Themes in American History

What the lost museum tells about entertainment is the rapid increase of many forms of social activities during the 1900’s that has shaped and still continues to impact NYC.  After the American Revolution, people again settled down in NYC and sought out forms of amusement and there was one particular person who provided it.  P. T. Barnun was a businessman that was a prominent figure that molded the entertainment industry by providing many venues such as a museum, circus, aquariums, and musical theathers. 

As I continued to explore the museum, I could not help but focus on the social issues on display in the lecture room of the museum, that involved race and immigration.  During the 1900’s there seems to be tension between races and the growing concern of the immigrant population. 

P. T. Barnum’s hoaxes and his forms of entertainment still impacts NYC and all of the US.  What amazes me is that it has contined to evolve.

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Barnum was an American showman, businessman and entertainer during the nineteenth century. The lost museum website has been developed; since the museum burned to the ground. The museum was affordable and family oriented; its attractions made it a combination  zoo, museum, lecture hall, wax museum and theater, that was, at the same time a central site in the development of the American popular culture. My tour into the museum has been a thrilling one; one of the most famous was General Tom Thumb a 25- inch tall dwarf. Stratton is the real name of General Tom Thumb, Barnum made him nationally and internationally famous. From a very early age he taught him to sing and dance so that he shines in the show business. Barnum also accompanied him to Europe to perform in the audience, and General Tom Thumb also gained popularity as an international star after the tour.

            New York nineteenth century society unites historians, scholars, artists, philosophers and dreamers. Members volunteer their time and talents to help one another create public events, workshops, lectures, exhibitions etc.

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P.T Barnum’s Museum was burned down in 1865 and “The Lost Museum” became a website that gave people the chance to discover what the museum was all about. If your not much of a online computer person, you would have trouble navigating through the website.

I felt like I was Sherlock Holmes trying to solve a mystery. There was much to explore in this virtual museum. This museum was a place where families could go for entertainment. The way the museum attracted people was through a combination of having a zoo, lecture hall, wax museum, theater and a freak show. During this time, it was vital development of American popular culture. What stood out to me was the image below. It is the original “FeJee Mermaid” (a monkey’s head and torso combine with half of a fish) and it was originally brought in the Museum in 1842. It’s purpose was to be attractive and appealing to Americans’ fascination.

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Barnum’s museum served an important function by allowing the middle class to develop a sense of their own daily life in contrast to that of the “freak”, keeping New York gazing in wonder for decades. Under the disguise of entertainment and education the Barnum Museum became the foremost house of spectacle of popular culture in the 19^th century. Barnum’s combination of the freak show along with educational displays such as animals and a aquarium (which unfortunately couldn’t see because it was closed L ) and morality plays (located on the third floor which also showed tips about etiquette and fire prevention/solution) ensured success for his museum because it created a spectacular space in which entertainment, wonder, and education appeared together in one place. Unfortunately not everything looks as good as it sounds. Some people were complaining about the conditions in which the animals were living in describing how cruel it was. The complaint letter stated that the animals did not have any ventilation and that was also very dangerous to the visitors if a fire may occur.

Looking around the Lost Museum’s website I found a picture of a white lady with afro hair. I clicked in the archive’s link and found out something really interesting. That woman in the picture was Zalumma Agra, one of Barnum’s Circassian Beauties. Many Circassian women, prized for their beauty, were sold into slavery. The primary requirement for women who played Circassians was that they be attractive and it seems, according to the website, that Zalumma was not really a circassian woman because her English was fluent and she didn’t know almost anything about that place. So it could have been any local girl with just teased hair paid to pose as a “harem refugee”. However, what it was most intriguing to me was that these women were looked as “examples of racial purity”.

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My visit to the website of the Lost Museum was like a walk through a carnival maze with eyes closed and hands reaching forward. I suppose it is appropriate for P.T. Barnum’s museum. After opening the home page, I clicked “explore the museum”, music blaring through my speakers, Flash animation rotating images of what the museum floor plan popped up. I clicked on each image, as my cursor turned into a question mark. I click the question mark and VOILA! Another page opens which provides further information on the image. It took me quite some time to navigate the website and find particular information. I would have much more appreciated a simpler table of content and clearer instructions. There is literally a web-page dedicated to how to use the website, and that’s never good. What I did learn from the Barnum museum, is the elaborate forms of entertainment that were available in the 19th century NYC. This was a time before movies were even invented, however PT Barnum found ways to use technology and stagecraft to entertain people. These included “lantern slide shows, cosmoramas, and panoramas that presented images in new ways.” As seen in this image- in his program of amusements, Barnum listed a company of dwarfs, a mammoth fat infant, a beautiful circassian girl and glass blowers.

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