Man's white cotton or linen dress shirt with a double ruffle at the center front, originally belonging to P. T. Barnum. The owner's initials,... Show moreMan's white cotton or linen dress shirt with a double ruffle at the center front, originally belonging to P. T. Barnum. The owner's initials, embroidered in red thread, are mainly hidden by the ruffles. Initials were not intended as a monogram, but rather served the practical purpose of identifying items that would go out for laundering. This shirt has a loose fit and is much longer than modern men's shirts. It closes at back of neck with a long placket, and a single button and buttonhole stitched in the "yoke" across the shoulders. There is a short collar band at the neck to which a spread collar would have been attached, and this closes at the back of the neck. (In the 1800s and early 1900s, men's shirt collars were made separately from the shirt so that they could be removed for more frequent laundering and heavily starched.) The long sleeves are finished with cuffs made with holes for cufflinks, which were more befitting a gentleman than button closures. The garment is made of a medium weight linen fabric, with a starched linen plastron or "bosom" over the chest. The double ruffle is made of a finer, lighter weight linen and is stitched to the shirt bosom. Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 - April 7, 1891) is best known today for the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth, but his circus ventures did not come about until he was in his early 60s. Prior to that he was the proprietor of the American Museum in New York City from 1842 to 1868. His first circus, in the early 1870s, was called P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus. Barnum subsequently opened the New York Hippodrome with similar acts. In the 1880s, competition from other circuses increased. A merger between Barnum’s show and the Great London Show of Cooper, Bailey, and Hutchinson formed the circus called Barnum and London. Barnum's partnership with James A. Bailey in 1887 formed Barnum & Bailey, which continued to be managed by Bailey after Barnum's death in 1891. After Bailey's death in 1906, the Ringling Brothers bought Barnum & Bailey and operated it separately from their own circus. In 1919 the two were combined to form Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. This circus gave its final performance on May 21, 2017. Show less