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P. T. Barnum Accomplishments

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Phineas Taylor Barnum, better known as P.T. Barnum, was the man who founded the “Greatest Show on Earth.” Barnum was a shrewd businessman who helped shape American entertainment. He also provided a way for people who were generally shunned by society to make a living.

On January 1, 1842, Barnum opened the American Museum on the lower Broadway in New York City. In the beginning, Barnum’s used the museum to showcase the fine arts, including literature, paintings, and music. Initially, Barnum’s museum wasn’t well received by the public. At this time in history, entertainment was confined to whatever was available to the person in their own home and sometimes with neighbors. Entertainment was seen as a private thing for people to enjoy on …show more content…
Barnum realized that in order to stay on top in the world of entertainment, he needed to bring new attractions to his circus or reinvent an act to make it appear new. He realized that people would attend his circus again and again if they knew they would see both the familiar and the novel. This is the same premise on which movies and such are based today. Barnum was also an opportunist who could turn any situation into profit. For example, Barnum had an act that he termed the “oldest woman on earth”. She had been a slave that Barnum bought for his circus. Barnum claimed that the woman was over 100 years old. When she died, Barnum sold tickets to her autopsy to prove that she was over 100 years old. He sold tickets for a dollar each and sold 15,000 tickets to it.

P. T. Barnum impacted American society in many ways. He was among the first to include people who were “different” into mainstream society and to give them a job. He also changed what people found to be entertaining and provided it at a reasonable price. He was an inventive man who did not stop because something happened; he continued to create something fun for the

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