Showmanship - The Story Of Phineas T Barnum

Originally Aired: September 30, 1936 Cavalcade of America #51, "Showmanship - The Story Of Phineas T Barnum," chronicles the early career of America's most famous showman as he transforms from a struggling Connecticut grocery store owner into an entertainment pioneer. When Phineas announces to his exasperated wife Charity that he's sold their store to purchase a 160-year-old enslaved woman named Joyce Heth, allegedly George Washington's nursemaid, she's horrified by his recklessness. Yet Barnum's instincts prove sound as crowds flock to see the curiosity, earning him $1,500 weekly until public interest wanes. The episode follows Barnum through spectacular successes and devastating failures. When attendance drops, he writes an anonymous letter to newspapers claiming Joyce Heth isn't even human, sparking controversy that packs his exhibition hall again. After being swindled and losing everything in subsequent ventures, a penniless but undaunted Barnum approaches real estate man Francis W. Olmstead with an audacious proposal: to buy Scudder's failing American Museum collection with no money down, offering only his word as security and his revolutionary ideas about publicity, brass bands, and showmanship as collateral for future success.