September 22, 2011
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/22/2011
Carte-de-visite of "Admiral Dot" a Barnum Circus freak, who at thirteen years old weight only 15 pounds at twenty-five inches high. Nice very clear image of this well-dressed and famous "little person." Anthony backmark. Fine condition. Admiral Dot (1864 - October 28, 1918), born Leopold Kahn, was a dwarf performer for Phineas Taylor Barnum. Little Leopold was discovered by P.T. Barnum when but four years old. Barnum was reeling from the loss of his second American Museum to a fire and intended to mark his retirement by taking a west-coast vacation. His showman's spirit, however, could not be extinguished, and he was most intrigued by the two-foot-high child. Barnum dubbed him "The Eldorado Elf", for all the gold he would bring in, and later gave the boy a military rank as a tribute to the legendary General Tom Thumb. As he grew up, Admiral Dot became a popular comedian and "character artist". While with the Locke & Davis Royal Lilliputian Company in Philadelphia in October of 1891, Admiral Dot became acquainted with a female dwarf, Charlotte Naomi "Lottie" Swartwood, said to be the prettiest dwarf in the world. Born in Van Etten, New York, on February 7, 1867, Lottie was raised Presbyterian, but converted to Judaism so she could marry the Admiral. The miniature couple were married in a traditional Jewish ceremony at Temple Rudolph Sholon in New York on August 14, 1892. The wedding was attended by many of the famous Lilliputians of the day. Sadie Belton was the maid of honor and Colonel Reuben Steere the best man. Also in attendance were George Laible and his bride-to-be Annie Nelson, and of course Major Atom, Dot's nephew. The couple's first child, Hazel, was born in 1893, with a son Gabriel, named for Leopold's father, following on January 21, 1896. Both children were average-sized. Like many pituitary dwarfs, Lottie and Leopold continued to grow long after the average person would have stopped. Leopold eventually stood four feet high, with Lottie exceeding him by two inches. Though no longer impressive as midgets, the Kahns remained beloved local characters in the town of White Plains, New York, where they settled around the turn of the century. With a show business fortune of an estimated $250,000, they were able to establish the Admiral Dot Hotel. Leopold became a volunteer firefighter and was even sworn in as a deputy sheriff, making him the smallest man in the country to hold either position. He died in the 1918 influenza pandemic.
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