyone who 0:22:55.480 --> 0:23:00.920 can perform Vivalo's act in public. Roberts accepted. But here's 0:23:00.920 --> 0:23:03.919 what really happened. As he got together with Roberts and 0:23:03.960 --> 0:23:07.200 they all three hatched a plan to do these kind 0:23:07.200 --> 0:23:11.600 of staged competitions, right, So they promoted in the spinning 0:23:11.640 --> 0:23:15.400 competitions East Coast, West Coast plate spinning rivalry is going 0:23:15.440 --> 0:23:19.120 on right now. Everybody's gonna come see this, and everybody did. 0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:24.919 And in that first performance, Roberts as was staged, conceded 0:23:24.960 --> 0:23:28.320 he could not replicate Vivala's act. It was too good. 0:23:28.800 --> 0:23:32.879 But I would love to see Vivola replicate my act. 0:23:32.960 --> 0:23:36.560 And I challenge you, Senor Vivola, to replicate my act 0:23:36.880 --> 0:23:40.359 tomorrow night at this same theater. And they kept going 0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:44.160 back and forth like that, Um, with this staged rivalry 0:23:44.280 --> 0:23:47.400 that they they they made some cash off of thanks 0:23:47.440 --> 0:23:51.240 to Barnum's ingenuity. They did. Finally, in eighteen thirty six, 0:23:51.359 --> 0:23:55.040 the circus comes into the picture. He joined a traveling circus. 0:23:55.080 --> 0:23:58.239 Barnum did as a ticket seller, which I take it 0:23:58.240 --> 0:24:00.840 to mean he doesn't sit in a booth and sell tickets, 0:24:00.880 --> 0:24:03.720 but he goes around town selling tickets. Yeah, like chambers 0:24:03.760 --> 0:24:05.960