Barnum's American Museum was in a way an early introduction into the entertainment industry for P.T. Barnum. The museum was on the corner of Broadway and Ann Street and ran from 1841 till it burned down in 1865. He combined lowbrow and highbrow attractions in order to bring in a wider crowd of paying customers. The museum included such things as "sensational oddities" like giants, dwarfs, and albinos. It also included educational exhibits such as whales.
This relates to Whitman in a very direct sense as he at one point lived and worked in the area where the museum was housed. Surely he had visited at least once and would have seen the multitude of oddities, attractions, works of art, and educational platforms all stored in the one building. This must have interested him greatly as Whitman is all about mixing things up.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment