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"What Is It?" Advertisement
The animal at Barnum’s is the nearest approach to human of any creature supposed to belong to the lower order of animated beings. It stands erect to the height of four feet, and weighs fifty pounds. The legs and arms seem to be shaped pretty much like those of a human being, though neither can be made as straight as the limbs of human beings in general. The legs are devoid of calves as in the orang outang and taper down from the thigh to the ankle. The feet are formed like a negro’s with the heel projecting but the great toe is more like a thumb than a toe, and all the toes bend downward toward the sole....
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Document Information

Title: "What Is It?" Advertisement
Creator: n/a
Date: March 1, 1860
Format: Advertisement
Publication: New York Tribune
Source: Available at selected libraries
Keywords: Advertising; African American; Animals; Cognitive Disability; Economics; Educational Institutions; Employment; Entertainment; Entertainment, Leisure & Recreation; Freak Show; Labor; Labor & Commerce; Leisure; Media; Museums; New York; New York City, NY; Newspapers; Phineas T. Barnum; Popular Culture; William Henry Johnson
Topics: Institutions, Organizations & Corporations; Mass Media, Culture & The Arts