Top hat worn by Charles Stratton, known as General Tom Thumb
date: label: date made
content: 1858 - 1880
name: label: Associated Name
content: Barnum, P. T.
label: wearer
content: Thumb, Tom
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Miniature black beaver top hat, worn by entertainer Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838-1883). Stratton, who was a little person, appeared under the stage name General Tom Thumb while working for Phineas T. Barnum's museum, circus, and other attractions. Stratton likely lived with the condition known today as pituitary dwarfism and may have never exceeded three feet, four inches in height. However, he lived a full and successful life despite facing prejudice and attempts to exploit him for his physical difference.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Barnum first contracted with Stratton's parents to take him on tour when he was only five years old, and continued to employ him throughout his life. On stage, Stratton would impersonate famous people like Napoleon Bonaparte and fictional mythological characters like Tom Thumb and Cupid, but also earned renown as an actor, singer, dancer, and comedian. Stratton was a popular entertainer and became wealthy and famous, meeting royalty, politicians, and other celebrities while on national and international tours. A testament to his fame, his 1863 marriage to fellow little person Lavinia Warren was widely covered in American newspapers and periodicals, and the reception drew a crowd of 10,000 attendees at the Metropolitan Hotel in New York City.
label: Description (Brief)
content: This hat was purportedly worn by Stratton while performing at Mishler's Academy of Music in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he presented it to John Christian Neidley, a stage manager. Neidley's grandson offered the hat to the museum.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Circus
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Popular Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Circus Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1985.0397.01
label: accession number
content: 1985.0397
label: catalog number
content: 1985.0397.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: hat
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cloth (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: leather (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: skin, beaver (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/2 in x 6 1/2 in x 5 in; 8.89 cm x 16.51 cm x 12.7 cm
label: Measurements
content: interior/opening: 3 1/4 in x 4 in; 8.255 cm x 10.16 cm