P. T. Barnum, or Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810-1891), was an
entrepreneur and showman from Connecticut, known for mastering
the art of self-presentation. He helped to bring about a new era
in American culture at mid-century, as the bustling masculine
landscape of the theater gave way to more "respectable" middle-
class forms of entertainment, in line with emerging ideals of
sobriety, respectability, and domesticity. With a keen eye for
star creation and promotion, Barnum orchestrated the much-
anticipated arrival of soprano singer Jenny Lind in 1850. Unlike
most of Barnum's other gimmicks, Lind was real; she became the
first modern music superstar. In 1835, Barnum exhibited a slave
named Joice Heth, a woman supposedly 161 years old, whom he
claimed had been the nurse of George Washington. His "Feejee
Mermaid" of 1842 was a monkey skull attached to a fish,
measuring about three feet long. All such attractions came to be
stored at the American Museum, which charged a quarter for
admission. Barnum's was not the firs