P. T. Barnum's American Museum and its fabricated curiosities

P. T. Barnum operated Barnum's American Museum in mid-19th-century New York at a building on Broadway near Ann Street (historically cited at 210 Broadway). The museum displayed sensational attractions promoted with tall-tale marketing, including the showman Charles Stratton ('General Tom Thumb') and the fabricated 'Feejee Mermaid,' a taxidermy hoax. The museum burned in 1865; Barnum's promotional practices helped popularize staged curiosities and sensational entertainments in the city.