#46 Barnum's American Museum

The Bowery Boys: New York City History

Tom Meyers

Society & Culture, History, Documentary, Places & Travel

4.8 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 December 2008

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You know PT Barnum from his circus, but he was bringing the freakshow to New York long before then. Come take a tour with us of the craziest museum to ever hit New York City. Co-starring the Fejee Mermaid, the Witch of Staten Island, Tom Thumb, the original Siamese twins, some unfortunate whales, and the strange and mortally offensive What IS It? www.boweryboyspodcast.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

Transcript

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0:00.0	Episode 46 of The Bowery Boys, PT Barnum's American Museum.
0:05.5	Hey, it's The Bowery Boys!
0:07.0	Hey!
0:09.0	The Bowery Boys is brought to you by urochipo.com.
0:13.0	Urochipo editors personally visit and review the best budget hotels in Europe.
0:18.0	Now with hotels in New York City, on the web at urochipo.com.
0:22.0	Hello there and welcome to The Bowery Boys. My name is Greg Young.
0:25.0	And I'm Tom Myers.
0:26.0	And we are very glad to be back.
0:28.0	We have a very special topic.
0:30.0	It's a very special episode.
0:32.0	It is, but this place is no longer here, so don't go looking for it on your maps.
0:36.0	The Barnum American Museum, however, was the premier social entertainment spot of New York City in the 19th century.
0:43.0	And believe it or not, probably the most famous museum in the US in the 19th century America.
0:49.0	A key cultural institution, but it was also a place for the upper class to go.
0:54.0	A place for the lowbrow to go.
0:56.0	It was all sorts of different things going on.
0:58.0	So I'm then offending our own sense of decency now.
1:02.0	For instance, what we would call, quote, unquote, freaks on display.
1:07.0	And you know, it's funny because I think most people think circus when they hear the name Barnum.
1:12.0	Sure.
1:13.0	You guys are in Barnum and Bailey.
	...

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