Greetings, everyone!

I hope you and your loved ones are staying healthy and that you are feeling at least a little uplifted as we see more promising signs of spring now that it is May. Warmth was notably absent in Connecticut last month but we trust Mother Nature will make up for that soon.

The struggles of businesses large and small, as well as for those who make a living as independent contractors, have been increasingly in the news as states and towns grapple to figure out the best ways to begin re-opening the economy.  Many business owners are calculating what a gradual or “partial” re-opening will mean to their bottom line, especially those who have low profit margins.  So, with earning a living weighing on our collective minds, this week’s delve into P. T. Barnum’s letters highlights the challenges of profit-making that the thirty-five-year-old showman faced with his General Tom Thumb tour through the provincial towns of France.  A rough patch Barnum encountered in Bordeaux resulted in a flurry of letters that tell us quite a bit about the negotiations, as well as details of Tom Thumb’s career.

As a reminder, the “Curator’s Desk” series, drawing from the Barnum Museum’s copybook of Barnum’s letters in the mid-1840s, has been added to our Blog page, which will continue to be updated.  Happy reading!

As always, I send my best wishes to you, and please . . .

Stay Safe, Stay Strong

Kathleen Maher,
Executive Director