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46
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LAW 6
thousand
people
intothemuseum.Afew
days
laterthe
police
orderedhim
toceaseanddesistfromhiswalks——thecrowdswere
blocking
traffic.
The
bricklayingstopped
butthousandsof
New
Yorkershad
enteredthemu-
seum,
and
many
of
thosehadbecomeP.T.Barnumconverts.
Barnum
would
put
aband
ofmusicians
ona
balconyoverlooking
the
street,
beneatha
huge
banner
proclaiming
FREEMUSICFORTHEMILLIONS.
What
generosity,
NewYorkers
thought,
and
they
flockedtohearthefree
concerts.ButBarnumtook
pains
tohiretheworst
musicians
he
could
find,
andsoonafiertheband
struck
up,people
would
hurry
to
buy
ticketstothe
museum,
where
they
would
beoutofearshotoftheband’s
noise,
andof
the
booing
of
thecrowd.
OneofthefirstodditiesBarnumtouredaroundthe
countrywasjoice
Heth,
awomanheclaimedwas 161
years
old,
and
whomheadvertisedasa
slave who hadonce been
George Washington’s
nurse. After several
monthsthecrowds
began
to
dwindle,
soBarnumsentan
anonymous
letter
tothe
papers,
claiming
thatHethwasacleverfraud.
‘joice
Heath,”
he
wrote,
“isnotahuman
being
butan
automaton,
made
up
of
whalebone,
indie-rubber,
andnumberless
springs.”
Thosewhohadnotbotheredtosee
herbeforewere
immediately
curious,
andthosewhohad
already
seenher
paid
toseeher
again,
tofindoutwhether
the
rumorthatshewasarobot
wastrue.
In
1842,
Barnum
purchased
thecarcassofwhatwas
purported
tobea
mermaid.Thiscreatureresembleda
monkey
withthe
body
ofa
fish,
but
theheadand
body
were
perfectlyjoined—it
was
truly
awonder.
After
someresearchBarnumdiscoveredthatthecreaturehadbeen
expertlyput
togetherinjapan,
wherethehoaxhadcaused
quite
astir.
Henevertheless
planted
articlesin
newspapers
aroundthe
country
claiming
the
capture
ofamermaidinthe
Fiji
Islands.Healsosent
the
pa—
pers
woodcut
prints
of
paintingsshowing
mermaids.
By
thetimeheshowed
the
specimen
inhis
museum,
anationaldebatehadbeen
sparked
overthe
existence
of
these
mythical
creatures.AfewmonthsbeforeBatnum’scam~
paign,
noonehadcaredorevenknownabout
mermaids;
now
everyone
was
talking
aboutthemasif
they
werereal.Crowdsflockedin
recordnum»
berstoseethe
Fiji
Mermaid,
andtohear
debates
on
the
subject.
Afew
years
later,
Barnumtoured
Europe
withGeneralTom
Thumb.
a
five-year—old
dwarffrom Connecticutwhom Bamumclaimedwas an
elevenvyear-old
Englishboy,
andwhomhehadtrainedtodo
many
re-
markableacts.
During
thistourBamum’snameattractedsuchattention
that
Queen
Victoria,
that
paragon
of
sobriety,requested
a
private
audience
withhim
andhis
talenteddwarfat
Buckingham
Palace.The
English
press
may
haveridiculed
Bamum,
butVictoriawas
royally
entertained
by
him,
and
respected
himeverafter.
Interpretation
Barnum
understood
the fundamental truth about
attracting
attention:
Once
people’seyes
areon
you,you
havea
speciallegitimacy.
For
Barnum,