Skip to main content

The incredible life of Tom Thumb, the dwarf of the Barnum circus

The Barnum circus worked for several decades and many people exhibited there who had some kind of physical peculiarity .In Lifestyle we have talked about the giant brothers in Texas , from Ponny Boy or Mademoiselle Grabrielle, among others.One had happy lives and others tremendously miserable, that of Tom Thumb, the dwarf of the Barnum circus , was incredible.Join us to meet her.

Tom Thumb, the dwarf of Barnum Circus

Charles Sherwood Straton was born in 1838 in Bridgeport , Connecticut.At birth he was a big baby already I weigh a little more than 4 kg.Its growth was completely normal until 6 months; at that time I stopped developing .When I turned 5 years , I was in good health, but was still measuring 64 cm .and weighing only 6'8 kg Someone, knowledgeable about the case, notified the circus businessman PTBarnum that he went to the Stratons' home and proposed that they let him educate Charles and make him an artist to his circus.He would be paid 3 dollars a week and the support of both his and his mother who would travel with him.The family accepted delighted.

The incredible life of Tom Thumb, the dwarf of the Barnum circus

PTBarnum educated and instructed him and made him a true artist who toured the country making representations in which he acted in the role of famous historical figures, sang and danced.He had a great success.As an artistic name I take that of General Tom Thumb .Thumb is the way as they call Pulgarcito in the Anglo-Saxon stories.

In 1844 they went on tour to Europe and their spectacle was so well received that they even invited him in several Sometimes at the Buckingham Palace , where Queen Victoria herself received it.This gave her a small carriage pulled by two ponies and driven by a dwarf footman too.When I travel for others European countries, including Russia, were also called in the presence of the monarchs, which did not want to be less than their British counterpart.

The incredible life of Tom Thumb, the dwarf of the Barnum circus

Barnum raised a fortune with the performances of Tom Thumb and both got rich.I return to Bridgeport, buy a house, a yacht and a purebred horse farm.I was thinking of retiring definitively when a PTBarnum fire broke down and all his friends, i Tom Thumb included, they came to help him.I resume his show and got rich again.

The incredible life of Tom Thumb, the dwarf of the Barnum circus

Charles's case was extremely rare, it was perfectly proportioned, he had just stopped growing at 6 months.However, to everyone's surprise, in 1847 it began to grow again .Five years later it averaged 74 cm.and in 1856 it reached 82.6 cm. When he died , at 45 years old , average 1'02 m .and weighed 32 kg.

As for his personal life, the year 1862 was very important for him; became a mason and met the woman of his life .PTBarnum introduced him to the tiny and very elegant Lavinia Warren.Charles immediately fell in love with her and despite her mother's initial opposition that she believed she was a trick from Barnum to earn more money, they got married at the Grace Church in New York at a wedding where more than 2,000 guests attended .The newlyweds were received by Abraham Lincoln in the White House.

The incredible life of Tom Thumb, the dwarf of the Barnum circus

It was said that the couple had a daughter who had died a few months after birth, but it is possible that the baby never existed and that it was simply a trick from Barnum to increase his fame. In 1883 , while staying at a Milwaukee hotel, a fire was declared in which they were about to die .71 people died in the accident. The health of little Tom Thumb suffered severely from the smoke inhaled and months later he would die .More than 20,000 people attended the funeral.

It is not known exactly what the pathology was that affected Charles Straton, but this did not prevent him from arriving a complete and seemingly happy life.If you have been interested in this post, you may want to read:

–Francesco Lentini , the man with three legs and two genitals

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

15 facts of Japanese cuisine. Savor them!

Undoubtedly, the Japanese take their cuisine very seriously.The good news is: the rest of the world is serious about tasting its textures and flavors. If you are part of that portion of the world that loves food Japanese Here are some facts about Japanese cuisine you should know! 15 facts you should know about Japanese cuisine 1. 50% of the fish of the world are caught by the Japanese. 2.Concretely, for example, 80% of the tuna also 3.The famous guide Michellin has delivered most of its high star ratings at Japanese restaurants. 4.The typical Japanese food has rice, meat, vegetables and fish. It's very Complete! 5.Japanese pay special attention to the quality of their food and presentation, perhaps so that is the key to its gastronomic success. 6. This you will surely know: in Japanese cuisine there is a lot of raw food. In fact, despite the variations created in the world, the original sushi has always been served with raw fish. 7. Dried sardines and...

These are the most typical dreams and the reason why you have them. How many have you experienced?

Sonar, like sleeping, is part of our day-to-day life.Although sometimes we do not remember what we sound the night before, there are times when it seems to be the case of reality and not the product of our imagination.Psychology experts who have tried to decipher this, but have given up on the road.However, psychologist Ian Wallace knows what the most typical dreams are, since he has interpreted more than 150,000 over 30 years.In Lifestyle we tell you what it means each one. Of these more typical dreams, how many have you experienced? 1-Sound with falling down Without a doubt this is one of the dreams More typical.So much so, that he manages to wake us up immediately.Having this dream means that you are carrying a stressful situation in your life and need to relax. Wallace recommends that you start trusting yourself and let the water return to its channel. 2-Teeth falling This is surely one of the most distressing dreams that exist: See how your teeth are falling one by o...

Cold or flu, can you tell them apart? Take note and precautions!

Do you know how to tell if you have a cold or the flu? The two are very similar and usually when we get sick we don't know the differences and we can take medications that we don't really need.Take note and also know some ways to prevent viruses from spreading! Cold or flu, can you tell them apart? Take note and precautions! Both the cold and the flu are caused by a virus, but while the first is a infection of the airways, the flu is a acute illness caused by a virus, which can last for five to ten days, while the cold is usually exceeded a week, but can be caused by more than 200 different types of viruses. The cold usually brings symptoms such as the runny nose and congestion, eye irritation and sneezing .The symptoms are milder than those of the flu, which is usually accompanied by high fever, muscle and headache, a terrible feeling of tiredness and like the cold; nasal congestion and runny nose. How should the flu and cold be treated? If you have the f...

Do you know who the "Lamp Lady" was?

She was called the "Lady of the lamp", for being that tireless woman who did not neglect her work at any time, for being that nurse who loved her profession above all things, and that he attended to his wounded with utmost dedication, whatever time it was, always holding his lamp. His name? Florence Nightingale .We are sure you would love to know more about this woman who laid many of the current foundations of the nursing field. The legacy from Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale was a very advanced woman at the time.She had a restless and challenging spirit, full of cravings and dreams that went far beyond the iron standards.from traditional Victorian England.Just by looking at his gaze, we intuited his strength: Florence was not one of those who bore the calm of the home or that suffocating routine in which every young married woman fell, every girl educated only to be a wife and mother. Florence felt like a drifting ship, until she decided to react....

15 Curiosities about Pistachios | Super beneficial for your health!

Pistachios have become a snack or snack that can be easily found all over the world.It was planted for the first time in western and central Asia in the Bronze Age and from there it spread throughout the Mediterranean and also receives the name of alfoncigo or alfonsido.The one that we currently consume is the Pistacia Vera that should not be confused with other species of the Pistacia genus that are smaller, harder and have a strong turpentine flavor.Share us 10 Curiosities about Pistachios and you will know why they are super beneficial for your health! 15 Curiosities about Pistachios 1.The tree known as alfoncigo grows on average up to 10 meters and It has pinnate leaves of 5 leaflets that are between 10 and 20 cm long.When the cold comes the leaves come off. 2.The alfoncigo or pistachio is a desert flat and therefore has a high tolerance to saline soils.It also survives without problems in temperature.so that they oscillate between-10ºC in winter and 40ºC during summer, ye...

10 successful people who dropped out

When parents project the future of their children they usually draw a path that they believe will lead them directly to success : from nursery to school and from institute to university .A title under the arm seems to be the catapult that will launch you to victory.However, if we take a look at the Olympus of the celebrities , many of them did not end your training .We will meet 10 Successful people who dropped out of school 10 Successful people who dropped out of school 1.Mark Zuckerberg Zuckerberg, joined the Harvard University in 2003 , after several problems with the university's administrative council for computer programs, in 2004 he created Facebook for a year.leave the university, with the intention of and return, to devote himself to his incipient company. In 2005, he definitively abandons his studies , Facebook is already unstoppable. 2.Steven Jobs Apple's co-founder entered college in 1972 , was at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. At 6...

The necklace of flies in Egypt

The fly had a very special meaning in Egypt.Famous was the necklace that was adorned with gold flies in the tomb of Queen Ahhotep or Ahotep. Therefore, in this article we want to tell you what was the meaning of the fly in Egypt, why there were necklaces with gold flies and why Queen Ahhotep had one of them. The meaning of the fly in Egypt Fly in Ancient Egypt had a value prophylactic and protector .During the predinastia there were amulets of stone in form of a fly and in numerous ceramic paintings.Later, with the New Empire (1550-1070 BC), the Decoration of the Order of the Golden Fly or the Fly of the Pain appears.It was the greatest decoration that a pharaoh gave his bravest soldiers.They were usually made in gold although others were found in silver . Necklace-amulet of flies, approx.1539-1292 ACBrooklyn Museum. The meaning of the award was that, just as the fly itched to the animals and no matter how much it insists on moving it away, it does not depar...

The woman who managed to avoid a plane crash

Can you imagine getting on a plane and have someone say something is wrong? That something does not work, that the plane should not take off.Would you believe it? This is what happened in April of this year, in which a passenger prevented a plane from taking off .Do you dare to know the whole story? Mussie's intuition Weinfeld Mussie Weinfeld is a 22-year-old girl who was returning to New York, after spending her Easter vacation in Israel, on a plane Boeing 767 of a Russian airline. Mussie sat in her seat, next to a window when realized that something was wrong .We can call it intuition or simply a very sharp perception .But Mussie knew that the plane had a problem . Teasing and laughing Mussie's suspicions were not received in the best way.Her ear caught strange noises and so she transmitted it to the passengers who were at her side, but these snorted . Still insisting, Mussie stood up expressing her concern.When they tried to force her to sit down M...

Curiosities about albinism

Albinism. You may be thinking of those people right now, always striking to our eyes for their strangeness but at the same time, for their unique beauty.White skin, almost white hair and light eyes, sometimes even pink, as you know it is not an exclusive fact of human beings, it is also common among animals and even among the plant world. In fact, in Lifestyle we already talk to you on one occasion of the curious albino trees. Today we invite you to learn more about albinism.I am sure there is some information that sorprende. 1.¿ What is albinism? Absence of melanin. We could say that this is the fundamental fact.Albinism is a genetic condition that affects the pigmentation of skin and hair eyes, originated for a small mutation of the genes, resulting in the absence of melanin, but why does it arise? For us to be born with albinism, there must be a subtle chance: that both our father and our mother have this recessive gene. For those of us who are not albinos, the mel...

Stendhal syndrome: feel the art to the extreme

Do you feel dizzy, confused and even hallucinations when you enter a museum ? Are you unable to contain the tears when walking through a beautiful city ? Do you blur your vision because of the magnificence of a musical work ? Everyone, or almost everyone, has felt on some occasion how we get goosebumps before art , whatever the genre, but when the symptoms are taken to the extreme we are facing Stendhal syndrome and in Lifestyle we tell you what this psychosomatic disorder consists of. The city that gives it its name This curious disease is also known as Florence syndrome , since the discoverer of the condition, the French Henri-Marie Beyle –author who wrote under Stendhal's pseudonym-, first experienced the symptoms on her visit to the Basilica of the Holy Cross of the beautiful Italian city, at the beginning of the century XIX.In his work Naples and Florence: A trip from Milan to Reggio , he gathers his impressions: «He had reached that point of emotion in ...