Booklet: "Sights and Wonders in New York"
Booklet: Guide to Barnum's American Museum
1849 (Date manufactured/created)
Small guide book for Barnum's American Museum, with yellow paper covers, titled, "Sights and Wonders in New York..." It was published in 1849. The booklet offers a guided tour of P. T. Barnum’s very popular museum located in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Barnum's proprietorship of the museum, which he opened in 1842, marked the beginning of his fame and fortune. The booklet served as a promotional tool for the museum as well as for Barnum himself, since it features a piece about his life and his lavish home in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The booklet also functioned as a souvenir for its purchasers, such as the original owner of this copy, Abner G. Gould, from Westbrook, Maine, who was about 18 years old when he visited (or perhaps received the booklet as a gift). It is aimed at a family audience seeking both entertainment and knowledge during their tour of the museum, what Barnum termed "Rational Amusement." The booklet claims the museum contained 600,000 curiosities, and these included a wide range of items, mainly authentic, some with "enhanced" stories. The booklet was published by J. S. Redfield, Clinton Hall, located at the corner of Nassau and Beekman Streets in New York City, not far from the museum.
The main story features a character called Uncle Find-out who spends a day at Barnum’s American Museum with his two nephews. Walking through the museum, they see stuffed birds, giraffes, a mechanical panorama of the Vue du Pont Neuf a Paris, more birds, portraits of various figures, wax tableaux that include a family of those intolerant (a family that drinks), the last supper, a copy of the death warrant of our savior, the nativity, automatons (the older version of today's robots), bears, a badger, large beasts such as moose and elk, gazelles, foxes, and other animals. Next they see the miniature carriage of General Tom Thumb, various tropical fish, monkeys, turtles, a mummy, a sea lion and more preserved things, specimens from various world cultures, and finally the lecture room, which was more like a concert hall. Included are brief biographies about Charles S. Stratton, better known by his stage name "General Tom Thumb," and a memoir of P. T. Barnum, with a description and illustration of his "oriental villa" in Bridgeport, called Iranistan. The guide ends with the conclusion that the visitors need more trips to the museum to truly see all of it, and the advice to be industrious and ambitious as P. T. Barnum.
This booklet is an example of Barnum’s desire to appeal to family audiences, which was unusual for the time. The museum was located at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street from December 1841 to July 1865 when it was destroyed by a fire. Barnum re-opened nearby at 539-541 Broadway but that building too was destroyed by a fire in March 1868. Barnum thereafter became involved in circus enterprises, but always included a musuem component in his circus attractions.
Booklet illustrations include: man-o war bird, pelican, and flamingo (page 4); giraffe and antelope (page 4); birds of paradise (page 5); the intolerant family (page 6); last supper (page 6); the Death Warrant of our Lord (page 7); the nativity (page 7); bears (page 8); the gou (page 8); zebra and lion (page 9); elephant, tiger, and rhino (page 10); General Tom Thumb's carriage (page 11); various fish (page 11); more fish (page 12); monkeys (page 13); turtles (page 13); a mummy in coffin (page 14); a sea lion (page 14); a fish fossil (page 15); a nautilus (page 15); snakes (page 16); various artifacts (page 16); birds (page 17); various artifacts (page 17); orangutang (page 18); marsupial (page 18); ostrich (page 19); seashells (page 19); Charles S. Stratton (page 20); Robert Hales and Eliza Simpson, the Quaker Giant and Giantess (page 21); Iranistan (page 23).
The main story features a character called Uncle Find-out who spends a day at Barnum’s American Museum with his two nephews. Walking through the museum, they see stuffed birds, giraffes, a mechanical panorama of the Vue du Pont Neuf a Paris, more birds, portraits of various figures, wax tableaux that include a family of those intolerant (a family that drinks), the last supper, a copy of the death warrant of our savior, the nativity, automatons (the older version of today's robots), bears, a badger, large beasts such as moose and elk, gazelles, foxes, and other animals. Next they see the miniature carriage of General Tom Thumb, various tropical fish, monkeys, turtles, a mummy, a sea lion and more preserved things, specimens from various world cultures, and finally the lecture room, which was more like a concert hall. Included are brief biographies about Charles S. Stratton, better known by his stage name "General Tom Thumb," and a memoir of P. T. Barnum, with a description and illustration of his "oriental villa" in Bridgeport, called Iranistan. The guide ends with the conclusion that the visitors need more trips to the museum to truly see all of it, and the advice to be industrious and ambitious as P. T. Barnum.
This booklet is an example of Barnum’s desire to appeal to family audiences, which was unusual for the time. The museum was located at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street from December 1841 to July 1865 when it was destroyed by a fire. Barnum re-opened nearby at 539-541 Broadway but that building too was destroyed by a fire in March 1868. Barnum thereafter became involved in circus enterprises, but always included a musuem component in his circus attractions.
Booklet illustrations include: man-o war bird, pelican, and flamingo (page 4); giraffe and antelope (page 4); birds of paradise (page 5); the intolerant family (page 6); last supper (page 6); the Death Warrant of our Lord (page 7); the nativity (page 7); bears (page 8); the gou (page 8); zebra and lion (page 9); elephant, tiger, and rhino (page 10); General Tom Thumb's carriage (page 11); various fish (page 11); more fish (page 12); monkeys (page 13); turtles (page 13); a mummy in coffin (page 14); a sea lion (page 14); a fish fossil (page 15); a nautilus (page 15); snakes (page 16); various artifacts (page 16); birds (page 17); various artifacts (page 17); orangutang (page 18); marsupial (page 18); ostrich (page 19); seashells (page 19); Charles S. Stratton (page 20); Robert Hales and Eliza Simpson, the Quaker Giant and Giantess (page 21); Iranistan (page 23).
T 2014.023.001