Dollars and Sense or How to Get on. The Whole Secret in a Nutshell

The creator of "the greatest show on earth" first stepped into the public eye marketing meetings with an elderly African American woman who (falsely) claimed to be George Washington's childhood nurse. Barnum continued his career as a purveyor of oddities by opening the American Museum (1842), which presented a melange of strange objects and sideshows. He also produced stars like "General Tom Thumb" for audiences in America and Europe, and pioneered wild feats of publicity and advertising that have since become standard fare for showbusiness. Barnum gleefully explains himself in Life (1855) and The Humbugs of the World (1865).