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This is a scare original illustrated broadsideadvertising an appearance by “Gen. Tom Thumb, The World-Renowned American Manin Miniature”. This copy advertises his show at the Odd Fellow’s Hall inZanesvill, OH.The broadside printed recto only on a piece of thin, fragilepaper is in very good plus condition with only some light overall wrinkling, ashallow loss to the right side (appears to be a result of the originaltrimming), a short closed tear to the lower left edge, and some thinness to thepaper to the right of the illustration where there are two small holes. Abetter copy of this fragile, ephemeral object is unlikely. We find no copies in WorldCat or COPAC. Thisbroadside is housed in a custom made cloth folder with asatin tie.
The text reads in part, “This is the same remarkable LITTLEMAN who was first introduced to the public by P.T. BARNUM, Esq., at hisAmerican Museum, New York, on the 8th day of December, 1842, andwho, after receiving the adulations of thousand of ladies and gentlemen in theUnited States, visited Europe, appeared on four different occasions before HerMajesty Queen Victoria and the Royal Family, as well as nearly all the CrownedHeads of Europe and Twenty Millions of Persons.”
The broadside is illustrated by a woodcut of the General’sminiature carriage and ponies.
Charles Sherwood Stratton, known by his stage name GeneralTom Thumb (1838-1883), is one of the most famous circus performers of all time.At six months of age Stratton suddenly stopped growing. His distant relative,Phineas T. Barnum, heard about him, taught the young boy to sing and dance, andtook the boy on his first American tour at the age of five. By the age of sixStratton was an international celebrity, meeting heads of state and headliningperformances at theatres and vaudeville houses throughout Europe and America.Stratton’s shows would bring him great wealth; he eventually owned a speciallyadapted house in New York and a steam yacht. At the time of the tour thisbroadside announced, Stratton was twenty-four years old, 2 feet 11 inches tall,and weighed 33 pounds. The following year his marriage to fellow little person,Lavinia Warren, became a major media sensation with numerous souvenirs sold anda visit to meet President Lincoln at the White House.
