Note 6 — Chapter IV · TRAVELS WITH A MIDGET

Autograph Letter in the Theater Collection, Harvard College Library. General Tom Thumb in this letter, one of the few letters he wrote that are extant, gives his official age, according to Barnum, and not his actual birth year. He was born on January 11, 1838, but since Barnum had added six years to his age when he first exhibited him, the General retained that method of calculation carefully for many years. He is the only stage celebrity known who found it to his advantage to increase his age. This letter was written when the General was nine years old.