Becoming Barnum: The Journey to Fame and Fortune Barnum Museum

In this episode of the "Becoming Barnum" podcast, we sit down with Adrienne Saint-Pierre, the Curator of the Barnum Museum's artifact collection and archive. Saint-Pierre explains what a "copybook" is and how the 750-page copybook of letters in the museum's collection offers a unique window into the life and mind of P.T. Barnum. She discusses what listeners can expect to learn about Barnum throughout the course of the podcast and the insights that his letters provide into his personal and professional life. Tune in to hear Saint-Pierre's expert perspective and get a preview of the fascinating journey ahead.

Barnum’s travels in France had influenced his vision for his beloved Bridgeport; this was clearly revealed by what he chose to tell the Atlas readers. Barnum adopted Bridgeport, Connecticut, as his hometown in 1847, and after that, until he died in 1891, he had a great deal to do with its development, even serving as Mayor for a term.

Mr. Barnum was infuriated by the demands of the Hospice Commissioners who expected a far larger percentage of the gross receipts than Barnum felt reasonable.

Barnum’s homesickness coincided with and perhaps fueled his desire to begin building a country home for his family. Barnum writes about a future grand home in Bridgeport, Iranistan, just in the early planning stage.

In this episode, we delve into a new “batch” of the letters P. T. Barnum wrote while in France and sent back to his family and business associates in America. These letters have a different tone from the letters written in preceding weeks.

P. T. Barnum’s famous protegee Charles Stratton, known to the world as Gen. Tom Thumb, was quite a young child when he was first introduced to European audiences in the mid-1840s. Though he was 5, 6, and 7 over the three-year tour, Barnum billed him as five or six years older to make his diminutive stature seem all the more impressive.