P. T. Barnum once employed an elephant to do the plowing on his farm. A neighboring farmer (and friend of Barnum's) -- noticing the beast at work -- began an argument with Barnum, who insisted that the elephant was just like the other working animals on his farm.

After quizzing Barnum on the economics of elephant husbandry, the farmer finally said, "I would just like to know what it can draw."

"It can draw the attention," Barnum replied with a smile, "of twenty million American citizens to Barnum's Museum!"

[Which "freak" attraction was featured between the Indian elephant and the apeman at the Barnum & Bailey circus in 1896? Duryea Motor Wagon Company founder Charles Duryea, driving one of America's first operable gasoline-powered automobiles.]