In 1862, P. T. Barnum paid $30,000 to acquire a new performer, George Washington Morrison Nutt, twenty-nine inches tall, just as witty and talented as Tom Thumb, but younger. As he had for Thumb, Barnum developed costumes, songs, and jokes for his new star, awarding Nutt the rank of commodore. (Some even believed that Nutt was the real Tom Thumb, judging the older, portly midget an imposter.) In 1863, Nutt served as the best man at the widely publicized marriage of Tom Thumb to Lavinia Warren, and the wedding party (including Lavinia's sister) performed together for several years. Like many of Barnum's performers, Nutt posed for many cartes de visite in Brady's studio, then sold his portraits at Barnum's American Museum.

See Jenny Lind

George Washington Morrison
("Commodore") Nutt 1844 - 1881
Mathew Brady Studio
Albumen silver print
(carte de visite), circa 1863
8.5 x 5.5 cm (3 5/16 x 2 3/16 inches)
National Portrait Gallery,
Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C.