In search of the Sons of Barnum goes to New York

Day 3. Walking the streets of New York I get a real sense of place and can almost conjure up the spring of the origins of PR. How cool would it be to reconstruct some of the great exploits of Harry Reichenbach? Visiting the lobby of Hotel Belleclaire I can only imagine the chaoses of the Tarzan ape exploit. Located in the heart of Manhattan’s trendy upper west side, the Belleclaire Hotel was built in 1903 and designed by famed architect E. Roth. It is a charming hotel that has housed the likes of Mark Twain and movie stars over the years. I discover that Harry represented the Hotel and perhaps this explains why it was the backdrop for many of his stunts. I fail to meet up with Joey Skaggs, the master of all media pranksters; philosophically I mark it down to bad traffic and a confusion of time zones. Skaggs is living proof on how credulous the media can be when they’re presented with any story, however ridiculous. Revisiting the site of his “Memorial Theme Park” stunt, is a blast , here Skaggs convinced the entire nation that he was about to open parks across the country which combined rides and attractions with mausoleums and memorials.