All right … it’s exactly two months to Sept. 18, the official publication date for Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Connecticut History—available for pre-order from Amazon, in case you’ve forgotten—you can expect me to try and ratchet up the hype machine!
Of course, those of you who know me know that I am absolutely terrible at promoting myself, but I’m hoping to be better at it by the time this book is actually out. Heck, I may even be able to acknowledge that I am a “published author” by then.
In the meantime, I thought I’d put another little snippet out there for you to try, this time an excerpt from Chapter 9, entitled “P.T. Barnum, Prince of the Humbugs.” (Again, as with the Benedict Arnold chapter, this was not the title I chose, but the one the publisher picked. My original was “P.T. Barnum, Prince of the Jerks,” for what it’s worth.) That’s ol’ P.T. peeking down from the top of the book, by the way—and my name in tiny print by the bottom.
In case you’re wondering, I stretched the definition of jerk a bit so I could include a wider range of stories that I thought people would enjoy reading. Barnum is definitely in the category of lovable jerk, a guy who enthusiastically embraced the huckster and con persona in the pursuit of entertainment—and fantastic wealth! His is one of the most amazing stories in Connecticut history, and one certainly worth including.
I picked this short section in honor of the fact that I’m traveling back to Cortland, New York, for a few days at the end of next week for New York Jets training camp. (I like to say that I’m going as an envoy of thejetsblog.com, but the truth is that I’m big football nerd.) A few years ago when I went, I made a side trip to the Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown specifically to see the Cardiff Giant, which was one of the biggest hoaxes of the 19th century.
Here’s Barnum’s part in the story, from an uncorrected proof of the book. Enjoy!
Barnum is credited for saying, “There’s a sucker born every minute” (a jerk-like proclamation if there ever was one), but as it turns out, the great showman may never have said it—although it may have been said about him and his unmatched ability to separate people from their money. In this particular instance, Barnum was actually hoaxing a bunch of hoaxers, and in turn, hoaxing everyone else.
In 1869, a remarkable discovery was made at the farm of William “Stub” Newell in upstate New York, near the small town of Cardiff. While having a well dug on his property, the farmer claimed that workers had unearthed the petrified remains of a human being who measured over ten feet in height! Dubbing the find the “Cardiff Giant,” Newell set up at tent and charged twenty-five cents a head to see the amazing sight. Thousands showed up, and before long, he was able to sell a portion of the rights for $30,000 to a group of investors led by David Hannum, who moved it to Syracuse so even more could witness the wonder.
As soon as Barnum heard about the fantastic artifact, he sent an agent to investigate. The agent reported the details—including the size of the crowds lining up to see it—to Barnum, who then immediately made an offer of $50,000 to Hannum for the rights to display it in his New York City museum. The offer was rejected.
Being a jerk—and recognizing a scam when he saw one—Barnum knew exactly what to do. He had his own ancient behemoth carved and put it on exhibition in his museum. He then told people that he had acquired the real Cardiff Giant, and that the other one up in Syracuse was a fake!
With the full fury of Barnum’s media might behind it, his Cardiff Giant was soon outdrawing the original one, which didn’t sit well with Hannum. Knowing that Barnum’s was phony, he allegedly made the enduring “sucker” comment about those going to see it.
Hannum then sued Barnum for libel for suggesting that his Syracuse Cardiff Giant was a fraud. When the case went before a judge, however, Stub Newell, the farmer who originally discovered it, was forced to admit under oath that he and a partner had created the figure, and then had planted it to be found by the unsuspecting farm hands. It had been a hoax from the start, thus the charges against Barnum were dismissed since he had been accurate in calling the other giant a fake.