There's a Sucker Born... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Phineas Taylor

Phineas Taylor Barnum was born on July 5, 1810, in Bethel, Connecticut. In his early years, Barnum became a small-time business owner and newspaper writer. Phineas T. Barnum learned during these formative years that many customers were gullible; it would be easy to deceive them with elaborate stories and false claims. In 1834, Barnum sold his store and moved to New York City.

Answer: American

In 1841, P.T. Barnum purchased Scudder's American Museum, located on Broadway and Ann Street in Manhattan. He promptly renamed it "Barnum's American Museum." This museum became extremely popular for its side show exhibits which included various types of human "freaks." Barnum's American Museum opened its doors in January 1842 and attracted millions of visitors over the next two decades. Barnum's American Museum burned to the ground in July 1865 in a spectacular fire; the cause of the blaze was never officially determined.

Answer: Tom Thumb

Charles Sherwood Stratton was born in 1838 and was dubbed "General Tom Thumb" by P.T. Barnum. Thumb grew to be just 2'1" tall as a boy, and Barnum made full use of Stratton's diminutive size by inventing stories about the dwarf's supposed connection with world leaders from the past. Most visitors believed Barnum's tales, and Tom Thumb became a superstar of the 1840s. Apparently, Barnum and Thumb got along well. From 1844 to 1845, Barnum took Mr. Thumb on a tour of Europe, where the two showmen met Queen Victoria of England. Stratton eventually grew to an adult stature of 3'4" tall. Thumb died in 1883.

Answer: The Swedish Nightingale

Singer Jenny Lind was named "The Swedish Nightingale" by the press because of her beautiful, sweet singing voice. Lind was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1821. As a young adult, she gained fame for her opera singing talent. Lind attracted the attention of England's Queen Victoria, and in 1847 Lind gave concerts in London, receiving rave reviews.

In 1850, P.T. Barnum arranged to have the Swedish Nightingale come to the USA for a series of concerts. Barnum reportedly paid Lind the unheard of sum of $1,000 a night for 150 nights in order to do a series of concerts in the U.S.

Many pundits thought that Barnum was insane, but Lind proved to be so popular that Barnum made a profit of some 400% on his investment. Lind died in 1887, but the legend of the Swedish Nightingale will live forever.

Answer: Crowd

"Every crowd has a silver lining." P.T. Barnum supposedly coined this phrase to reveal his philosophy about getting the public to spend their money. Barnum equated large crowds with earning a big paycheck; therefore, he packed his museum with interesting attractions. Barnum also organized dog shows, beauty contests, and theatrical productions- all with the idea of fattening up the bottom line. Barnum was indeed a master entrepreneur.

Answer: He was vehemently opposed to slavery.

P.T. Barnum was outspoken of slavery throughout the 1850s and 1860s. Barnum sponsored a stage adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in which the slaves were freed at the end of the play. Barnum also left the Democratic Party in order to protest what he felt was its pro-slavery sentiments. Barnum once stated that he believed the "human soul had no color or nationality."

Answer: Bridgeport

In 1875, P.T. Barnum became the mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut. This city is known as the Park City. Barnum worked hard as mayor; he improved the city's water supply and was instrumental in bringing gas lighting to Bridgeport's streets. When Barnum died in 1891, his body was buried in Bridgeport's Mountain Cemetery. Hartford is known as the Insurance City, New Haven is the Elm City, and Danbury is nicknamed the Hat City.

Answer: James Bailey

James A. Bailey (1847-1906) was a manager who helped to establish the Cooper and Bailey Circus in the 1870s. Bailey combined with P.T. Barnum circa 1881 to establish the Barnum & Bailey's Circus. One of the primary attractions of this circus was the acquisition in 1882 of Jumbo the Elephant, a huge beast from the French Sudan. Rutherford Hayes was the U.S. President from 1877 to 1881, and James O'Rourke was a Major League baseball player during the 1870s. David Hannum was a banker from upstate New York who became a rival to P.T. Barnum. Supposedly, Hannum coined the phrase "There's a sucker born every minute" to describe the many people who were visiting the "Cardiff Giant", a giant caveman who had been "excavated from the center of the earth" near Cardiff, New York. Hannum and Barnum locked horns over this lucrative hoax, and Barnum finally decided to excavate his own "giant caveman" in order to compete with Hannum's Cardiff scam.

Answer: Tufts University

Tufts University is located in Medford/Somerville, Massachusetts, near the city of Boston. Tufts was established in 1852. P.T. Barnum contributed a substantial amount of money to this college in its early years, and in 1884 his generosity helped to build the Barnum Museum of Natural History at Tufts.

This museum housed many of Barnum's animal specimens, including the stuffed hide of Jumbo the Elephant. Today the sports teams of Tufts University are known as the Jumbos.

Answer: An exit

An "egress" is a fancy word for an exit. When P.T. Barnum began to notice that visitors were spending too much time looking at his exhibits, he devised a clever way of charging a double admission: he tricked his customers. After viewing various exhibits and freak shows, visitors saw a sign on a door which read, "This way to the egress." When they opened the door, they found themselves outside on the street! Bewildered and angry, they were nonetheless forced to pay a second admission price in order to re-enter the museum/show.