Booklet: "Admiral Dot, the Smallest Man in the World"
Leopold S. Kahn (Admiral Dot) (associated with)
1872 – 1875 (Date manufactured/created)
Booklet entitled “ Admiral Dot, the Smallest Man in the World,” containing a brief biography of Leopold Kahn, a little person who worked for P. T. Barnum and whose stage name was "Admiral Dot." The sixteen-page booklet was produced as a souvenir that visitors could purchase from the performer; the cover states the price as 5 cents. Barnum typically allowed his performers to sell their own merchandise to augment their salaries. The front and back covers of the very small booklet are plain paper, now yellowed with age. The cover features an illustration of Kahn standing on a table next to his mother, who is wearing a dress of the style fashionable in the early 1870s. Kahn is wearing a suit and holds a top hat in his hand, with the opposite hand on his mother's shoulder. The table is covered in a dark cloth with heavy fringe, and to the right is a heavy curtain drape. Beneath the rope border framing the illustration, the cover states: "With P. T Barnum's New and Greatest Show on Earth." Though undated, the booklet likely dates to about 1872.
Leopold S. Kahn (1859 or 1863 – October 28, 1918) was a little person who was discovered by Barnum when he was traveling in California. Kahn performed with P.T. Barnum in his various circuses. Two of Kahn's brothers also had the dwarfism condition. In addition to working for Barnum, Kahn also performed elsewhere, including with Barnum's circus rival Adam Forepaugh. Kahn married fellow little person Lottie Naomi Swartwood and the couple had two children. Leopold Kahn died in 1918, succumbing to the flu pandemic.
Barnum is best known today for the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth, but his circus ventures did not come about until he was in his early 60s. His first circus, in the early 1870s, was called P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus. Barnum subsequently opened the New York Hippodrome with similar acts. In the 1880s, competition from other circuses increased. A merger between Barnum’s show and the Great London Show of Cooper, Bailey, and Hutchinson formed the circus called Barnum and London. Barnum's partnership with James A. Bailey in 1887 formed Barnum & Bailey, which continued to be managed by Bailey after Barnum's death in 1891. After Bailey's death in 1906, the Ringling Brothers bought Barnum & Bailey and operated it separately from their own circus. In 1919 the two were combined to form Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. This circus gave its final performance on May 21, 2017.
Leopold S. Kahn (1859 or 1863 – October 28, 1918) was a little person who was discovered by Barnum when he was traveling in California. Kahn performed with P.T. Barnum in his various circuses. Two of Kahn's brothers also had the dwarfism condition. In addition to working for Barnum, Kahn also performed elsewhere, including with Barnum's circus rival Adam Forepaugh. Kahn married fellow little person Lottie Naomi Swartwood and the couple had two children. Leopold Kahn died in 1918, succumbing to the flu pandemic.
Barnum is best known today for the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth, but his circus ventures did not come about until he was in his early 60s. His first circus, in the early 1870s, was called P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus. Barnum subsequently opened the New York Hippodrome with similar acts. In the 1880s, competition from other circuses increased. A merger between Barnum’s show and the Great London Show of Cooper, Bailey, and Hutchinson formed the circus called Barnum and London. Barnum's partnership with James A. Bailey in 1887 formed Barnum & Bailey, which continued to be managed by Bailey after Barnum's death in 1891. After Bailey's death in 1906, the Ringling Brothers bought Barnum & Bailey and operated it separately from their own circus. In 1919 the two were combined to form Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. This circus gave its final performance on May 21, 2017.
BF 1989.101.001