page_title: Barnum's American Museum
section_title: Attractions
hierarchical_section_title: Barnum's American Museum / Attractions
caption_attribution_description: English: Jpg version of File:Lecture Room (theatre) of Barnum's American Museum, New York City.tiff
context_page_description: Barnum's American Museum was located at the corner of Broadway, Park Row, and Ann Street in what is now the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City, from 1841 to 1865. The museum was owned by famous showman P. T. Barnum, who purchased Scudder's American Museum in 1841. The museum offered both strange and educational attractions and performances.
context_section_description: The museum's collection included items collected throughout the world over a period of 25 years. The museum offered many attractions which grew to great fame. One of the most famous was General Tom Thumb a 25-inch tall dwarf who eventually garnered so much fame and success that Queen Victoria saw his performances twice and Abraham Lincoln personally congratulated Thumb on his wedding. Thumb wasn't the only physical oddity there; there was also the Fiji Mermaid and Josephine Boisdechene, who had a large beard, which had grown to the length of two inches when she was only eight years old. As if to supplement Tom Thumb, another famous attraction of the museum was William Henry Johnson, who was one of Barnum's longest-running attractions.
  Another one of the famous attractions at the museum were Chang and Eng, Siamese twins who were extremely argumentative, both with each other and Barnum himself.
  The museum also boasted an elegant theatre, called the "Lecture Room," and characterized in the popular Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion of 1853, "one of the most elegant and recherche halls of its class to be found anywhere," which would offer "every species of entertainment ... 'from grave to gay, from lively to severe,' ... [and] judiciously purged of every semblance of immorality." Impressively, these shows "[rivaled] or even [excelled] those of the neighboring theaters." It was possible for these shows to do this because: 1) these performances occurred in a space labeled a lecture hall, helping to distinguish them for those who would never have been near a theatre, and 2) "[Barnum] made the theatre into something it had rarely been before: a place of family entertainment, where men and women, adults and children, could intermingle safe in the knowledge that no indecencies would assault their senses either on stage or off."  Additionally, Barnum implemented several morality plays to be shown in his auditorium, many of which taught against the dangers of drinking. Werner points out the accessibility of these performances saying, "many persons who would not be seen in a theatre visited regularly the Museum Lecture Room - Barnum would never consent to calling it a theatre - where the moral dramas of 'Joseph and His Brethren,' 'Moses,' and 'The Drunkard' were performed." These were especially popular with women, as alcoholism was becoming rampant among working-class men. These plays were often seen as the height of family-friendly entertainment, because they taught good lessons that were appropriate for all ages.
  At one point, Barnum noticed that people were lingering too long at his exhibits. He posted signs indicating "This Way to the Egress". Not knowing that "Egress" was another word for "Exit", people followed the signs to what they assumed was a fascinating exhibit — and ended up outside.
  The five-story building also served great educational value. Aside from the different attractions, the Museum also promoted educational ends, including natural history in its menageries, aquarium (which featured a large white whale), and taxidermy exhibits; history in its paintings, wax figures, and memorabilia; and temperance reform and Shakespearean dramas in the above described "Lecture Room" or theater. It was also the first museum to put human oddities on display as an organized freak show. It was the American Museum that began the modern-day trend of exploiting the human body for the sake of mass entertainment.
  The museum itself housed a mix of exhibits; some were extremely reputable and historically or scientifically valuable, while others were less so. One of Barnum's most successful attractions was his large selection of living animals, which were a highlight for the visitors who had never seen exotic creatures. Sadly, the animals in Barnum's "happy family" were poorly treated at best and neglected at worst." Their standard of living is exemplified in the beluga whales he kept in a tank in the basement. The whales lived in a small 576 square foot tank, and when they frequently died Barnum "promptly set about procuring addit
caption: The Lecture Room of Barnum's American Museum, 1853.
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