Miniature black beaver top hat, worn by entertainer Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838-1883). Stratton, who was a little person, appeared under the stage name General Tom Thumb while working for Phineas T. Barnum's museum, circus, and other attractions. Stratton likely lived with the condition known today as pituitary dwarfism and may have never exceeded three feet, four inches in height. However, he lived a full and successful life despite facing prejudice and attempts to exploit him for his physical difference.
Barnum first contracted with Stratton's parents to take him on tour when he was only five years old, and continued to employ him throughout his life. On stage, Stratton would impersonate famous people like Napoleon Bonaparte and fictional mythological characters like Tom Thumb and Cupid, but also earned renown as an actor, singer, dancer, and comedian. Stratton was a popular entertainer and became wealthy and famous, meeting royalty, politicians, and other celebrities while on national and international tours. A testament to his fame, his 1863 marriage to fellow little person Lavinia Warren was widely covered in American newspapers and periodicals, and the reception drew a crowd of 10,000 attendees at the Metropolitan Hotel in New York City.
This hat was purportedly worn by Stratton while performing at Mishler's Academy of Music in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he presented it to John Christian Neidley, a stage manager. Neidley's grandson offered the hat to the museum.
This wooden figure representing the nation of Italy was part of a tableau set atop the Barnum and Bailey's Circus' Europe Parade Wagon. The wagon was one of four Continental Floats, used by Barnum and Bailey and modeled off architectural features found on the Prince Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens, London, UK. Each of the floats was intended to represent one of the four corners of the British Empire, the others being Africa, America and Asia.
The Continental Floats were used as part of Barnum and Bailey's Circus procession, in which the newly arrived Circus paraded through town in a spectacular fashion, generating excitement from spectators as it hauled equipment, animals and workers to it's performance site.
The Wagon was made by the Sebastian Wagon Company, and was first employed by the Circus around 1903.
Poster advertising the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey combined shows featuring performing elephants. The color lithograph depicts 10 elephants in foreground in pyramid formation, some crouched, some standing, a woman in sleeveless pink ballerina-length dress, standing on back of an elephant on right, several more elephants on hind legs in conga line in rear of the circus ring in background, and the ringmaster with whip, red jacket, and white jodhpurs in front center. Paper adhered to linen backing. 32 half-inch grommets around the edges.
In the late 1800s, debates erupted over whether the United States, like its European rivals, should establish and exploit foreign colonies. Meanwhile, circuses crisscrossed the country, tantalizing audiences with performances by the inhabitants of such lands—from elephants and other subdued wild animals to acrobatic troupes. Audiences thrilled at the exotic spectacles that served the world up on a platter—and seemed ripe for the taking.