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2. Barnum and the Museum Revolution, 1841-187 0 Luck i s in n o sens e the foundatio n o f my fortune; fro m th e begin ning o f m y career I planne d an d worked fo r m y success . To be sure , my scheme s ofte n amaze d m e with th e affluenc e o f their results . ~ P . T . Barnum Phineas Taylo r Barnu m wa s th e quintessentia l showman ; b y organizin g individual amusement s an d placin g the m withi n th e confine s o f a singl e environment, h e afforde d hour s o f pleasur e t o thos e wit h littl e i n thei r pocketbooks. Barnu m adopte d th e earl y nineteenth-century concep t o f th e proprietary museu m an d transforme d i t into th e dim e museum . Some migh t argu e tha t Barnum' s America n Museu m functione d chiefl y as a place of popular education—hi s natura l history exhibits were illuminat ing an d hi s guidebook s informative . B y virtu e o f hi s year s o f collectin g artifacts an d hi s globa l searche s fo r nove l freaks , Barnu m di d assembl e spectacular geological , ornithological , zoological , an d ethnographi c dis plays . Bu t i t wa s no t hi s underlyin g intentio n t o b e didactic . Although h e was a temperance advocat e an d a local civic leader, Barnum wa s fundamen tally a showma n wh o devote d hi s lif e no t t o scientifi c accurac y bu t t o entertainment. Barnum's museu m guidebook s wer e publishe d chiefl y a s map s o f hi s museum, a s popula r diversion , an d fo r th e purpose s o f publicity . Barnu m wanted hi s museum t o b e respectable , an d h e attempte d t o rejec t anythin g that migh t b e repugnan t t o a conservativ e Victoria n audience , bu t hi s "operational aesthetic, " t o borro w a phrase coine d b y Neil Harris , was no t to instruc t bu t t o amuse. 1 Eve n thoug h th e melodrama s performe d i n hi s lecture roo m coul d b e define d a s moral, virtuous , an d somewha t didactic , the theater' s sloga n was "W e Stud y t o Please, " not "W e Stud y t o Teach." 2 Barnum himsel f claimed tha t his museum wa s "educational, " bu t thi s was a buzzword designe d t o attrac t busines s fro m a variety o f socia l classe s an d to placat e purita n consciences . Barnu m wrot e i n his autobiograph y tha t h e 23 B A R N U M A N D TH E M U S E U M R E V O L U T I O N , 1 8 4 1 - 1 8 7 0 wanted his patrons to "think , talk and wonder," and he used showmanshi p to achieve this goal.3 • • • New Yor k City , wit h it s prosperou s shipping , railroad , an d rea l estat e industries, soo n becam e th e dominan t industria l cente r o f the Northeast . This expanding commercial city provided many job opportunities for bot h the workin g clas s and th e moder n middl e class . By 1834 , New York ha d over a quarter o f a million residents ; by 185 0 th e figure hovere d aroun d one million. Nearly 60 percent of these residents had been born elsewhere, either i n Americ a o r Europe. 4 Man y midcentur y Ne w Yorker s live d i n tenements o r boardinghouses becaus e they could not affor d t o either ow n or ren t homes . Withou t th e pleasure s o f th e parlo r entertainment s an d family gathering s o f th e traditiona l home , boarder s wer e force d t o see k amusement in...

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