In September 1850, P. T. Barnum embarked on a nationwide tour with a Swedish opera singer that would bring him a vast fortune and create a new cultural phenomenon: the celebrity. Barnum succeeded in building such great public anticipation about the "Swedish Nightingale" that 40,000 people showed up to greet the arrival of her ship in New York harbor. From her opening concert in New York City's Castle Garden to subsequent performances in cities and towns across the country, Barnum fueled public fascination with Lind by orchestrating events and negotiating Lind-endorsed products (including Jenny Lind songs, clothes, chairs, and pianos). "Lindomania" lasted until 1852, when the partnership collapsed over logistical and financial issues. Barnum shrewdly promoted Lind's character--her modesty, benevolence, and selflessness--as much as her artistry. One scholar contends that because of Barnum's promotion, Lind became "the standard for measuring not just sopranos, or even women artists, but women" throughout the 1850s.
Illustrations from contemporary publications and photographs
of Jenny Lind. Contemporary observations about the "Swedish
Nightgale" in America.
Punch,
October 5,1850
"Panorama
of Humbug. No. 1," lithograph, Harpweek: American Political Cartoons,
1766-1876
Scholarly views about the significance of Barnum's
1850-51 Jenny Lind tour.
Peter Buckley, "Jenny Lind and the Rise of the Celebrity," in "To the Opera House: Culture and Society in New York City, 1820-1860" (Ph.D. dissertation, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1984).
Bluford Adams, "The Jenny Lind Tour: 'Where's Barnum?'," in E Pluribus Barnum: The Great Showman and the Making of U.S. Popular Culture (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997).
Sherry Lee Linnkon, "Reading Lind Mania: Print Culture and the Construction of Nineteenth-Century Audiences," Book History 1.1 (1998): 94-106.