The Life of P.T. Barnum: Collins Classics

The American showman, businessman, and politician Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 - April 7, 1891) is best known for his promotion of well-known hoaxes and for co-founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871-2017) with James Anthony Bailey. Although he declared himself: "I am a showman by profession... and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me," he was also a novelist, publisher, and philanthropist. His personal objective, according to his detractors, was "to fill his own coffers with cash." The proverb "There's a sucker born every minute" is often attributed to him, despite the lack of any documentation to support this. Before relocating to New York City in 1834, Barnum launched a weekly newspaper in his early twenties and started a small business. He began his career in show business by joining "Barnum's Grand Scientific and Musical Theater," a variety troupe, and shortly after that, he bought Scudder's American Museum, which he renamed after himself. He promoted hoaxes and human oddities like the Fiji mermaid and General Tom Thumb using the museum as a platform.