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152 TomThumb’sAmerica  lmost twenty years after their wedding, Charles and Lavinia took the train down to Connecticut to appear at Peck’s Opera House. The New Haven Register invited the couple to visit their offices to inspect the brand new automated printing press. Charles accepted, showing up dressed in a dark suit and silk hat, and wearing a large watch chain, diamond stud, and prominent finger ring. Despite his expensive outfit, he dove into the printing press’s workings, asking many questions about it and studying the process with care. But he was fascinated by more than the machine itself. “Well,” he said, “I have traveled over Europe but no where can you see the progress of this age so ingeniously shown as in America. The superiority of the new over the old country is shown in your press rooms, in your railroad carriages, and in fact in every branch of industry . . . no place suits me as well as America.”1 It was the passionate endorsement of a man who knew what he was talking about. Beginning in November 1865, Charles began a series of tours around the reunified United States, setting out first for the American South, having missed going there during the Civil War. The quartet was so popular now that they only needed to announce their arrival in a town, and venues were packed. Nevertheless, he continued to use the promotional method of riding into town in his tiny carriage drawn by ponies. It never failed to attract a crowd and start a word-­of-­mouth craze amongst the onlookers, whether in New Orleans or Nebraska.2 Fans that had seen him as children now brought their own kids to the shows. And the kids were amazed to see these celebrities whose cabinet card photos already filled the family album. These whirlwind tours were made possible by the new railways, which allowed Charles to make more money much faster than in the old days by horse and carriage. Of course, he had been using the rails to some extent since the 1840s, but by the 1860s the network had improved twentyfold. Back in 1850 most of the tracks remained in the A 153 T o m T h u m b ’ s A m e r i c a Mid-­ Atlantic states and New England, which is no doubt why Charles toured there so much during those years. However, throughout that decade, the tracks marched across the Appalachian Mountains, reaching as far as Iowa by 1856. The Midwest experienced the most growth, while the South lagged far behind.3 The railroads had also improved in quality since those early days when passengers were squeezed onto uncomfortable benches, breathing in the freezing air of winter or inhaling bugs in the summer. “Smash-­ ups” were frequent, and delays were inevitable. The menu available at railroad stations was abominable, with offerings limited to such fare as bitter coffee, dry ham, and limed eggs. By the 1850s, things had improved somewhat with “butchers” jumping on at one stop, selling questionable sandwiches, and getting off at the next. But the heavy usage during the Civil War had changed the quality of travel and expanded the network. Many trains featured a dining car with a kitchen and bar, and you could buy fresh oysters and ice cream at the station eating houses. Some cars even sported cushions on the seats. The famous Pullman sleeping car arrived in 1865, followed by the hotel car two years later, and for passengers as rich as the Strattons, this provided almost all the comforts of home.4 They also brought a “knock-­ down” teakwood table and dining chairs on their travels, so they could eat without struggling to reach the plates and utensils.5 The troupe went as far as the rails took them, and beyond. On a foray into Texas they got off the train and continued by carriage to San Antonio, which had to be reached by crossing two muddy “creeks” in a bumpy fourteen-­ hour drive. A huge alligator almost swallowed their pianist on the second fording when he poked the huge “log” with a stick. In San Antonio their audiences included many people who spoke only Spanish, but as they would find out soon enough, the language barrier did not discourage attendance.6 And while much of the South was impoverished after the Civil War, this did not seem to stop fans from paying for tickets to Tom Thumb’s shows. The...

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