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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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