The Wild Men of Borneo, Another Pamphlet

Here's another Waino and Plutano pamphlet from the same era.

The Wild Men of Borneo Pamphlet

This is a really rare pamphlet from the Barnum era featuring Waino and Plutano, the Wild Men of Borneo. Very few of these survived probably, because they were pamphlets which often get thrown away. Also, the paper quality was pretty low. So, finding this item was pretty exciting, to say the least.

Waino and Plutano would have sold this pamphlet at the sideshow as a way to supplement their income. Like other performers, they also sold cabinet cards and cdv's of themselves to make some extra cash. Waino and Plutano were actually physically strong dwarf brothers, who suffered from mental disabilities.

Although they were born in the Connecticut, Barnum had a flair for telling tall tales to spice up the show, and as such, they were said to have been captured in Borneo. The brothers were a very popular act in their day. I guess the public was amazed that such small people-- they were 40 inches tall and weighed 45 pounds-- could lift heavy weights (including audience members themselves) and wrestle "full-sized" people. During their 25 years with Barnum, the brothers earned $250,000. Not bad, eh?

Admiral Dot & the Bearded Girl

This is a small Victorian pitch book featuring two of P.T. Barnum's acts. The front side is Admiral Dot, a little person, and the back side is a young, bearded girl, probably Barnum's most famous one, Annie Jones. Old pitch books are some of my favorite finds, because I love the lithographic illustrations on the covers. I've dug through piles and piles of old paper ephemera at antique stores all over the country but never found one. Unfortunately, it's always an eBay bidding war to get one.

Under My Thumb

This is one of a few rare booklets featuring P.T. Barnum's famous little person Tom Thumb. Our interest in Tom Thumb naturally flowed out of our interest in collecting sideshow memorabilia. It was further sparked by a visit to Bridgeport, CT, and to the P.T. Barnum museum there which had a very nice collection of Tom Thumb memorabilia. We also visited Thumb's grave the same day. I'll post a few more Tom Thumb booklets in the future, but I particularly like the use of color on this one.