1860s P T BARNUM SIDESHOW MIDGETS CDV PHOTO - COMMODORE NUTT & MINNIE WARREN

Description

Rare, 1860's, CDV Photograph of P. T. Barnum’s Side Show / Circus Performers / Midgets George Washington Morrison “Commodore” Nutt and Minnie Warren (Huldah Pierce Warren Bump - sister of Mrs. Tom Thumb - Lavinia Warren by C. D. Fredricks. This wonderful CDV photo measures approx. 2 1/8" by 3 1/2" and is mounted on its original, ruled border, square cornered card mount (overall size of card mount is 2 3/8” x 4”). The Photograph pictures the teenage “Commodore Nutt” and an adolescent Minnie Warren in full length with a third diminutive figure that we believe to be a child rather than a dwarf. Also pictured is a “normal” size man – we bel;ieve that he is aan employee of P. T. Barnum as we have seen him in other photographs with sideshow performers in the employ of Barnum. The photo is signed by the photographer - Charles D. Fredricks & Co of New York - on the reverse.
We have never seen this particular portrait of Nutt and Minnie Warren before and have been unable to identify the third figure in the Photograph or to definitively identify the man at the left. Any help with identifying either subject would be greatly appreciated.
This beautiful and very early CDV Photograph is in very good condition. The Photograph itself exhibits crisp focus, rich tonality and strong contrast. There is some minor mottling to the emulsion and some soiling and spots of staining to both the Photo and Card Mount.
A rare and very attractive, original, 1860's, CDV Photograph of Commodore Nutt and Minnie Warren and a fantastic addition to any collection!!!
Be sure to check out this seller’s other auctions for a number of other seldom seen CDV Photographs of Circus Sideshow Performers which are also being offered for sale this week on eBay!!
George Washington Morrison Nutt (April 1, 1844 – May 25, 1881), better known by his stage name Commodore Nutt, was a 19th century dwarf who became famous working for P. T. Barnum. Nutt was born in Manchester, New Hampshire. His father, a farmer, stood over six feet tall (183 cm) and weighed 270 lb. Though Nutt had once wooed Lavinia Warren, losing her to General Tom Thumb, he eventually met and married Lilian Elston in Redwood City, California. Ms. Elston was said to have been of slight figure, but not much below average size, and she proved to be a devoted wife. When Nutt was 17 years old he was brought to New York City to be exhibited at Barnum's American Museum that stood at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street. The museum, owned by P.T. Barnum and his partner John Scudder, was a combination zoo, museum, lecture hall, wax museum, theater and freak show that, at its peak, was open fifteen hours a day and had as many as 15,000 visitors daily. Nutt was originally known as ",000 Nutt" after the amount that Barnum claimed to have paid the young man to accompany him on "expedition". William S. Hutchings, who worked for Barnum as a "lightning calculator", later contradicted this claim and said that Nutt received only from Barnum weekly. In New York, Nutt was accompanied by his brother Rodney Nutt. Rodney was paid as a coachman for his brother's trips around town as these were "one of Barnum's favorite modes of advertising." After about three years, Nutt joined the performing troupe headed by General Tom Thumb and Minnie Warren. Under the management of Sylvester Bleeker, Nutt traveled the world with that troupe and, according to published accounts, received "the patronage of royalty in nearly every kingdom of the Old World".
Huldah Pierce Warren Bump (June 2, 1849 – July 23, 1878), better known as Minnie Warren, was a 19th century dwarf who gained fame as an associate of P.T. Barnum. Her sister, Lavinia Warren, was married to General Tom Thumb. She was born in Middleborough, Massachusetts. She married another dwarf, Edmund Newell. She died in childbirth on July 23, 1878, and was buried in Nemasket Hill Cemetery, Middleborough
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