P.T. Barnum, Thesis Statement and Main Idea
Welcome ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, to the great Barnum and Bailey Circus!! I was born July 5th, 1810 in Bethel, Connecticut. My parents named me Phineas Taylor Barnum, but most people just know me by my last name because of my museum and circus("P.T. Barnum.” Bio; “P.T. Barnum.” P.T. Barnum; Fleming 9). It all started during three main parts of my life, which are what led up to my museum known as the Barnum American Museum, the museum itself, and the Barnum and Bailey Circus("P.T. Barnum.” Bio; Fleming 32).
I was a natural salesman. My father died at 15, and my father owed a lot of money. To pay that off I took a job at my uncle’s shop(Fleming 16). Eventually I came to love money, but yet I was so lazy. Sometimes I would come up with ways to get money while avoiding work. One day I came up with an idea when a traveling salesman sold me some useless green bottles. Soon after, I put up a sign saying "MAGNIFICENT LOTTERY! OVER 550 PRIZES!! ONLY 1000 TICKETS!!” A ton of people bought the tickets and I made a fortune. And…show more content… I displayed things such as the Highland Mammoth Boys, Madame Josephine Clofulia, aka the bearded lady, and Chang and Eng, the Siamese twins(Fleming 41). In 1842, I met four-year-old Charles Sherwood Stratton; he was a super small child who weighed 15 pounds and stood 25 inches high. He was know as General Tom Thumb. I made lots of money for the museum touring with the child at shows("P.T. Barnum.” Bio; “P.T. Barnum.” P.T. Barnum; Fleming 64). I then went on to close my museum when it burnt down in 1868("P.T. Barnum.” Bio; Fleming 98), and then I eventually came up with P.T. Barnum's Grand Travelling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus after rehiring all the people that were in my museum("P.T. Barnum.” Bio; “P.T. Barnum.” P.T. Barnum; Fleming 102). I called it "The Greatest Show On