Barnum Returns to Maine for the 1873 Season!

In 1873, P.T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum Menagerie Caravan Hippodrome & Circus returned to Maine and the advertisement makes the claim the the show is "Ten Times Larger Than Ever". This year, the

P.T. Barnum Enters the Ring!

Even though his name has become almost synonymous with the circus, P.T. Barnum did not enter the business until he was 60 years old. In the fall of 1870, Barnum came to an agreement with Dan Castello who was owner of the "Dan Costillo Show" and manager of the show, William Cameron Coup. Through the deal, Barnum became a senior partner who financed the endeavor and in return received two-thirds of the profit. Since Barnum previously displayed his presentations and curiosities in fixed locations such as his American Museum, this would be an exciting new way for him to take his genius promoting talents all over the country. The first incarnation of a P.T. Barnum promoted travailing circus was to be called "P.T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, Hippodrome & Circus." This resurrection of Barnum's