<P> Barnum's most popular and highest grossing act was the Tattooed Man, George Contentenus . He claimed to be a Greek - Albanian prince raised in a Turkish harem . He had 338 tattoos covering his body . Each one was ornate and told a story . His story was that he was on a military expedition but was captured by native people, who gave him the choice of either being chopped up into little pieces or receive full body tattoos . This process supposedly took three months and Contentenus was the only hostage who survived . He produced a 23 - page book, which detailed every aspect of his experience and drew a large crowd . When Contentenus partnered with Barnum, he began to earn more than $1,000 a week . His wealth became so staggering that the New York Times wrote, "He wears very handsome diamond rings and other jewelry, valued altogether at about $3,000 ($71,500 in 2014 dollars) and usually goes armed to protect himself from persons who might attempt to rob him ." Though Contentenus was very fortunate, other freaks were not . Upon his death in 1891, he donated about half of his life earnings to other freaks who did not make as much money as he did . </P> <P> One of Barnum's most famous hoaxes was early in his career . He hired a blind and paralyzed former slave for $1,000 . He claimed this woman was 160 years old, but she was actually only 80 years old . This lie helped Barnum make a weekly profit of nearly $1,000 . This hoax was one of the first, but one of the more convincing . </P> <P> Barnum retired in 1865 when his museum burnt to the ground . Though Barnum was and still is criticized for exploitation, he paid the performers fairly handsome sums of money . Some of the acts made the equivalent of what some sport stars make today . </P> <P> Barnum's English counterpart was Tom Norman, a renowned Victorian showman, whose traveling exhibitions featured Eliza Jenkins, the "Skeleton Woman", a "Balloon Headed Baby" and a woman who bit off the heads of live rats--the "most gruesome" act Norman claimed to have seen . Other acts included fleas, fat ladies, giants, dwarves and retired white seamen, painted black and speaking in an invented language, billed "savage Zulus". He displayed a "family of midgets" which in reality was composed of two men and a borrowed baby . He operated a number of shops in London and Nottingham, and exhibited travelling shows throughout the country . </P>

The rise and fall of circus freak shows