WITH the release of Michael Gracey's film 'The Greatest Showman' in 2017 starring Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams, there has been a renewed interest in the life and work of the nineteenth century circus troupe and one such interest is the connection to Beechworth.
'The Greatest Showman' is based on the life and work of an American circus entrepreneur P. T. Barnum (1810–1891), and explores the creation of 'Barnum's American Museum' in Manhattan, New York.
Despite the film only revealing the years between 1841 to 1865, the story does not end there.
In 1870, P.T. Barnum's circus performed in Australia as part of a world tour.
In particular, the troupe visited the Victorian goldfields and in August of that year, Beechworth hosted three evening shows and two matinees.
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The circus presented a range of entertainment options, many of which would be considered politically and ethically incorrect in today's world.
Relying on notoriety as one tactic to draw in customers, Barnum presented spectacles such as a preserved monkey's head sewed to a preserved fish tail.
One of the performers, Charles Stratton (1838–1883), was known professionally as General Tom Thumb, a name that Barnum gave him after the fairytale of the same name.
His talents included singing, dancing and mimicry and he gained fame due to his short stature.
Adopted at the age of five by Barnum, Stratton was a key act in the travelling shows, often impersonating Cupid or Napoleon Bonaparte.
Over time, Stratton became an international celebrity and he later performed full–length fairy–tale melodramas in the circus.
During Stratton's second world tour, he decided to gift his boots to Beechworth and they now reside in the collection of the Burke Museum.
The brown leather boots are 13.4cm tall and 6.5cm long and are currently on display in the Museum's Street of Shops or you can check them out online via the Burke Museum's Victorian Collections webpage.
