QUARANTINE BLOG # 443

June 16, 2021

Happy Birthday Rachel Bryn Eastman!!  18 years old today!!

👉  Your favorite bloggers are going on a short road trip today, so the next two blogs may be late in arriving at your email box.

👉  Phineas Taylor Barnum, the Barnum of the famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, is credited with saying, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”  Allegedly, he’s referring to his customer base, a group of people who would pay money to see captive animals and freak shows.  Truth is, there is no record of Barnum ever having actually said it.  In fact, no one knows what the true origin of the quote is. 

Well, this started as some additions to our series on misquotes, but then I began to look more at the life and times of P.T. Barnum, beyond the facts that I already knew – his circus and traveling freak show.  An interesting character, indeed.  So, here goes.

At age 24 he began his entertainment career, first with a variety troupe, and soon after purchased a museum to promote his side-show style.  The museum’s attractions had some which were extremely reputable and historically or scientifically valuable, while others were less so, like human curiosities such as the Fiji mermaid and General Tom Thumb.  

The Fiji mermaid was actually an object composed of the torso and head of a juvenile monkey sewn to the back half of a fish.  It was presented as the mummified body of a creature that was supposedly half mammal and half fish, a version of a mermaid.  American sea captain Samuel Edes bought Barnum’s “mermaid” from Japanese sailors in 1822 for $6,000, using money from the ship’s expense account, and later sold it to Barnum.  The mermaid is believed to have been created by Japanese fishermen as a joke.

General Tom Thumb was born Charles Stratton.  At birth he weighted 9 pounds 8 ounces.  He developed and grew normally for the first six months of his life, at which point he was 25 inches tall and weighed 15 pounds.  Then he suddenly stopped growing.  His doctor said there was little chance Charles would ever reach normal height.  Stratton eventually grew to 2 feet 11 inches, at age 21.  His body was proportionate and fully functional.  

Pictured below: Charles Stratton (“General Tom Thumb”) and his bride Lavinia Warren, together with her sister Minnie and George Washington Morrison Nutt (“Commodore Nutt”).

P.T. Barnum heard about Stratton, and after contacting his parents, taught the boy how to sing, dance, mime, and impersonate famous people.  Barnum also went into business with Stratton’s father.  Stratton made his first tour of America at the age of five, with routines that included impersonating characters such as Cupid and Napoleon Bonaparte, as well as singing, dancing, and comical banter with another performer.  

Barnum took Stratton to tour Europe where he appeared before Queen Victoria twice.  On his return to the United States, Stratton displayed many gifts as a performer.  His popularity and celebrity surpassed that of any actor within his lifetime.  There’s more to tell about Barnum and Stratton, and we’ll pick the story up tomorrow.

👉  If you don’t laugh at this, have someone call the undertaker:

👉  Today is World Sea Turtle Day.  WSTD recognizes sea turtle conservation and protection efforts around the world.  It is held on the birth date of noted sea turtle biologist Archie Carr, who founded the Sea Turtle Conservancy.  Only a fraction of the sea turtles that once populated the Earth remain on it today.  Sea turtles have been killed for their meat, eggs, skin, and shells.  Their feeding and nesting habitats face destruction, and they are under threat from pollution.  In particular, they are threatened by plastic dumped into the oceans.  

There are seven species of sea turtles.  The smallest is Kemp’s Ridley.  It can grow to about two feet in length and to a weight of close to 90 pounds.  

The largest is the leatherback.  It can reach a length of close to six feet and usually weighs between 650 and 1,300 pounds.  

My favorite is the Green Turtle – and here is a video featuring some of these creatures swimming in the EAC (East Australian Current).

👉  And a 12 second video of Crush and Squirt.

👉  A great panel from Rick McKee and “Pluggers.”

👉  And two signs for the times:

👉  Today’s close is from Praying with the Psalms, by Eugene H. Peterson.

“Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 119:1).

What a remarkable attitude to God’s law!  In this – the longest, and in many ways the most remarkable of psalms – there is an astonishing inventiveness for expressing delight in God’s law.  There seems to be no bottom to its exuberance and no limit to its enjoyment.  God’s revelation consists not of hard rules to be kept, nor of restrictive limitations to be endured, but of ways to walk in happiness and praise.

Prayer: Almighty God, you have given me such great words of guidance and grace; I accept them as gifts to be embraced in joy.  Thank you for a law that can be enjoyed and celebrated, in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

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