Barnum's American Museum

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Barnum's American Museum in 1858

Barnum's American Museum was a popular museum in New York City in the 19th century that now only exists online. From 1841 to 1865, the Museum of Popular Culture was located on Broadway in Manhattan . The museum was run by the famous circus owner PT Barnum .

history

Phineas Taylor Barnum opened his museum as a family-friendly attraction in 1842. It was described as a combination of zoo , museum , wax museum , theater and sideshow , and had up to 15,000 spectators a day.

On July 13, 1865, the museum burned down completely in one of the most spectacular fires in New York history. Another museum opened by Barnum also mysteriously burned down in 1868. Only then did Barnum become a politician and ringmaster (and famous as such).

In 2000, the museum was reopened on the Internet by the City University of New York Graduate Center .

collection

Many of the museum's attractions became famous, including General Tom Thumb (a “dwarf”) and his future wife Lavinia Warren , the Fiji Mermaid (a “mermaid”) and Josephine Clofullia (a bearded woman). Chang and Eng , Siamese twins from the museum, were known to quarrel constantly. A wax figure of Daniel Lambert , the heaviest man in the world in his time, was exhibited with his original clothing.

In addition to amusing the public, the museum also served for advanced training, dealing with science, history and art.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Darice Bailer: The View From / Bridgeport; Museum Invites Visitors to Step Right Up . In: The New York Times . 2001-01-21. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
  2. ^ Tina Kelley: A Museum to Visit from an Armchair . In: The New York Times . 2000-07-01. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
  3. ^ Disastrous Fire . In: The New York Times . 1865-07-14. Retrieved on April 3, 2008.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / query.nytimes.com  
  4. ↑ CIty and Suburban News . In: The New York Times . 1885-10-26. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
  5. ↑ Michael Frank: Will Wonders Never Cease? . In: The New York Times . 2002-06-21. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
  6. ^ The Lost Museum .

Coordinates: 40 ° 42 ′ 40.3 ″  N , 74 ° 0 ′ 31 ″  W.