Rev Up Ministries

There's A Sucker Born Every Minute

There's a sucker born every minute. Maybe sooner.

That famous phrase is almost always attributed to the renowned promoter, circus entrepreneur and hoaxer, P.T. Barnum. But Barnum never said the words that are so famously attributed to him. The quote was actually coined by a man who was trying to explain the gullibility of the general public for believing a Barnum hoax over his own. It all revolves around a famous stone carving known as the Cardiff Giant. While accounts of the story vary, I've done my best to put the pieces together in the most accurate compilation possible. If you've got a more reliable version, don't hesitate to enlighten me (I love enlightenment in a non-secular-humanist way). But as best as I can decipher, this is the story of how one of the most famous sayings in American history came to be.

In 1866, a man named George Hull of Binghamton, New York, lost an argument. No big deal for most of us, right? But for George it was a defeat that fueled his ire for Christians. You see, Mr. Hull was an atheist, as well as a cigar maker (he's dead now and currently smokes in hell), who decided to create a giant hoax (literally) after losing a heated argument with a fundamentalist minister. The minister was Rev. Henry Turk, and it seems Mr. Hull and the reverend came to a severe disagreement over the existence of giants as mentioned in Genesis 6:4.

There were giants in the earth in those days...
Genesis 6:4 (King James version, of course, fundamentally speaking)

George apparently thought you had to be pretty stupid to believe such nonsense and equated a low level of intelligence to those that did; and George thought he had the perfect way to prove his point. The theme was evidently a common topic of preachers during the day, and why not... who doesn't like a giant sermon.

For the next two years Mr. Hull contemplated how to pull off his hoax (I wish Christians had that kind of determination and commitment). Carefully conceiving his plan, in 1868 Mr. Hull traveled to a gypsum quarry near Fort Dodge, Iowa. After being unsuccessful in locating a suitable stone from that quarry, he traveled to a second quarry and found usable gypsum that had dark blue streaks running through it that resembled human veins. Having found the desired stone he hired a railroad-gang to hew out as large a slab as possible. He apparently paid the the workers in beer, which is where the famous saying, "will work for beer" came from (not really - but I don't know how gullible you are). The end result was a slab twelve feet long, four feet wide and two feet thick - roughly the size of your average, everyday giant. The gypsum slab was then wrapped in canvas and moved by wagon to the nearest railroad station, forty miles away. From there the block of rock was shipped by rail to Chicago, where Mr. Hull had arranged to hide the stone in the barn of Edward Burghardt. Once in possession of the gypsum slab, Burghardt, at the behest of Mr. Hull, immediately hired stone carvers to create the giant. The men worked in secrecy during their off hours, and on Sundays, which would have irritated Rev. Turk. Wanting the giant to look as realistic as possible, Hull instructed the workers to carve the giant as if it had laid down and died, and to include every minor detail of the human anatomy, including toenails, fingernails, nostrils, and sex organs, which would have also irritated Rev. Turk. Needle-faced hammers were even used to add the appearance of skin pores. Sulfuric acid and ink were then used to make the figure look aged. Even the giant's own mother wouldn't have known he was a fake (metaphorically speaking).

When the giant was finished, Mr. Hull shipped it to his cousin, William Newell, who had a farm near Cardiff, New York, (for a block of stone, this dude did some serious traveling) - thus creating the legend of the Cardiff Giant. Hull had picked his cousin's farm because it was close to the location where million year-old fossil bones had been discovered several months earlier. Once there, Hull, Newell and Newell's oldest son, furtively buried the giant between the barn and house. Hull then instructed the Newells to remain quiet until he gave them further instructions. One year after burying his giant he sent word to his cousin to hire two laborers to dig a well between the house and barn, at the precise location where the giant had been buried. Brilliant! Within hours the two workers rushed to the house proclaiming they had discovered a stone giant!

News of the discovery spread like wildfire and wagon loads of neighbors poured into the Newell's farm to see the amazing stone giant. By mid-afternoon a tent had been erected around the giant's gravesite and Newell, who had been promised a percentage of the profits, started charging 25 cents for admission. Two days later, the Syracuse Journal printed an article about the giant and admission went from two bits to 50 cents. Shortly after the discovery, a stage coach company started making four round trips a day from Syracuse to the Newell farm, and within a couple of weeks the story had gone nationwide (remember folks, there was no internet in '69, in either eighteen-hundred or nineteen-hundred). Thousands of people were visiting the farm on a daily basis. Visitors included the simply curious, clergymen, college professors and distinguished scientists. Debates began to arise between experts as to whether the giant was a true fossilized human being or an authentic ancient statue - but suggestions that the statue was a fake were dismissed by the majority of visitors and the mainstream population. Even with detractors, proclaiming the discovery to be a hoax, the money kept rolling in. In fact, discussions about the authenticity of the giant only seemed to increase its popularity. Ministers proclaimed it was a validation of the authenticity of the Bible - which along with the money, probably made George Hull smile.

With his giant gaining popularity, Hull was enticed to sell a two-thirds interest in his creation for $30,000 (approximately $523,800 in 2012 dollars) to a five-man syndicate in Syracuse. The syndicate was headed by a banker named David Hannum, who immediately moved the giant to an exhibition hall in Syracuse, New York with the hope of attracting even greater crowds. Admission was raised to the un-Christian amount of a dollar (which would be about $17.50 today), with no senior or child discounts! During this time P. T. Barnum had been watching the success of the Cardiff Giant, and unknown to Hannum, had sent an agent to view the giant and make an assessment of its worth. The agent ended up visiting the exhibit on a Sunday that drew an abnormally large crowd of about 3,000 people. When Barnum's agent wired his report back to Barnum, he instructed him to make an offer of $50,000 (around $873,000 today) to buy the giant. Hull's block of gypsum was becoming more valuable by the minute. And with greed and suckers in abundance, the prospects looked bright. Hannum rejected the offer.

The Cardiff Giant was the most talked about exhibit in the country in 1869 and Barnum wanted to display the giant while it was still a media sensation. I'm sure Barnum must have had suspicions that the giant was a fake - after all he was a master at creating hoaxes. So rather than offering Hannum more money for his fake, Barnum hired an artist to create his own giant. Brilliant! P.T. unveiled HIS giant at Barnum's museum in New York City, proclaiming that Hannum had sold him the original and that the one on display in Syracuse was a fake! Thousands of people flocked to see Barnum's giant, drawing larger crowds than the original fake, on display in Syracuse. To make matters worse for Hannum, many newspapers carried Barnum's version of the authenticity of the giant. When asked about the demise of his attraction Hannum was quoted as saying, "There's a sucker born every minute."

Still under the impression that his giant was the real deal, Hannum brought a lawsuit against Barnum for calling his giant a fake. At trial, George Hull finally admitted that the Cardiff Giant was a hoax and the judge dismissed Hannum's lawsuit. Of course the real irony of the story is that the man who coined one of the most famous phrases in American history was one of the suckers born every minute. Since Barnum went into history and Hannum went into foolery, the least we can do is credit him for his own quote - even if he was a sucker.

Is there a moral to this story - other than the one minute sucker thing? I think so.

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.
Psalms 14:1-3 NKJV

I would venture that there are millions of people, like George Hull, who say there is no God. And their belief has zero effect on God. But it has profound effects on them. Think what it must be like to separate yourself from God's love for a significant part of your life and you'll start to understand why atheists get so upset over losing a Biblical argument. So when you find someone that is not particularly fond of Jesus, don't beat them further into the ground. Do what Jesus did. Turn the other cheek and show them some love. It may not work, but arguing about God's love is only going to convince them you don't have any.?

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Matthew 5:38-48 NIV

Alright, I confess - I come up somewhat short of perfection. Okay, I come up a lot short. I might be able to go the extra mile, but I definitely don't want you slapping my cheeks - I hated it when the old ladies tugged on them when I was a kid and I don't enjoy it today (I think I have TCPS - Traumatic Cheek Pinching Syndrome). I currently don't have any cloaks, and I gave all my tunics to Goodwill when the Roman Empire fell. But if anyone wants what I've got, my wife does have an old electric blanket that I'd love to give to someone, if that will help - just don't plug it in if you're in standing water. Even though I'm short on cloaks and tunics, I can at least have a kind word for people, and say a little prayer for my persecutors, to keep me out of the pagan column. And if a guy like George Hull comes up to me and says, "Hey, Christian simpleton, there are no giants in the earth," I could just turn the other ear. I don't have to force him to carve a stone giant, bury it on his cousin's farm for two years, dig it up and make half a million dollars, to validate his existence. All I did was fuel his hatred for God and make all the Christians look like suckers. I could just tell him, no matter how he feels about God, Jesus will be there if he ever needs Him. Or I could just keep my mouth shut - like that would ever happen.

In the end, George made out pretty well financially, and he probably walked away feeling he had won a moral victory over the good Reverend. But in truth, nobody won. The Christians looked like fools for believing a hoax, and George went to hell. Although, it is a pretty good story.

People are more impressed by our actions than our words. And when our actions start to reflect our message of love, people will start to listen to our words.

Born at 30 seconds,

Don
©DCrouse 2012