The Decline of the Huckster by Michael Ceraolo

The Decline of the Huckster

From his series A Second American Gallery


Though it has long been attributed to me,
I never said or wrote
There's a sucker born every minute;
that is the attitude of the huckster,
and
I much prefer the term showman
But since huckster absolutely applies
to many of those who came after
and are often compared to me,
I'll go with it for the duration of the poem,
after first explaining what I consider the difference


A huckster wants to dupe the public
"I don't believe in 'duping the public' "
"I believe in first attracting
& then pleasing them"
because
I wanted them to come back again;
the huckster only wants them once
Of course,
"some persons always will take things literally,
and make no allowance for poetic license"
so I didn't please everyone all the time


You probably know about the American Museum,
and my promoting Jenny Lind,
and the circus in my later life,
and maybe some of my other promotions,
some of which I'm not proud of
I'll speak now of things I did that are less well-known


I ran a profitable lottery
before the state made it illegal
(I understand today many states run lotteries,
and some even allow casino gambling
I think it would be impossible
to go bankrupt running a gambling casino)


I ran a newspaper; I wished to be
"a terror to Bigots and Tyrants---"
and
I think by the standards of the day I was
(I understand that today there are many
who aspire not to be a terror to,
but actually to be one or both of those)


I served in the Connecticut legislature,
and am proud to be among those who voted
to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment;
I wish my proposal for black suffrage
had passed before the passage
of the Fifteenth Amendment
enacted such
Later
I ran for Congress but lost to a cousin
just beginning his long career
as a master of sleazy politics
(I understand that today there are some
working tirelessly to disenfranchise
those they think won't vote for them,
and that these efforts are
sometimes successful,
and
that sleazy politics are still prevalent,
and
successful because they reach more people)


I will end by saying
I was always optimistic that
"the world is continually
growing wiser and better"
though
there were those at the time who disagreed
(I understand that today some,
with different ideas,
are trying to halt, or even reverse,
the increase of wisdom)


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