Memorabilia - P. T. Barnum Circus

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Memorabilia - P. T. Barnum Circus - Tom Thumb's Boots

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Memorabilia - P. T. Barnum Circus - Tom Thumb's Boots

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Sold Date: 12/05/2006
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Advertising

Own a Unique Piece of 19 th Century Americana !

This is a once in a lifetime buy!
A pair of boots actually owned and worn by

General Tom Thumb .

In 1842, P.T. Barnum discovered one of the world's smallest people, Charles Sherwood Stratton, the four year old son of a Bridgeport , Connecticut carpenter. Barnum took the child under his wing, and, by 1849, he had transformed him into General Tom Thumb, an eleven-year old phenomenon. Barnum trained the child to sing, dance, and imitate famous people, much to the delight of ever-larger audiences in the United States and especially in Europe . As Tom's manager, Barnum had him appear primarily at the American Museum in New York , but eventually featured him before audiences worldwide. As one of the world's best known and smallest midgets, he married and lived until his death in 1883 at the age of 46.

The boots are unique, and well worn. We do not know how many performances Tom gave in them before he got a new pair, but we do know that they were part of his costume. While over 100 years old, these remarkable pieces of Americana survived the burning of the American Museum and have been carefully stored, to prevent any further degradation. Each boot is 6 inches in height, 5 inches in length and 2 inches wide. Both boots have splits in the back due to Tom's putting them on and removing them (see photo) and they are scuffed to preserve them in the exact state in which Tom left them. Accompanying them is a letter from the City of New York to noted antiquarian J.A. Lloyd Hyde, who owned the entire uniform. All of the costume but the boots have been lost. The letter from the Museum of the City of New York was written on May 5, 1975 (see photo). The main content reads: "Some time ago you lent a Tom Thumb costume to the Theatre and Music Collection. We wish to return the costume to you at this time." J.A. Lloyd Hyde was my husband's grand uncle who passed away in 1981, leaving the boots to my husband's father. When he passed away, he left them to my husband and now they can be yours. 's your opportunity to own truly wonderful reminders of a very different time in a very in our nation's history.
These are true antiques just as Tom Thumb left them and are available as is.