Happy Valentine’s Day from the Littlest Lovers: Tom Thumb & Lavinia Warren

charles_sherwood_stratton_and_lavinia_warren_marriage

“There’s someone for everybody” goes the old matchmaker’s expression, and perhaps no words rang truer on February 9, 1863, the day that professional little person Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton) married Lavinia Warren at Grace Church, New York. (I believe that’s Lavinia’s sister Minnie Warren as Maid of Honor; and Commodore Nutt as Best Man). This little stunt, the “Fairy Wedding” by the press, lightened people’s hearts during the depths of the Civil War. We present it to you in the same spirit today.

 tomthumband-lavinia-440x293

It wasn’t just a publicity stunt, however; the two were a real couple. But even so, their boss P.T. Barnum was probably not too unhappy when the big event resulted in coverage like this:

tom-thumb-wedding-harpers

“I love you completely, my own, my all. But above all, I love this front page coverage in Harpers!”

For more on performing little people please check out Rose’s Royal Midgets and Other Little People in Vaudeville. 

One comment

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.