Theres a Sucker Born Again Every Minute
P.T. Barnum? Hungry Joe Lewis? Artemus Ward? Mike McDonald? Apocryphal? Anonymous?
Dearest Quote Investigator: A famous saying almost gullibility is ordinarily attributed to the well-known showman P. T. Barnum. Here are ii versions:
At that place's a sucker born every minute.
In that location'south a fool born every minute.
Whether Barnum actually used either of these expressions is controversial. Would you please examine this topic?
Quote Investigator: QI has located no persuasive evidence that Phineas Taylor Barnum who died in 1891 spoke or wrote this saying. Researcher Ralph Keyes presented a skeptical stance with his assertion in "The Quote Verifier" that "No modern historian takes seriously the routine attribution of this slogan to P. T. Barnum." [1] 2006, The Quote Verifier past Ralph Keyes, Quote Page 215, St Martin's Griffin, New York. (Verified on paper)
There exists a family of closely related expressions with a long history. Here is a sampling together with years of occurrence. The commencement item listed employed dialectical spelling. The word "flat" was a synonym for "fool". The abridgement "attrib" means that the words were attributed to an individual, but the evidence was indirect:
1806: there vash von fool born every minute
1826: a new fool is built-in every day
1835: there is a apartment born every infinitesimal
1877: there is a fool born every hr
1879: there's a sucker born every infinitesimal (anonymous adage)
1882: there was a sucker born every infinitesimal (attrib anon con man)
1885: there was a sucker born every minute (attrib Hungry Joe)
1888: at that place is a sucker built-in every minute (attrib Artemus Ward)
1889: a sucker is built-in every minute (attrib Mike McDonald)
1890: a fool was born every minute (attrib P.T. Barnum)
1892: there was a sucker born every infinitesimal (attrib P.T. Barnum)
The above listing is a snapshot of current research results, and it will certainly change over fourth dimension as more than information is gathered. The earliest instances of these expressions were anonymous, and QI believes that later attributions had inadequate support.
Here are selected citations in chronological guild.
In 1806 an article titled "Essay on Imitation Genius" was published in "The European Magazine and London Review". Inside the article an instance of the saying was attributed to a fictitious commodity seller. The passage reflected the prejudices and stereotypes of the milieu, and the phrase was written in dialect. Boldface has been added to excerpts: [2] 1806 January, The European Mag and London Review, (By the Philological Society of London), Volume 49 (XLIX), Essay on False Genius, Kickoff Folio 25, Quote Page 26, Column 1, Published by James … Continue reading
It was the observation of one of the tribe of Levi, to whom some person had expressed his astonishment at his being able to sell his damaged and worthless bolt, "That there vash von fool born every minute." And perhaps the calculation might be brought to the proof, that non more than than fifty men of genius are born in half a century.
In 1826 "The New-York Evening Post" reprinted an article well-nigh a letter of the alphabet that appeared in a London newspaper and appended the following remark. A version of the adage using "day" instead of "minute" was placed between quotation marks and designated a "principle" indicating that it was already in apportionment. No attribution was given: [three] 1826 April eight, The New-York Evening Postal service (Evening Post), (Comment on article "From the Boston Statesman, Apr 5"), Quote Page 2, Column 3, New York. (GenealogyBank)
The author of this letter wonders that the English language will continue to merchandise with America, and can account for it only on the principle that "a new fool is born every twenty-four hour period."
In 1835 "Bell'southward Life In London and Sporting Relate" printed an instance of the saying that used the word "flat" instead of "fool" or "sucker". The term "flat" in this article was applied to an private who mistakenly entrusted coin to a swindler for safekeeping: [4] 1835 February 22, Bell's Life In London and Sporting Chronicle, Police Intelligence: Union-Hall, Quote Folio 4, Column 2, London, England. (British Newspaper Annal)
Information technology is simply surprising, after the repeated exposures of this species of robbery, that fresh flats are so frequently picked up; but, as these ingenious speculators say, "there is a flat born every minute;" and it is not likely the race will become extinct.
In 1839 "Fraser's Magazine for Boondocks and Country" printed an instance of the proverb that used the discussion "flat" in the domain was horse racing: [5] 1839 June, Fraser'southward Magazine for Boondocks and Country, Book nineteen, Number 114, Beefcake of the Chess Automaton, Start Folio 717, Quote Page 717, Published by James Fraser, London. (Google Books Total … Go on reading
Human may exist fairly styled an animal of the grade "gullible." From the 60 minutes of his nativity till the day of his death, never does the organ of credulity stop to crash-land out his cerebrum. It is a common saying among the legs of the turf, that "at that place is a apartment built-in every minute." No dictum can be based on meliorate grounds.
In 1855 "The Yale Literary Magazine" published a comical verse form about a babe show that mentioned P. T. Barnum and included discussion play with the terms "succor" and "sucker". Note that a chest-feeding baby may exist designated a "sucker". Besides, according to the Oxford English Dictionary the sense of "sucker" as a foreigner or simpleton was already established by 1838: [vi] Oxford English Dictionary: OED Online, Entry: sucker, substantive, I, 1b figurative; Oxford University Press. (Accessed oed.com on Apr ten, 2014) [7] 1855 July, The Yale Literary Magazine, Conducted by the Students of Yale College, Volume 20, Number 8, Editor'due south Tabular array, Start Page 317, Quote Page 320, Published by Thomas H. Pease, New Haven, … Proceed reading
They all were there in dazzler and then bright,
Arrayed in their very all-time bib and tucker:
Mr. Barnum provided for each 1's needs,
And gave needed succor to each footling sucker.
Thus, the poem stated that Barnum was attending to the needs of newly born suckers. Nevertheless, the earliest known testify for the saying "sucker born every minute" was dated 1879, and the ascription to Barnum merely occurred more than a decade later as detailed farther beneath.
In 1877 a London newspaper quoted a "sharper", i.e., a criminal trickster, using a version of the expression with "hour" instead of "minute': [8] 1877 August 18, The West-End News and London Advertiser, Betting Agencies and Fools, Quote Page 3, Column 1, London, Middlesex. (NewspaperArchive)
"There is a fool built-in every 60 minutes," said one of these sharpers to an informant of Mr. Anderson, the fellow member for Glasgow, "and, thank Heaven, the bulk of them alive!"
In January 1879 the earliest case using "sucker" appeared in an article titled "Gambling in Chicago" printed in "The Inter-Bounding main" paper of Chicago, Illinois. The post-obit words were attributed to an "old-timer", and the proverb was enclosed in single-quotation marks signaling that the phrase was already in circulation: [9] 1879 January two, The Inter-Ocean, Gambling in Chicago, Quote Page 5, Column ii, Chicago, Illinois. (Newspapers_com)
. . . in the season they brand a chip on base ball, or on the races, and then, you lot know, 'in that location's a sucker born every minute,' and rigid urban center legislation drives the difficult-upwards gambler, who would exist a decent one of the kind, to turn skin-dealer and sure-thing player.
In January 1882 another instance using "sucker" appeared in an commodity titled "Proceed Your Money: People Would Do Well to Look Carefully earlier They Bound" printed in a Chicago, Illinois paper: [10] 1882 January vii, Daily Inter Sea, Keep Your Money: People Would Do Well to Look Carefully before They Leap, Quote Page 7, Column 3, Chicago, Illinois. (GenealogyBank)
It was an skillful confidence man who said that "at that place was a sucker born every minute, and some have remained suckers all their lives."
In 1883 other instances of the phrase with "sucker" appeared. For example, a newspaper in New Haven, Connecticut ascribed an extended version of the adage to archetypal gamblers: [xi] 1883 March 17, New Haven Evening Register, How Gamblers Win: 40 Millions Squandered, Quote Page three, Cavalcade iii, New Oasis, Connecticut. (GenealogyBank)
Gamblers call all outside their fraternity suckers. They say "There is a sucker built-in every minute, and New York is the best place in the world to grab them."
In 1885 a 41 page biographical sketch titled "The Life of Hungry Joe: Male monarch of the Bunco Men" was published, and the saying was ascribed to the notorious confidence human Joseph Lewis, aka Hungry Joe. The cover illustration of the book depicting Hungry Joe is shown on the right: [12] 1885, The Life of Hungry Joe: King of the Bunco Men, Writer proper name non specified, Subtitle: Dedicated to Countrymen with the Compliments of the Author, Quote Folio 22, Published past Frank Tousey, New … Keep reading
Information technology was always a saying with Joe that in that location was a sucker born every infinitesimal, and all through his business organisation career he acted on that basis, and mostly found a skillful crop of them.
In Oct 1888 a New York paper described a jewelry-based swindle and the unfortunate souls who were deceived. The commodity ended with an instance of the saying ascribed to the popular humorist Artemus Ward, pen proper name of Charles Farrar Browne: [xiii] 1888 October 6, The Nunda News, Geneseo Suckers, Quote Page three, Column iv, Nunda, New York. (Old Fulton)
Old men and young men scrap alike and the experience, although dearly bought will, no dubiety, be a lesson to them. Then, also, they tin can console themselves with that famous expression of Artemus Ward'south that "there is a sucker built-in every infinitesimal."
In September 1889 a Rockford, Illinois newspaper printed the proverb and credited a well-known Chicago criminal named Mike McDonald: [14] 1889 September v, Forenoon Star, It Was Yellow Day: Saffron-Hued Ribbons and Sunflowers the Social club of the Hr, Quote Page 3, Column 3, Rockford, Illinois. (GenealogyBank)
They have long since proved the truth of Mike McDonald'southward celebrated maxim that a sucker is born every minute."
In October 1890 a clothing store ran an advertisement in the "Chicago Tribune" that ascribed to P.T. Barnum a version of the adage with the word "fool". This was the earliest linkage to Barnum found past QI: [15] 1890 October 19, Chicago Tribune, Advert for Willoughby & Loma Wearable Store, Quote Page 39, Cavalcade 4, Chicago, Illinois. (ProQuest)
Any of these and so-called Dry Goods stores go into the Clothing concern past hiring a salesman from some clothing house, transport him down to New York, and when he returns they "ADVERTISE" his purchases 40 per cent LESS than Article of clothing Store Prices. However, they don't intendance a "—–" what they say in the papers, anything to get the crowd. Barnum said many years ago that a fool was built-in every minute.
In November 1891 the same wearable shop ran some other advert in the "Chicago Tribune" and credited Barnum with a slightly unlike phrasing that replaced "fool" with "new fool": [sixteen] 1891 November half-dozen, Chicago Daily Tribune, Advertisement for Willoughby & Hill Vesture Store, Quote Page 5, Column 2 to 4, Chicago, Illinois. (ProQuest)
The "Immortal" Barnum said every minute a new fool is born, and he catered that way and was successful. He could have kept successfully a "Department" Store.
In July 1892 a newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia reprinted a tale from a Montreal paper about a young Englishman who was swindled. The introduction presented an instance of the aphorism with the word "sucker". This was the get-go linkage of Barnum to the "sucker" version of the proverb found past QI: [17] 1892 July 21, The Daily Colonist (Victoria Daily Colonist), The Former, Old Story, Quote Page 5, Cavalcade i, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. (Sometime Fulton)
The appended sad story is clipped from the Montreal Herald of July 13, and, volition be read with interest by Victorians: "The late P. T. Barnum, the rex of showmen, oft remarked that in that location was a sucker born every minute, and one of the slick gentlemen in Montreal evidently believes that it is true."
In October 1892 the maxim was again ascribed to the defrauder Joseph Lewis, aka Hungry Joe, in the pages of a New York paper: [18] 1892 Oct xi, The Sun, The Hussar'south Treasure: Again the Rainbow Vanishes at Whose Foot It Lies, Quote Folio 7, Column 5, New York. (Old Fulton)
When Inspector Williams was just a Captain, and the notorious bunco steerer "Hungry Joe" was in the zenith of his very questionable fame, the Captain, in a fit of laudable curiosity, asked the swindling practiced how it was that he managed to live so well by his wits.
"Why, don't you know that there is a sucker born every minute?" Hungry Joe answered, in a tone of honest surprise that the Captain had not discovered the fact.
Secondary and tertiary sources have associated the adage with George Hull, David Hannum, Joseph Bessimer, Adam Forepaugh and others. All the same, the information in this commodity is based straight on passages in newspapers and books with known dates.
In conclusion, the two expressions "in that location'south a fool born every infinitesimal" and "there's a sucker born every minute" both had anonymous attributions initially. Over time they were reassigned to prominent individuals of the fourth dimension menstruum.
However, only the fame of P.T. Barnum has endured. Today, the phrase "there's a sucker born every minute" is often ascribed to him. Notwithstanding, support for this ascription is very weak. Citations occurred at the very end of his life and later on his death.
Image Notes: P.T. Barnum 1885 potrait past Charles Eisenmann via Wikimedia Eatables. Jester graphic from OpenClipart-Vector on Pixabay. Clock graphic from PublicDomainPictures on Pixabay.
(Special thanks to PatriotFan whose query led QI to formulate this question and motivated QI to write upwards results primarily obtained in 2010. Great thanks to Bill Mullins who located the January 7, 1882 citation. Nib also found a valuable citation using flat in June 1835. Thanks to other ADS discussants. Also thank you to Barry Popik for his valuable research on this topic. In addition, thanks to the volunteer Wikipedia editors and jb5911 who clipped the 1879 citation with "sucker" at newspapers.com)
Update History: On May 17, 2022 the citations dated Feb 22, 1835 and January 2, 1879 were added.
Source: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/04/11/fool-born/
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