Newspaper: Harper's Weekly, featuring Living Curiosities at the American Museum

Harper's Weekly for December 15, 1860 with an advertisement for the living curiosities at the American Museum. The advertisement is in the leftmost column, and promises 850,000 curiosities. At the top of the ad is an illustration of the so-called Aztec Children, William Johnson who was billed as the What Is It, and two African American children who had albinism beside their mother for contrast. Barnum's American Museum was located at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street from 1841 to 1865 until it was destroyed by a fire, and then moved to 539-541 Broadway until it too was destroyed by a fire in 1868. The displays in the museum ranged from dioramas of places such as Niagara falls and the American plains, various animals including whales and trained seals, wax figure tableaus, performers, theatrical performances, inventions, scientific specimens, and curious artifacts. Barnum included what were then called humbugs, or hoaxes, and invited the public to decide for themselves if the displays in question were genuine or not. Harper's Weekly, December 15, 1860.