Featured Barnum Circus Little Folk CDV

Hello,

So this was my score of the week lol

Bought an album for a good price and under one of the tintypes was this CDV. They must not have cared about the photo and rather then removing it stuck a family image over it.

Anywho,

I have many circus photos in my collection, and it was easy to identify Commodore Nutt, Minnie Warren, but I'm unaware of the fellow in the middle.

I know the photo was taken in 1863. I found one other of it (with a different photographers markings on back) and it was misdescribed by the gentleman has commodore Foote, & Lizzy something.

I'm seeking the name of the gentleman in the middle!
Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you as always! You are all so wonderful, and I hope that one day I will have the photo knowledge you all posses! Two years into collecting and selling, and I feel like I've just only seen the tip of the iceberg!

Warm Regards,
Scantic

 

WOW! That's a great photo!

 

WAG Gen Tom Thumb in the middle and the lady's name is Warren.

I think...

 

Minnie Warren is right, Commodore Nutt to the left. However, I don't think the person in the middle is Tom Thumb, they don't look alike in my opinion, but unless it's when he was young. But even then they don't much look alike.

 

Tom Thumb actually married Minnie's sister.

Thus why the two of them look very much alike. I have a personal Family Photo of Minnie (from MA) where I'm located, as she lived here. Sad really she died while giving child birth.

Here is a photo of Tom Thumb

 

Scantic, does it look to you like Tom's image was added to the photo? Somehow it doesn't seem quite right... like his coattail on the left looks like it was cropped so it couldn't overlap the man's jacket, which would have been a more difficult edit.

 

I don't think so, Pat - that is just how the "tails" on a tail jacket were shaped.
It is pulled a bit to side, because he has that arm out a little.

 

You think so, Messi? I thought the lighting looked a bit off, too, but maybe it's just me.

 

Here is a photo of what the jacket would have looked like from the back - only I bet his was squared off more at the bottom.

 

I see what you mean, though it still seems odd that the tail looks rounded on the right side and totally straight on the left.

I'm also puzzled by the fuzzy whitish areas bordering parts of Tom's jacket that aren't apparent around the other man's jacket. It's the kind of thing you might see from an editing job.

 

Pat -
If it were edited don't you think the white would be around the hand placed on the shoulder. Or at the foot that is crossed and resting on the table?

I think it is a trick of the lighting. Under the left armpit of Barnum, you can see a faint white line going to the left.

 

I think that's a famous photo of Barnum with Thumb, so I'm fairly certain it's not imposed. But as you can see, Tom doesn't look like the fellow in the center of the CDV between Minnie and Nutt

 

True, Pat, about the areas where there isn't any white. I've probably been way off base with this.

 

Oh, I didn't realize that was Barnum.

On the one hand, you've all convinced me it's not been edited. On the other hand, wasn't Barnum the one who said "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time...."

 

Another reason I don't think it's imposed, is due to the fact that Barnum basically owned Tom Thumb. He purchased him basically from Tom's parents. And then Barnum paid Tom an absurd amount of money, (a lot of circus folk were ricccch!)
He treated Tom almost like a king, because he made Barnum what he was. He lived a pretty cushy life, but it's pretty much the only choices he unfortunately had at the time.

 

Thanks for the info, Scantic. Sounds like it worked out well for Tom.

 

Tom Thumb was adorable Proportioned peerfectly.

 

Wiki has a bio on Commodore Nutt. He apparently had an older brother who also was a dwarf. The two in the photo do have some facial similarities. Barnum wanted Nutt to marry Minnie, when Tom won over Lavinia.

 

Hi, the same card is currently on eBay and identifies the man in the middle as Colonel Small. There's also another image of him here: http://dcphotoartist.com/tag/waino-and-plutano/

Hope this helps - it's a fantastic photo!!!