Christmas with Jenny Lind

On Christmas Eve 1850, after their tour group had been stuck on a storm-ravaged ship and arrived in Charleston, South Carolina exhausted and seasick, P.T. Barnum - along with his 17-year-old daughter Caroline - attended a Christmas dinner party in Jenny Lind's rooms. Lind had stunned the group with a decorated tree, and before dinner exchanged gifts ranging from jewelry and fashion accessories to some gag gifts - a statue of Bacchus for teetotaler Barnum and a singing monkey for her fellow singer and conductor Giovanni Belletti. After dinner, Lind and Barnum danced a cotillion - though Caroline admitted his attempt "afforded us a great deal of amusement."

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