FT268


They are neither man nor woman –
They are neither brute nor human –
They are Ghouls…
EA Poe

This year marks the 200th annivers­ary of the birth of Phineas Taylor Barnum, the controversial exemplar of 19th-century humbug gone wild. During his varied careers, “The World’s Greatest Showman” often revelled in the bizarre – from promoting Joice Heth, the 161-year-old (living!) nurse of baby George Washington, to exhibiting the mummified Feejee Mermaid. His blatant huckstering led some to peg him a shameless fraud. No matter, for as long as the public was talking about Barnum it amounted to free publicity.