Category: Uncategorized

Greetings, Everyone!

This week I am happy to share the 15^th installment in our blog series that explores P. T. Barnum’s letters written from France when he was in his mid-thirties, just at the time fame and fortune found him. Continue reading “Community Engagement Message from the Executive Director”

Arranging All the Affairs

Last week’s blog drew from P. T. Barnum’s letters in the 1845 copybook that discuss the plays created for Gen. Tom Thumb, and these gave us some insights into his stage routines while on tour in France.  Continue reading “PTB Letters (#14) Arranging All the Affairs”

Greetings, Everyone!

I hope you are comfortably busy (or are “busy relaxing”) now we’ve swung into July. Continue reading “Community Engagement Message from the Executive Director”

A New Play for the General

P.T. Barnum’s famous protegee Charles Stratton, known to the world as Gen. Tom Thumb, was quite a young child when he was first introduced to European audiences in the mid-1840s. Continue reading “PTB Letters (#13) A New Play for the General”

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

I wish you all an enjoyable and safe holiday weekend—though this is a very different Fourth from all others in our history Continue reading “Community Engagement Message from the Executive Director”

They Stared with All the Eyes They Had

Have you ever tried to envision a visit to Barnum’s American Museum?  I find it is a feat of the imagination to reconcile exterior pictures of the museum with the sheer quantity and variety of artifacts Continue reading “PTB Letters (#12) They Stared with All the Eyes They Had”

Greetings, Everyone!

Now that we are officially in the summer season, many of you have probably thought back to memorable trips and vacations in past years when we could safely travel and enjoy whatever leisure activities we wished. Continue reading “Community Engagement Message from the Executive Director”

Plenty of Fun in “Bridgepork”

In honor of Father’s Day on June 21st, this week’s exploration of P. T. Barnum’s letters from France will focus on several that enlighten us about his role as a father of daughters, and as a father-figure to his protégé Charles Stratton, better known to the world as “Gen. Tom Thumb.” Continue reading “PTB Letters (#11) Plenty of Fun in “Bridgepork””

A very special, thankful, and Happy Father’s Day to all Dads out there!   Continue reading “Community Engagement Message from the Executive Director”