In the 19th century there were few Americans more famous than P.T Barnum. Long before he founded the circus that would bear his name, Barnum made a name for himself by pulling off elaborate hoaxes. Barnum’s so-called “humbugs” walked the line between charming practical jokes and cynical frauds. How much should we believe about a man who lied for a living? Tune in and find out how fake news, George Washington’s wet nurse, clockwork robots, an someone named “zip the pinhead” all play a role in the story.

Works Cited

Barnum, P. T., and Waldo R. Browne. Barnum’s Own Story: The Autobiography of P.T. Barnum. New York: Viking, 1927. Print.

Barnum, P. T. Art of Money Getting, Or, Golden Rules for Making Money. Bedford, MA: Applewood, 2000. Print.

Barnum, P. T. The Humbugs of the World. Detroit: Singing Tree, 1970. Print.

Bogdan, Robert. Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit. Chicago: U of Chicago, 1988. Print.

Fleming, Candace, and Ray Fenwick. The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P.T. Barnum. New York: Schwartz & Wade, 2009. Print.

Gourley, Catherine. Media Wizards: A Behind-the-scene Look at Media Manipulations. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century, 1999. Print.

Kunhardt, Philip B., and Peter W. Kunhardt. P.T. Barnum: America’s Greatest Showman. New York: Knopf, 1995. Print.

Reiss, Benjamin. The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum’s America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2001. Print.

Saxon, A. H. P.T. Barnum: The Legend and the Man. New York: Columbia UP, 1989. Print.