19th Century Ticket is the Latest P.T. Barnum Collectible

Somewhere along the line, I began collecting P.T. Barnum cards.

No, it wasn’t because of Hugh Jackman’s performance in The Greatest Showman, which I’ve never seen. It’s not because of any of the many books written about the legendary promoter. And it’s certainly not because of any great love of the circus.

The first Barnum card I purchased, I believe, was in building the T68 Heroes/Men of History set. And from that moment on, I’ve just begun picking up more of his cards.

And earlier this year, I branched out and picked up one of the oldest tickets to his shows.

Those that know me know that I’m not much of a ticket guy. The most notable one I’ve ever bought was actually a souvenir card ticket of a tribute game being played to honor a 19th century baseball player that had died. But this one intrigued me.

If you search on eBay, you’ll find hundreds of Barnum tickets available. Almost all are from the 20th century, with the great majority being from the 1930s and later. Ones earlier than that are rarer and ones from the 19th century, while not impossible to find, are tougher still. At the time of this writing, none were located on eBay at all. Barnum died in 1891 of a stroke and finding any tickets from his show while he was still alive is difficult.

But earlier this summer, I located one when looking for Barnum cards in particular. The ticket I purchased is from the 1887 season for Madison Square Garden. This ticket is also notable as, while the current Madison Square Garden was not built until the 60s, the second one (second of four) was built the year before in 1890. Barnum’s shows, were among the first events held in the original Madison Square Garden (from 1879-1890) and this second version, which opened in 1890.

The front of the ticket advertises Barnum’s shows along with another act, Adam Forepaugh’s Colossal Aggregation, another traveling circus act. It also includes the stamp of B.H. Grover, certifying it is a legitimate ticket — even if I haven’t been able to find any information on who Grover was. An 1885 program for Barnum’s Greatest Show on Earth lists Grover among employees as a ‘Special Agent’ but that’s as much as I’ve found.

The back carries a simple blue-ink design and both sides include the P.T.B. & Co. logo along with the 1887 date.

PSA grades these tickets, and ironically, that speaks a bit to their rarity, even if the idea of grading tickets is still a relatively new one. To date, the company has graded only one 1887 Barnum ticket.

I’m not much of a ticket collector but I’d purchase some of these from different years if I found them for sale. This fantastic archive includes images of other early Barnum tickets.