Description:

Tom Thumb
n.p., n.d.
Tom Thumb and Commodore Nutt Wedding Cartes-de-Visite, From Brady Negative
CDV
Two fine Anthony cartes-de-visite, one identified as from a Brady negative, showing Tom Thumb with his wife, Lavinia Warren, while the other shows Thumb's resentful groomsman Commodore Nutt with bridesmaid Minnie Warre, Lavinia's sister, at the wedding of Tom Thumb.

On February 10, 1863, Lavinia Warren, known as "The Little Queen of Beauty," married international celebrity "General Tom Thumb" in a lavish ceremony at New York's fashionable Grace Church. The two performers enjoyed a true romance before announcing their engagement, which Tom Thumb's employer, P. T. Barnum, promoted to the hilt. For weeks before the wedding, crowds of 20,000 or more paid $3,000 a day to see the bride-to-be and her engagement ring. Barnum received 15,000 requests for tickets to the reception (which cost $75 each). On the wedding day, crowds blocked Broadway for hours, and newspapers published pages of detailed descriptions of the "Fairy Wedding".

As with any "freakshow" attraction, the fame they received in association with the showman came with harmful downsides, with the couple portrayed as childlike and subhuman. Indeed, Lavinia was later quoted as saying "I belong to the public" in regards to her lack of autonomy as a capable adult woman. Later in January 1883, while Charles and Lavinia were staying at Newhall House in Milwaukee, WI, they would narrowly escape what was then considered one of the worst hotel fires in history. Nevertheless, a mere six months later Stratton died unexpectedly of a stroke at the age of 45 and was interred at Mountain Grove Cemetery in his hometown of Bridgeport.

George Washington Nutt (1848-1811) known as "Commodore Nutt," first started with Barnum at the age of thirteen, and became one of Barnum's major attractions. He was in love with Lavinia Warren who was several years his elder and did not reciprocate his feelings; this caused considerable resentment - to the point the Nutt once beat up his nemesis Thumb. Nutt's visage captures his dismay at his place in the Tom Thumb wedding. Thumb asked Nutt to marry Lavinia's sister Minnie, however the spurned lover replied he would not marry even "the best woman living."

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 2.5" x 3.75"
  • Medium: CDV

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September 18, 2024 10:00 AM EDT
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