“Nobody ever lost a dollar by underestimating the taste of the American public.”

—  P.T. Barnum

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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P.T. Barnum photo
P.T. Barnum 17
American showman and businessman 1810–1891

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'Notes On Journalism' http://books.google.com/books?id=52L2eI9mwlcC&q="No+one+in+this+world+so+far+as+I+know+and+I+have+searched+the+record+for+years+and+employed+agents+to+help+me+has+ever+lost+money+by+underestimating+the+intelligence+of+the+great+masses+of+the+plain+people"&pg=PA28#v=onepage in the Chicago Tribune ( 19 September 1926 http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1926/09/19/page/87/article/notes-on-journalism)
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