Figure 2

Citation

photographer Unknown Photographer Photographer. “Performers in Barnum's American Museum.” circa 1864-66. Greg French Collection. Mirror of Race, 25 Jan. 2021, mirrorofrace.bc.edu/items/show/119. Accessed 18 May 2024.

Title

Performers in Barnum's American Museum

Subject

Performers in Barnum's American Museum

Creator

photographer Unknown Photographer Photographer

Date

circa 1864-66

Type

Studio Portrait

Identifier

Figure 2

Rights Holder

Greg French Collection

Original Format

Carte de visite, albumen print

Factual Commentary

The 19th century fascination with permutations of the human body extended as much to people ordinarily categorized as white as to people outside that grouping. P. T. Barnum (1810-1891), the great American huckster and showman, reserved a whole section of his American Museum in New York City for performers of this type and sold souvenir photographs such as this to the public. See the back of the photograph for identification of the performers, although many of these are stage names. Revenue stamps, such as the one on the back of this image, were used from 1864 to 1866 to raise funds to pay for the Civil War.