Biography of General Tom Thumb, Sideshow Performer

General Tom Thumb (Charles Sherwood Stratton, January 4, 1838–July 15, 1883) was an unusually small man who, when promoted by the great showman Phineas T. Barnum, became a show business sensation. When Stratton was 5 years old, Barnum began exhibiting him as one of the wonders in his popular New York City museum. Fast Facts: Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton) Known For: Sideshow performer for P.T. BarnumBorn: January 4, 1838 in Bridgeport, ConnecticutParents: Sherwood Edwards Stratton and Cynthia ThompsonDied: July 15, 1883 in Middleboro, MassachusettsEducation: No formal education, although Barnum taught him to sing, dance, and performSpouse: Lavinia Warren (m. 1863)Children: Unknown. The couple traveled with a baby for a while, which may have been one of several rented from foundling hospitals, or their own who lived from 1869–1871. Early Life Tom Thumb was born Charles Sherwood Stratton on January 4, 1838, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the third of three children of carpenter Sherwood Edwards Stratton and his wife Cynthia Thompson, who worked as a local cleaning woman. His two sisters, Frances Jane and Mary Elizabeth, were of average height. Charles was born as a large baby but he simply stopped growing at the age of five months. His mother took him to a doctor, who couldnt figure out his condition—it was likely a pituitary gland issue, not known at the time. Until his teens, he stood only 25 inches tall and weighed 15 pounds. Stratton never had a formal education: at the age of 4, he was hired by P.T. Barnum, who taught him to sing and dance and do impressions of famous people. Barnums Discovery of Tom Thumb Visiting his home state of Connecticut on a cold November night in 1842, the great showman Phineas T. Barnum thought to track down an amazingly small child he had heard about. Barnum, who already employed several â€Å"giants† at his famed American Museum in New York City, recognized the value of young Stratton. The showman made a deal with the boy’s father, a local carpenter, to pay three dollars a week to exhibit young Charles in New York. He then hurried back to New York City to begin promoting his new discovery. A Sensation in New York City â€Å"They came to New York, Thanksgiving Day, December 8, 1842,† Barnum recalled in his memoirs. â€Å"And Mrs. Stratton was greatly surprised to see her son announced on my Museum bills as General Tom Thumb.† With his typical abandon, Barnum had stretched the truth. He took the name Tom Thumb from a character in English folklore. Hastily printed posters and handbills claimed that General Tom Thumb was 11 years old, and that he had been brought to America from Europe â€Å"at great expense.† Charlie Stratton and his mother moved into an apartment in the museum building, and Barnum began teaching the boy how to perform. Barnum recalled him as â€Å"an apt student with a great deal of native talent and a keen sense of the ludicrous.† Young Charlie Stratton seemed to love performing. The boy and Barnum forged a close friendship that lasted many years. General Tom Thumb’s shows were a sensation in New York City. The boy would appear onstage in various costumes, playing the part of Napoleon, a Scottish highlander, and other characters. Barnum himself would often appear onstage as a straight man while â€Å"The General† would crack jokes. Before long, Barnum was paying the Strattons $50 a week, an enormous salary for the 1840s. A Command Performance for Queen Victoria In January 1844, Barnum and General Tom Thumb sailed for England. With a letter of introduction from a friend, newspaper publisher Horace Greeley, Barnum met the American ambassador in London, Edward Everett. Barnum’s dream was for Queen Victoria to see General Tom Thumb. Barnum, of course, maximized the trip to London even before leaving New York. He advertised in the New York papers that General Tom Thumb would be having a limited number of farewell performances before setting sail on a packet ship to England. In London, a command performance was arranged. General Tom Thumb and Barnum were invited to visit Buckingham Palace and perform for the Queen and her family. Barnum recalled their reception: We were conducted through a long corridor to a broad flight of marble steps, which led to the Queen’s magnificent picture gallery, where Her Majesty and Prince Albert, the Duchess of Kent, and twenty or thirty of the nobility were awaiting our arrival. They were standing at the farther end of the room when the doors were thrown open, and the General walked in, looking like a wax doll gifted with the power of locomotion. Surprise and pleasure were depicted on the countenances of the royal circle at beholding this remarkable specimen of humanity so much smaller than they had evidently expected to find him. The General advanced with a firm step, and as he came within hailing distance made a very graceful bow, and exclaimed, â€Å"Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen!† A burst of laughter followed this salutation. The Queen then took him by the hand, led him about the gallery, and asked him many questions, the answers to which kept the party in an uninterrupted strain of merriment. According to Barnum, General Tom Thumb then performed his usual act, performing â€Å"songs, dances, and imitations.† As Barnum and â€Å"The General† were leaving, the Queen’s poodle suddenly attacked the diminutive performer. General Tom Thumb employed the formal walking stick he was carrying to fight off the dog, much to everyone’s amusement. The visit to Queen Victoria was perhaps the greatest publicity windfall of Barnums entire career. And it made General Tom Thumbs theater performances a huge hit in London. Barnum, impressed by the grand carriages he saw in London, had a miniature carriage built to take General Tom Thumb around the city. Londoners were enthralled. And the smashing success in London was followed by performances in other European capitals. Continued Success and a Celebrity Wedding General Tom Thumb continued performing, and in 1856 he embarked on a cross-country tour of America. A year later, along with Barnum, he again toured Europe. He began to grow again during his teens, but very slowly, and he eventually reached a height of three feet. In the early 1860s, General Tom Thumb met a small woman who was also in Barnum’s employ, Lavinia Warren, and the two became engaged. Barnum, of course, promoted their wedding, which was held on February 10, 1863, at Grace Church, an elegant Episcopal cathedral at the corner of Broadway and 10th Street in New York City. Scenes of General Tom Thumbs life, including his wedding. Getty Images   The wedding was the subject of an extensive article in The New York Times on February 11, 1863. Headlined â€Å"The Loving Liliputians,† the article noted that a stretch of Broadway for several blocks was â€Å"literally crowded, if not packed, with an eager and expectant populace.† Lines of policemen struggled to control the crowd. The account in The New York Times began by pointing out, in a humorous way, that the wedding had been the place to be: Those who did and those who did not attend the wedding of Gen. Tom Thumb and Queen Lavinia Warren composed the population of the Metropolis yesterday, and thenceforth religious and civil parties sink into comparative insignificance before this one arbitrating query of fate: Did you or did you not see Tom Thumb married? While it may seem absurd, the wedding was a very welcome diversion from news of the Civil War, which was going quite badly for the Union at that point. Harper’s Weekly featured an engraving of the married couple on its cover. President Lincolns Guest On their honeymoon trip, General Tom Thumb and Lavinia were guests of President Abraham Lincoln at the White House. And their performing career continued to great acclaim. In the late 1860s, the couple embarked on a three-year world tour that even included appearances in Australia. A genuine worldwide phenomenon, General Tom Thumb was wealthy and lived in a luxurious house in New York City. In a few of the couples performances, they held a baby said to have been their own child. Some scholars believe that Barnum simply rented a child from local foundling homes. Strattons obituary in The New York Times reported that they did have a child of normal size born in 1869, but that he or she died in 1871. Death The Strattons continued to perform until the 1880s, when they retired to Middleboro, Massachusetts where they had had a mansion built with custom-made small furniture. It was there, on July 15, 1883, that Charles Stratton, who had fascinated society as General Tom Thumb, died suddenly of a stroke at the age of 45. His wife, who remarried 10 years later, lived until 1919. It is suspected that both Stratton and his wife both had growth hormone deficiency (GHD), a condition related to the pituitary gland, but no medical diagnosis or treatment was possible during their lifetimes. Sources Hartzman, Marc. Tom Thumb. American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of Historys Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers, p 89–92. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2006.  Hawkins, Kathleen. The real Tom Thumb and the birth of celebrity. Ouch Blog, BBC News, November 25, 2014. Web.Lehman, Eric D. Becoming Tom Thumb: Charles Stratton, P.T. Barnum, and the Dawn of American Celebrity. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 2013.  Obituary for Tom Thumb. The New York Times, July 16, 1883.

The way in which others view us often shapes our identity...

The way in which others view us often shapes our identity` The way in which others perceive us can occasionally play a part in the shaping our identity. Our teenage years and our desire to belong both significantly impact who we are today. However, in saying that, it’s evident that as we mature the opinions and views of other become less relevant and are less likely to affect our sense of identity. Your identity defines who you are and is something influenced by various contributing factors. Teenage years are the time of a person’s life when they really start exploring their identity, who they are and who they want to be. During these years it can be hard trying to figure out who you are and where you belong, with the constant†¦show more content†¦As you mature the opinions and views of others are less likely to have any impact on the shaping of your identity. I believe this is because as you mature you have developed not only physically but emotionally and mentally as well, and as a result of this you are more comfortable in the person you are. As spoken about in Artificial Maturity by Tom Elmore, a mature person is unshaken by compliments or criticism, they can receive either without letting it ruin or sway them into a misleading view of themselves, they are confident in their identity. The perception another may have on a mature person rarely interferes with or changes how they see themselves. Our identity can sometimes be shaped by the way others see us. As we have seen, the way in which others view us can have some sort of impact on how we see ourselves. There are also other contributing factors such as our years of adolescence, the basic human need of wanting to belong and maturing; all play an equally important part in the forming of our character and who we are. On balance it appears that there is not only one influence in the shaping of our identity, but there are many. Written explanation I wish to convey to the reader that although the opinions of others can impact the shaping of our identities, there are other factors that also make a contribution. I chose these 3 topics to talk about because of their relevance to the topic ofShow MoreRelatedThe Development of Our Identities Essay1113 Words   |  5 PagesDevelopment of Our Identities  § Identities, as much as the perceptions of beauty, are in the eyes of the beholders. Shaped and molded by them too, we often have very little control over the construction of our identities. 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Managing Consumer Markets

Question: Explore the managing consumer markets. Answer: Activity 1: World Vision is characterized as an internationally acclaimed non-profit organization that specially focuses on supporting the children who are deprived of the basic human rights and are unable to live life to its fullest. The organization helps these children by collaborating and cooperating with the policy makers and people at both the regional level as well as the international level. The organization raises fund from its stakeholders and thereby uses the fund for the wellbeing of the children. The World Vision also uses certain marketing strategies for these fundraising activities (Samiee et al., 2015). An efficient and effective marketing strategy is essential for any nonprofit organization for the fundraising activities and dealing with the local government. A proper marketing strategy will also help the organization to increase its popularity. World Vision has achieved its acclamation by implementing well-structured marketing strategy. This also helps an organization to attrac t and employ the appropriate people in the appropriate position. From the various previous reports of the organization it is quite evident that it implements marketing strategies. Billabong website provides a broader overview and information framework about the surfing, skiing and skating industries, however, there is a lack of information about the products of Billabong. This may have a twofold aspect, the customers who are willing to buy only the products of Billabong will be faced with difficulties as there are not much information posted on the website about these products. On the other hand, the customers who are willing to participate in the adventure sports activities such as, skating, skiing and surfing will always find the website to be useful. These people will always be willing to buy equipment and merchandise for these activities. Hence, it can be said that Billabong is using a specific technique for addressing its target market. It may be the case that it only targets those people who are actively in the activities of adventure sports. This ensures they will definitely get a steady flow of customers in search of their products as these adventure s ports takes place almost in all the seasons in the year (Giacalone Rosenfeld, 2013). However, the company could have also designed its website in an effective manner that would help the organization to cater the needs of other people who are only interested in the products of Billabong. This will in turn increase the entire customer base of the organization and thereby help it to raise revenue. Activity 2: In order to review the latest news of the company we are aware of the facts that, Nestle has announced drastic news that states that the Australian parents are not well aware about teaching their kids about healthy eating. A majority of parents in Australia think that they are well known about the providing balanced food to their children. However, a study conducted by Nestle revealed that the understanding of these parents is not enough. Very recently on 20th June 2016, Nestle Australia warmly welcomed the decision stating that additional funding will be provided to the Role Models and the Leader Girls Academy program will be extended up to secondary level. Nestle has also observed the exceptionally brilliant outcome that are responsible for changing the lives of the indigenous girls as they were provided the necessary supports for completing their education. Moreover, Nestle Australia has also arranged a discussion session with the civil society organizations and governments of the other countries regarding the present situation in Australia. It decided to invest in the Africa for the purpose of sustainable development. These campaigns of the company are generally aimed at the parents who are in the process of upbringing their children. The company mainly produces baby foods and other instant foods there are other products as well. These promotional and campaigning activities will definitely attract the attention of the target market of the company. Moreover, the company is also within an activity of aggressive advertising, these advertising activities of the company will also help it to attract a significantly large number of potential customers (Priem et al., 2013). As the company has not limited its production in the baby food and instant food it is also in the production of some medicinal products. The production of these medicinal products such as health drink is also widening the range of market which the company is trying tom target. Therefore it can be said that the targeting strategy of the company is well-efficient and will definitely succeed. This is because the company is appropriately targeting the parents by campaigning and other promotional activities and on the other hand for the other products the adults in the markets is addressed by active advertising (Mller Parvinen, 2015). Moreover, the company also has marketing and sales employees who are rigorously studying the market situation and reconstructing their strategies for catering the needs of the customers effectively. Reference List: Giacalone, R. A., Rosenfeld, P. (2013).Impression management in the organization. Psychology Press. Mller, K., Parvinen, P. (2015). An impact-oriented implementation approach in business marketing research: Introduction to the Special Issue on Implementing Strategies and Theories of B2B Marketing and Sales Management.Industrial Marketing Management,45, 3-11. Priem, R. L., Butler, J. E., Li, S. (2013). Toward reimagining strategy research: retrospection and prospection on the 2011 AMR decade award article.Academy of Management Review,38(4), 471-489. Samiee, S., Chabowski, B. R., Hult, G. T. M. (2015). International Relationship Marketing: Intellectual Foundations and Avenues for Further Research.Journal of International Marketing,23(4), 1-21.

The Difference Between Right and Wrong free essay sample

A paper discussing societys ability to discern between right and wrong. A discussion of the difference between right and wrong and whether society knows how to discern between the two. The author discusses the case of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson who abducted and killed a two year old boy as well as various cases and scenarios to explain the debate. In February 1993, in Liverpool, England, two ten year old boys abducted two year old James Bulger and murdered him. In a case which shocked the whole country, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were found guilty of murder, and were sentenced to imprisonment, at the age of ten. Since then, there has been numerous moral and ethical arguments put forward, contesting the justifiability of their sentence. The trial of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson was held before an adult jury. Witnesses were called, including Irene Slack, the headmistress of the school where the boys attended. We will write a custom essay sample on The Difference Between Right and Wrong or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In her evidence she said that from the age children enter school, they have a sense of right and wrong.