Who said one born every minute

In September a Rockford, Illinois newspaper printed the saying and credited a well-known Chicago criminal named Mike McDonald: This was the earliest linkage to Barnum found by QI : Barnum said many years ago that a fool was born every minute. In July a newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia reprinted a tale from a Montreal paper about a young Englishman who was swindled. Barnum, the king of showmen, often remarked that there was a sucker born every minute, and one of the slick gentlemen in Montreal evidently believes that it is true.

However, the data in this article is based directly on passages in newspapers and books with known dates. Over time they were reassigned to prominent individuals of the time period.

However, only the fame of P. Barnum has endured. Yet, support for this ascription is very weak. Citations occurred at the very end of his life and after his death. Image Notes: P. Barnum potrait by Charles Eisenmann via Wikimedia Commons. Jester graphic from OpenClipart-Vector on Pixabay. Clock graphic from PublicDomainPictures on Pixabay.

Special thanks to PatriotFan whose query led QI to formulate this question and motivated QI to write up results primarily obtained in Great thanks to Bill Mullins who located the January 7, citation.

Bill also found a valuable citation using flat in June Barnum said a sucker was born every minute and we think the number is on the increase.

Barnum , edited by Arthur H. Saxon Columbia University Press, :. There is not a whit of evidence, suggested Mr. Barnum was just not the type to disparage his patrons. But, contrary to what Arthur H. Barnum is from Suckers , published in the Neosho County Journal Osage Mission, Kansas of Thursday 6 th June It is strange how easily people are gulled especially is this true with people with some real or imaginary ill.

Like this: Like Loading Follow Following. The irony being that Hannum, himself a "sucker", made the comment in reference to the many "fools" who had paid to see Barnum's fake giant, not the one Hannum believed to be authentic. At the trial, Hull confessed that the Cardiff Giant was a hoax, and the judge ruled that Barnum could not be sued for saying Hannum's giant was a fake given that it had been proven to be exactly that. While on the topic of quotes Barnum did not make, a few words on the life of Barnum himself who we tend to think of as a con man whereas it seems that Barnum and at least some of his contemporaries did not see him that way.

Arthur Saxon, author of P. Barnum: The Legend and the Man spent more than three years collecting over 3, letters that Phineas Taylor Barnum sent to friends and business associates and concluded that while Barnum loved pranks he always considered his audience to be in on the joke.

For instance, once he was offered the opportunity to purchase an extraordinary "cherry-colored cat" sight unseen. On being presented with the cat he observed that it was black; to which the seller responded, "some cherries are black. He was a passionate advocate of temperance and supported both women's rights and abolition.

He was also, apparently, an honest and effective politician serving in the Connecticut state legislature from to , and as mayor of Bridgeport in He was also a founding trustee of Tufts University to which he endowed an expansive museum of natural history, including the stuffed hide of the circus's famous elephant. Jumbo the Elephant remains the university's mascot to this day. A daring first novel—both buoyant comedy and devastating satire by the author of Say You're One of Them.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes! Your guide to exceptional books. BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info and giveaways by email. Why do we say "There's a sucker born every minute"?

Well-Known Expressions. Meaning: There is no shortage of naive people ready to become victims of frauds and cheats. Background: This expression appears to have originated in the USA around and is often attributed to P.