There's A Sucker Born Every Minute
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"There's a sucker born every minute" is a phrase closely associated with
P. T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...
, an American showman of the mid-19th century, although there is no evidence that he actually said it. Early examples of its use are found among gamblers and
confidence tricksters A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have de ...
.


Attribution to Barnum

Barnum's biographer Arthur H. Saxon tried to track down when Barnum had uttered this phrase but was unable to verify it. According to Saxon, "There's no contemporary account of it, or even any suggestion that the word 'sucker' was used in the derogatory sense in his day. Barnum was just not the type to disparage his patrons." Some sources claim that it is most likely from famous
con-man A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have de ...
Joseph ("Paper Collar Joe") Bessimer, and other sources say that it was actually uttered by David Hannum in reference to Barnum's part in the
Cardiff Giant The Cardiff Giant was one of the most famous archaeological hoaxes in American history. It was a , 3,000 pound purported "petrified man" uncovered on October 16, 1869, by workers digging a well behind the barn of William C. "Stub" Newell in Cardi ...
hoax. Hannum was exhibiting the "original" giant and had unsuccessfully sued Barnum for exhibiting a copy and claiming that it was the original. Crowds continued to pay to see Barnum's exhibit, even after both it and the original had been proven to be fakes. A circus competitor to Barnum,
Adam Forepaugh Adam John Forepaugh (born Adam John Forbach; February 28, 1831 – January 22, 1890) was an American horse trader and circus owner. From 1865 through 1890 his circus operated under various names including Forepaugh's Circus, Forepaugh's Gigantic ...
, attributed the quote to Barnum in a
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
interview in an attempt to discredit him. Another source credits late 1860s Chicago saloon owner
Michael Cassius McDonald Michael Cassius McDonald (1839 – August 9, 1907) was a crime boss, political boss, and businessman based out of Chicago. He is considered to have introduced organized crime to the city, and to have also established its first political machine ...
as the originator of the aphorism. According to the book ''Gem of the Prairie: Chicago Underworld'' (1940) by
Herbert Asbury Herbert Asbury (September 1, 1891 – February 24, 1963) was an American journalist and writer best known for his books detailing crime during the 19th and early-20th centuries, such as ''Gem of the Prairie: An Informal History of the Chicago U ...
, McDonald was equipping his gambling house known as ''The Store'' when his partner expressed concern over the large number of roulette wheels and faro tables being installed and their ability to get enough players. McDonald then allegedly said, "Don't worry about that, there's a sucker born every minute."


History

Early uses of the phrase refer to it as a catch-phrase among gamblers. In an 1879 discussion of gambling in Chicago, an "old-timer" is quoted as saying, " odness knows how they live, it’s mighty hard times with the most of them; in the season they make a bit on base ball, or on the races, and then, you know, 'there’s a sucker born every minute', and rigid city legislation drives the hard-up gambler, who would be a decent one of the kind, to turn skin-dealer and sure-thing player." The use of quotation marks indicates that it must already have been an established catch-phrase. The phrase appears in print in the 1885 biography of confidence man Hungry Joe, ''The Life of Hungry Joe, King of the Bunco Men''. In a slightly different form, the phrase shows up in the January 1806 ''
European Magazine ''The European Magazine'' (sometimes referred to as ''European Magazine'') was a monthly magazine published in London. Eighty-nine semi-annual volumes were published from 1782 until 1826. It was launched as the ''European Magazine, and London Re ...
'': "That there vash von fool born every minute.'" According to
David W. Maurer David Warren Maurer (April 12, 1906 – June 11, 1981) was a professor of linguistics at the University of Louisville from 1937 to 1972. He was the writer of numerous studies of the language of the American underworld. Biography Maurer received a ...
, writing in ''The Big Con'' (1940), there was a similar saying amongst con men: "There's a mark born every minute, and one to trim 'em and one to knock 'em." Here "trim" means to steal from, and "knock" means to persuade away from a scam. The meaning is that there is no shortage of new victims, nor of con men, nor of honest men. In the 1930
John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a young man, visit ...
novel '' The 42nd Parallel'', the quotation is attributed to
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
.


See also

*
Barnum effect The Barnum effect, also called the Forer effect or, less commonly, the Barnum–Forer effect, is a common psychological phenomenon whereby individuals give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored ...


References


External links

* {{Barnum English phrases Quotations 1870s neologisms P. T. Barnum