How about a little Sunday tea at the Barnum Museum on February 24? Mr. Barnum would be delighted. News release from Mr. Barnum:
On Sunday, February 24, The Barnum Museum will host a delightful afternoon of entertainment in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren’s marriage, popularly known as The Fairy Wedding. The Fairy Wedding Tea will take place from 2 to 4 p.m., with guests enjoying elegant refreshments while hearing fashion historian Mellissa Huber talk about the wedding and its fascinating impact on American popular culture, including the petite bride’s influence on fashion. Popular music from the period will enhance the experience. Admission will be $15 per person. See below for information on how to purchase advance tickets.
The endearing celebrity couple was married on February 10, 1863 at Grace Church, Broadway, in New York City, but the story has strong ties to Bridgeport. The tiny groom was born in 1838 in the Park City and the officiating clergyman for the wedding was the Reverend J. M. Willey of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bridgeport. Tom Thumb, whose real name was Charles Sherwood Stratton, was christened at St. John’s. In addition, P. T. Barnum, arguably Bridgeport’s most famous resident, was responsible for promoting the wedding, which captivated the hearts of the American public.
Featured speaker Mellissa Huber is an expert on fashion history and her illustrated talk is titled, The Fairy Wedding Bride and Her Little General: Looking Back at the Event that Captivated America. Huber recently graduated from NYU and wrote her Masters thesis on Lavinia Warren. She currently works for The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
P. T. Barnum’s unparalleled ability to promote events on a grand scale was exemplified in the publicity both leading up to and following the wedding. The general excitement preceding the event, as well as the spectacular wedding itself, proved to be a welcome diversion from the unrelenting tragedies of the Civil War that permeated the news. The American public embraced the happy occasion with wild enthusiasm.
Even popular musical compositions were created to commemorate the event and offer ordinary people a way to “share” in the joyous event by purchasing sheet music to play for themselves. Guests at the tea will have the opportunity to hear “The Fairy Wedding Waltz” and the “Tom Thumb Polka” performed by the Weston High School orchestra under the direction of music teacher Erik Paul. These pieces have been carefully arranged from the original sheet music from The Barnum Museum’s collection.
The museum will also have on display an exhibition of artifacts owned by Lavinia Warren and Tom Thumb. The exhibit will offer guests a rare opportunity to see a variety of truly unique items ranging from their miniature carriages and furniture, to clothing and other personal accessories. Among the special wedding items to be displayed are the orange blossom wreath worn by the bride, an embroidered satin vest that belonged to the groom, the rosewood bedstead that was a gift to the couple from P. T. Barnum, a preserved slice of the original wedding cake, and an elaborate wedding album, which was a gift to the bride from her friends. All the artifacts are part of The Barnum Museum’s collection, with the exception of the photo album, which is on loan from the Bridgeport History Center at the Bridgeport Public Library.
In addition, interspersed among the Museum’s sumptuous decorative arts collection currently on display, will be several exquisite Victorian-era gowns mounted on mannequins. Barnum Museum staff will be on hand to talk with guests about the gowns on display and explain the fashions of the period and details of the garments.
Those attending the tea, as well as the general public, are invited to return on Sunday March 10, at 2 p.m. to hear University of Bridgeport Professor Eric D. Lehman speak about Tom Thumb’s World Travels. Lehman is the author of a forthcoming biography of Charles S. Stratton, Becoming Tom Thumb, to be released in November 2013 by Wesleyan University Press. Admission to the March 10 lecture will be $5.
WHAT: A Fairy Wedding Tea in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren’s wedding.
WHAT: Sunday, February 24 from 2 to 4 p.m.
WHERE: The Barnum Museum, 820 Main Street, Bridgeport CT
People’s United Bank Gallery, entry located at the back of the historic building
COST: $15 per person. Tickets must be purchased in advance.
Tickets may be ordered online at www.fairyweddingtea.eventbrite.com or by calling The Barnum Museum at 203-331-1104 ext. 100, Mon. through Fri. between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
To learn more about The Barnum Museum’s current programs visit: www.barnum-museum.org or call 203-331-1104. You can also visit the museum on Facebook, view past programs at www.barnummuseumexhibitions.org or communicate on Twitter @BarnumMuseum.
*** COME ONE, COME ALL; IT SHOULD BE QUITE A SIDESHOW, NO? ***
Thank God PT Barnum was Mayor back in 1888. With just a few clowns, a giraffe, and three elephants old PT kept the streets open in Bridgeport.
Now if Mayor Finch were living back in 1888 poor Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren would have been lost forever in that blizzard, and there would never have been a wedding to celebrate.
Mayor Finch heard someone say a blizzard was coming, so he was last seen standing in line at Dairy Queen on Friday night. And that’s why it took five days to plow us out!