P.T. Barnum Authority to Reveal Mermaid Online and in Downtown Austin, Texas

P.T. Barnum expert Dr. Joe Vitale announced today he will display an actual mermaid artifact at a free public event at Wooldridge Park in Austin, Texas on May 9th at noon Central, and online at 1 Pm Central at www.BarnumReturns.com.

Austin, TX (PRWEB) May 8, 2006 -- P.T. Barnum expert Dr. Joe Vitale, author of “There’s a Customer Born Every Minute: P.T. Barnum’s Amazing 10 Rings of Power for Creating Fame, Fortune, and a Business Empire Today - Guaranteed” (J. Wiley publisher, 2006, hardcover, $24.95), announced today he will display an actual mermaid artifact at a free public event at Wooldridge Park in Austin, Texas on May 9th at noon Central, and online at 1 Pm Central at www.BarnumReturns.com.

“Barnum displayed a mermaid at his museum in New York City in the mid-1800s,” states Vitale, who spent twelve years researching the historic promoter of the circus to write his latest book, the first ever to reveal Barnum’s business secrets. “That mermaid was half monkey and half fish and truly ugly. I found another mermaid that Barnum would display if he were alive today.”

According to Vitale, mermaids have fascinated people since the 1700s. The famous “Feejee” mermaid that Barnum promoted cost the owner $6,000. Barnum said he showed it at his museum and three times the usual amount of people would stand in line to view it.

“Barnum loved people,” says Vitale, 52, president of Hypnotic Marketing, Inc., and author of numerous books about marketing. “You have to remember that practical jokes and oddities were the entertainment of the 1800s. His displays -- from mermaids to Siamese twins to General Tom Thumb to Jumbo the elephant -- were all designed to educate while entertaining. He always gave people much more than their money’s worth.”

Vitale’s new book is available in book stores, from Amazon, or from www.BarnumReturns.com

Contact:

Suzanne Burns

512-278-1610

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