The year was 1835 and the “World’s Greatest Showman” was just starting his quest to present the wonders of the world to a credulous public. What he came to Philadelphia to see with his own eyes was a woman named Joice Heth.
She was a slave captured in Africa, and purchased by the father of George Washington. She was the nurse maid of baby George and now she was 161 years old.
Wow, 161 years old! And she looked it. She was toothless, blind, all skin and bone but she was talkative. And she spoke of rocking the cradle of baby George Washington.
Barnum looked at the old crone and saw gold. He bargained down the price of old Joice to $1,000, including an old bill of sale to the Washington family.
She was first displayed to the public in New York City and then the towns and cities of New England. At one point Barnum planted the story that she was not real but an automaton. This created even more interest in the old woman.
About a year later, Joice died. The canny Barnum concocted a way to make money from the corpse.
A doctor in New York would autopsy Joice. Barnum charged spectators 50 cents to watch the autopsy and 1,500 New Yorkers paid to watch.
We don’t know how the doctor knew, but he announced that the old woman could be no more than 80 years old.
The press declared that the public had been duped. For Barnum, it was the start of a fabulous career of freaks and frauds.