“I am a showman by profession...and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me." Phineas Taylor Barnum is arguably one of the most ingenious businessman of American history. P.T. Barnum is best known for his creation with James Bailey of the Greatest Show on Earth, a traveling circus featuring elephants, acrobats, and people with birth defects (whom he called “freaks”). Barnum was a firm believer in the concept of any kind of publicity is good publicity. In fact, if rumors were spread about him they were most likely started by Barnum.
The scam that skyrocketed Barnum’s career was a black slave named Joice Heth, who Barnum purchased to trick the public into thinking she was the nanny of General George Washington and is 161 years old. Once
The scam that skyrocketed Barnum’s career was a black slave named Joice Heth, who Barnum purchased to trick the public into thinking she was the nanny of General George Washington and is 161 years old. Once