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Humbugs of the World
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
- GenresNonfiction
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1825
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About the author
P.T. Barnum
182 books107 followersAmerican man Phineas Taylor Barnum established The Greatest Show on Earth in 1871; its major competition in 1881 merged to form the circus of James Anthony Bailey.
Phineas Taylor Barnum, a best remembered entertainer, promoted such celebrated hoaxes as the Feejee mermaid and founded later the Ringling brothers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._T._B...
Phineas Taylor Barnum, a best remembered entertainer, promoted such celebrated hoaxes as the Feejee mermaid and founded later the Ringling brothers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._T._B...
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 16, 2020
Dear Mr. Barnum
Thank you for writing this book and let the people of your time know about the manifold humbugs that were out there. I really enjoyed reading your eloquent, witty and sometimes snarky statements, even though I already knew about some of the most famous cases, like the “moon hoax” or the “diamond necklace”. Others were entirely new to me.
You probably won’t believe me (call me a humbug), when I tell you that I’m writing this from the future; the year 2020 to be exact. As you can imagine a lot of things have happened in the 150+ years since your book has been published.
Too much to mention here in the brevity of this letter. Suffice it to say that there are still humbugs like the ones you described out there, and people still fall for them.
However, the way humbugs bait people has changed radically. Nowadays most people obtain their news and information through the so-called “Internet” and what is euphemistically called a social network.
I know it’s hard to believe and it must sound like a hoax to you, but in fact almost anyone today can write messages at any time and any place and send them out much like a letter that can be read instantly by everyone else around the world.
Charlatans, scoundrels, and knaves of each imaginable kind are also capable of this. With their humbugs (today we use the word “conspiracy theory”) those subjects gather a considerable number of people around them and form something similar to a cult. The opponents of such a cult hold against it, of course, and you can observe a something like a war going on, a war being fought with words and sometimes pictures (real or fake), at least at the moment.
As a former politician, you certainly know and accept that verbal disputes are part of the business, and there’s nothing essentially wrong with that. Unfortunately, more and more people are taking part, stupid people, who don’t understand the least bit about the subject, and the debates quickly turn into pure hate speeches, at the end of which nothing good can emerge.
I am sorry to say that one of the most stupid people is also the most powerful, namely the acting president of your country. He embodies what you so aptly call “the greatest humbug of all” in the first chapter of your book, or as “a hog’s mind in a man’s body”.
Alas, your optimistic prophecy at the end of this chapter, which I repeat here, has not been fulfilled in the least until today, much to my regret.
[Whenever] the time shall come when men are kind and just and honest; when they only want what is fair and right, judge only on real and true evidence, and take nothing for granted, then there will be no place left for any humbugs, either harmless or hurtful.This I just wanted to tell you.
Sincerely
M.B.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
February 5, 2015
An unexpected delight.
I delved into Humbugs as research for an upcoming project featuring 19th-century fakirism (is that a word? I guess it is). I was happy to discover that the consummate old-time American showman was not only well-spoken, but also a bit of an ethnologist and historian (taking into account the limitations of research and biases of the times, of course).
Barnum takes the reader on a tour of flakes through history, describing the ways in which even the brightest fell for the conmen and hucksters of their times. Man’s need for reassurance goes back to the days of the Delphic oracles and beyond, thus arguing that Barnum’s observations about “a sucker born every minute” hold true universally, and not just in the America of the 1800’s. There have always been those desperately seeking to believe the improbable and impossible, and with them, those willing to provide confirmation -- in exchange for a small consideration:
There's always been an endless supply of the willingly deceived, across all social classes.
The prose is often soaring in pompous grandiloquence. Barnum breaks things up by adding witty asides and mordant observations:
Those unable to excuse Barnum the cultural viewpoints of his times will not enjoy this book. To Barnum, the notion of a certain reputed form of African justice is drolly amusing:
You don’t read this book in search of any proto-political correctness. You read it to learn just how little changes through the centuries. The Internet would have been Barnum’s playground: speech-code utopianism and trigger warnings be damned.
In the later chapters, Barnum’s exposition takes a turn toward denying any of his prior debunkings apply to the dominant forms of Christian worship prevalent at the time. For some readers, the damage might have already been done. Nevertheless, Barnum reasonably succeeds in defending his ethnocentrism and the neutrality of his discourse toward what he considers “true” Christianity. Though much of this reads like market-oriented backpedalling, he’s obviously not as against faith itself as he is against the misuse of faith that leads to cults of personality, self-aggrandizement, victimization, and salvation-on-an-installment-plan. He invokes skepticism like a softer, more jocular AJ Ayer -- putting the credulous on-guard while trying not to piss in the porridge of conventional culture.
Highly recommended for the inquisitive -- and tolerant -- reader.
I delved into Humbugs as research for an upcoming project featuring 19th-century fakirism (is that a word? I guess it is). I was happy to discover that the consummate old-time American showman was not only well-spoken, but also a bit of an ethnologist and historian (taking into account the limitations of research and biases of the times, of course).
Barnum takes the reader on a tour of flakes through history, describing the ways in which even the brightest fell for the conmen and hucksters of their times. Man’s need for reassurance goes back to the days of the Delphic oracles and beyond, thus arguing that Barnum’s observations about “a sucker born every minute” hold true universally, and not just in the America of the 1800’s. There have always been those desperately seeking to believe the improbable and impossible, and with them, those willing to provide confirmation -- in exchange for a small consideration:
. . . one said to the other gravely, in Latin “mundus vult decipi;” and the other replied, with equal gravity and learning “decipiatur ergo:” that is, “All the world chooses to be be fooled. -- “Let it be fooled, then.”
There's always been an endless supply of the willingly deceived, across all social classes.
The prose is often soaring in pompous grandiloquence. Barnum breaks things up by adding witty asides and mordant observations:
In many cases the answers were ingeniously arranged, so as to mean either a good or evil result, one of which was pretty likely.
Those unable to excuse Barnum the cultural viewpoints of his times will not enjoy this book. To Barnum, the notion of a certain reputed form of African justice is drolly amusing:
The Wanakas in Eastern Africa, draw a red hot needle through the culprits lips -- a most judicious place to get hold of an African!
You don’t read this book in search of any proto-political correctness. You read it to learn just how little changes through the centuries. The Internet would have been Barnum’s playground: speech-code utopianism and trigger warnings be damned.
In the later chapters, Barnum’s exposition takes a turn toward denying any of his prior debunkings apply to the dominant forms of Christian worship prevalent at the time. For some readers, the damage might have already been done. Nevertheless, Barnum reasonably succeeds in defending his ethnocentrism and the neutrality of his discourse toward what he considers “true” Christianity. Though much of this reads like market-oriented backpedalling, he’s obviously not as against faith itself as he is against the misuse of faith that leads to cults of personality, self-aggrandizement, victimization, and salvation-on-an-installment-plan. He invokes skepticism like a softer, more jocular AJ Ayer -- putting the credulous on-guard while trying not to piss in the porridge of conventional culture.
Highly recommended for the inquisitive -- and tolerant -- reader.
dnf
September 18, 2017DNF. Some sections of the book were interesting but I became bored with the long descriptions of how mediums performed their hoaxes.
July 4, 2018
I really enjoyed the first and last few chapters of this book, but most of the middle is repetitive and boring.
It's ironic, of course, that a person who blatantly tricked people as a way of business criticised others for blatantly tricking people as a way of business. Barnum addressed this at the start of his book, explaining how it all came down to whether you were conducting your business under false pretenses. Basically, people who went to the circus knew that they were being tricked, and actually wanted to be fooled, whereas people who went, for example, to a fortune teller went because they truly wanted their fortunes told, and the fortune teller told them that she would truly tell it.
We love to be fooled by magicians and illusionists, and many even like to pretend that what they saw was real. But it's only fun because we know that it's not real, and that we can't really believe our eyes.
If someone were to say, "I really can do the impossible by my power," and believed this about himself, then we should either call him possessed, crazy, or else worship Him.
Barnum's book is a fun collection of stories. It would have been better if if most of the stories in the middle were cut out, leaving only the best ones, but all in all, I enjoyed this work.
It's ironic, of course, that a person who blatantly tricked people as a way of business criticised others for blatantly tricking people as a way of business. Barnum addressed this at the start of his book, explaining how it all came down to whether you were conducting your business under false pretenses. Basically, people who went to the circus knew that they were being tricked, and actually wanted to be fooled, whereas people who went, for example, to a fortune teller went because they truly wanted their fortunes told, and the fortune teller told them that she would truly tell it.
We love to be fooled by magicians and illusionists, and many even like to pretend that what they saw was real. But it's only fun because we know that it's not real, and that we can't really believe our eyes.
If someone were to say, "I really can do the impossible by my power," and believed this about himself, then we should either call him possessed, crazy, or else worship Him.
Barnum's book is a fun collection of stories. It would have been better if if most of the stories in the middle were cut out, leaving only the best ones, but all in all, I enjoyed this work.
April 12, 2015
a very interesting book. many of the descriptions of cons, swindles and quacks are as relevant today as in Barnum's time. the chapters on spiritualists and conjurers (and how they accomplished their fake feats) are especially fascinating. that said, the antiquated views on race (the book is from 1865, after all) are squirm-worthy. it is also amusing that Barnum insists that all the "heathen" religions are humbugs and nonsense, but that Christian religions are a unquestionably logical thing to believe in (we all have our blind spots, after all). so take this book with a grain of salt; it is an interesting snapshot of an era that really shows how, though we'd like to believe ourselves so advanced and sophisticated, humanity really hasn't outgrown believing in snake oil salesmen.
September 9, 2013
If the venerable Mr. Barnum could be a bit of a humbug about humbuggers, then I suppose each of us harbor a hidden humbug, too. Parts of this book were quite a drag, but nowhere else have I encountered such an enormous collection of outrageous hoaxes, strange fads, and ridiculous trends. Everything from the Dutch Tulip Mania, to well...a whole slew that I'll bet you've never heard of, but'll take the time (as I did) to search the web for more information. (And you'll find it!) There's the beauty of reading a Project Gutenberg edition--that you can easily extend your reading from its writing in 1865 to today's storehouse of information.
February 27, 2013
Reading the Project Gutenberg edition (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26640/...)
October 18, 2020
P.T. Barnum did many (profitable) things during his lifetime, including writing books.
In this historically-interesting nonfiction work, the King of Showbusiness describes a series of "Humbugs" (which although anachronistic and Dickensian now, was apparently a common term in the mid 1800's) only one of which involved Barnum's own circus and a literally painted bird.
Mostly, Barnum concentrates on profiteering fortune tellers and seance leaders, mail order scams ( For Example: "send me postage and I will send you an absolutely free recipe that accomplishes X," but when the recipe arrives it inevitably contains one mysterious ingredient that can only be purchased from the recipe's author) , city street swindlers, snake oil salesmen, confidence men and women, etc.
Overall, an interesting read as some things have not changed in 170 years.
In this historically-interesting nonfiction work, the King of Showbusiness describes a series of "Humbugs" (which although anachronistic and Dickensian now, was apparently a common term in the mid 1800's) only one of which involved Barnum's own circus and a literally painted bird.
Mostly, Barnum concentrates on profiteering fortune tellers and seance leaders, mail order scams ( For Example: "send me postage and I will send you an absolutely free recipe that accomplishes X," but when the recipe arrives it inevitably contains one mysterious ingredient that can only be purchased from the recipe's author) , city street swindlers, snake oil salesmen, confidence men and women, etc.
Overall, an interesting read as some things have not changed in 170 years.
October 29, 2020
This is quite a long read with 50 chapters. And this is a classic book to begin with, so the concept of fast reading was difficult in this book. I read little by little for actually rather bored with the contents here.
The content in this book was actually a compilation of humbugs story from around the world through ages. Some from mythologies and holy scriptures from many religions. Some interesting, many was a bored one. But we ought to learn something here for the author was a classic one. Maybe the strong message here was even humbugs could be successful, and the principles was on author's other books.
The content in this book was actually a compilation of humbugs story from around the world through ages. Some from mythologies and holy scriptures from many religions. Some interesting, many was a bored one. But we ought to learn something here for the author was a classic one. Maybe the strong message here was even humbugs could be successful, and the principles was on author's other books.
January 19, 2022
An interesting topic, sullied by the pompous and self-indulgent writing of a narrow-minded man, who can't resist but to shove his religious dogma into absolutely any topic.
It's TOO ironic - the writer of a book on pretenders and charlatans, who dismisses all religions except his own, and all supernatural powers except those of God, cannot see the humbug of his own religion, and assigns Martin Luther "the noblest mind".
Do not read unless you have a great tolerance to pretentious old farts.
It's TOO ironic - the writer of a book on pretenders and charlatans, who dismisses all religions except his own, and all supernatural powers except those of God, cannot see the humbug of his own religion, and assigns Martin Luther "the noblest mind".
Do not read unless you have a great tolerance to pretentious old farts.
January 15, 2023
If you can slog through the casual racism and self-aggrandizing egotism of its author, you'll be treated to a string of tales that show that we were just as foolish in the mid-19th century as we are now.
February 1, 2025
This is just Barnum telling stories. The only connecting theme is that they are all tricks of some kind that he knew or heard of. Aside from some of his very dated comments (cultural racism sometimes pops up), it’s a very interesting book.
August 31, 2021
I loved this book! :)
September 16, 2021
I will not finish this book. It is very interesting but is not written in a way that I enjoy listening to. It's very choppy and changes direction frequently.
November 22, 2022
Though sometimes dry this book shows that under the flash and forn of things, humans really haven't changed much.
June 19, 2024
Incredibly fascinating.
October 10, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't help but be impressed by the idea of barnum conducting extensive ethnographic research in his chosen field - the field of fooling and audience.
September 8, 2025
“Humbug … I won’t believe it,” is Scrooge’s response when confronted by the ghost of his dead partner Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol, and just as surely as Dickens knows that ghosts are humbugs, so too does P. T. Barnum, writing a generation later. For Barnum, humbug begins in the Garden of Eden with the temptation of Eve, and permeates all of history, through every age and in every nation, right down to his own time, where the “Great Spirit Postmaster” publishes ghost letters from veterans recently perished in the Civil War.
Barnum himself was often called the “Prince of Humbugs,” but he was no cynic. In this book he sets out to make his fellow citizens a little wiser via a catalog of colorful characters and events, and mocking commentaries about how a sensible person should be more skeptical. He goes after all kinds of classic humbugs like ghosts, witches, and spiritualists, but he also calls humbug on shady investment schemes, hoaxes, swindlers, guerrilla marketers, and political dirty tricksters, before shining a light on the patent medicines of his day, impure foods, and adulterated drinks. As a raconteur, Barnum is conversational and avuncular, sharing the wisdom of his years and opening an intimate window into the New England of the mid-19th century.
------
Read for production of e-book, available at
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/p-t...
Barnum himself was often called the “Prince of Humbugs,” but he was no cynic. In this book he sets out to make his fellow citizens a little wiser via a catalog of colorful characters and events, and mocking commentaries about how a sensible person should be more skeptical. He goes after all kinds of classic humbugs like ghosts, witches, and spiritualists, but he also calls humbug on shady investment schemes, hoaxes, swindlers, guerrilla marketers, and political dirty tricksters, before shining a light on the patent medicines of his day, impure foods, and adulterated drinks. As a raconteur, Barnum is conversational and avuncular, sharing the wisdom of his years and opening an intimate window into the New England of the mid-19th century.
------
Read for production of e-book, available at
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/p-t...
November 10, 2012
HUMBUGGERISH IN PARTS, BUT…
“…all the world chooses to be fooled—let it be fooled then.”
Who knew P. T. Barnum was such a serious Freethinker? But, of course, he would be.
Reading his ‘The Humbugs of the World: An Account of Humbugs, Delusions, Impositions, Quackeries, Deceits and Deceivers Generally, in All Ages’ put me very much in mind of another exhaustive heretical tome I read many years ago called, ‘Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds,’ by Charles MacKay. Both suffer from tedium and confusion, in parts, but, overall, they are a skeptic’s delight to read.
Recommendation: No serious Freethinker will begrudge the time and effort.
“It is to be hoped that, as schools multiply and education increases, the follies and superstitions which underlie a belief in ghosts and hobgoblins will pass away.”
“…I should look upon myself as somewhat of a public benefactor, in exposing the humbugs of the world, if I felt competent to do the subject full justice”.
Free ePub edition from http://www.gutenberg.org/
“…all the world chooses to be fooled—let it be fooled then.”
Who knew P. T. Barnum was such a serious Freethinker? But, of course, he would be.
Reading his ‘The Humbugs of the World: An Account of Humbugs, Delusions, Impositions, Quackeries, Deceits and Deceivers Generally, in All Ages’ put me very much in mind of another exhaustive heretical tome I read many years ago called, ‘Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds,’ by Charles MacKay. Both suffer from tedium and confusion, in parts, but, overall, they are a skeptic’s delight to read.
Recommendation: No serious Freethinker will begrudge the time and effort.
“It is to be hoped that, as schools multiply and education increases, the follies and superstitions which underlie a belief in ghosts and hobgoblins will pass away.”
“…I should look upon myself as somewhat of a public benefactor, in exposing the humbugs of the world, if I felt competent to do the subject full justice”.
Free ePub edition from http://www.gutenberg.org/
August 17, 2014
Anyone who pays for this audiobook probably believes the biggest P.T. Barnum "humbug" of all times - that he is the man who said "There's a sucker born every minute"! The quote is by David Hannum ABOUT Barnum! But whomever published this mess is at the head of the "sucker" line!
This is just a jumble of antiquated nonsense that not only failed to stand the test of time, but likely wasn't that interesting when Barnum originally wrote it down. Or maybe it was interesting to him. Barnum, play your position and stick with what you know - clowns, elephants, and peanuts is your thing! Leave the literary efforts to......well, the literate! Bah, Humbug!
This is just a jumble of antiquated nonsense that not only failed to stand the test of time, but likely wasn't that interesting when Barnum originally wrote it down. Or maybe it was interesting to him. Barnum, play your position and stick with what you know - clowns, elephants, and peanuts is your thing! Leave the literary efforts to......well, the literate! Bah, Humbug!
January 1, 2013
P.T. Barnum tells tales of some of the world's greatest deceits, cheats, cons, and delusions, all of which go under the definition of "humbug". Still a fine read, the anecdotes in every chapter will delight and even, at times, surprise.
April 13, 2025
Amusing
Mostly amusing. Interesting insights to the trickery behind seances and talking to the dead back in Barnum’s day.
Wicca fans be warned: he does not have kind words about witches.
Ok listen if free, not sure I’d pay for it.
Mostly amusing. Interesting insights to the trickery behind seances and talking to the dead back in Barnum’s day.
Wicca fans be warned: he does not have kind words about witches.
Ok listen if free, not sure I’d pay for it.
November 14, 2011
A really good book. It is surprising that something written in 1865 is still relevant today.
It would have been much stronger if he had omitted the last 5% or so of the work.
It would have been much stronger if he had omitted the last 5% or so of the work.
April 27, 2014
Quite dated but you will learn a thing or two. Free from gutenberg.org.
April 27, 2015
I really got a kick out of this book. it was a really unique read that gave me a glimpse into the whimsical past as sewn by P.T Barnum
April 20, 2016
Loved it!!! P.T. Barnum exposes the scam artists of the world and proves that a fool and his money are often too swiftly parted.
May 9, 2011
P.T. Barnum is my historical man crush.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews