"The first organized touring Coolidge Marching Club to work for the nomination of the president comes to Washington Sunday morning. It is composed of 25 European midgets, headed by I.S. Rose, New Englander and impresario. The midgets wear buttons and ribbons on which is inscribed Coolidge 1925." Midget is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative. While not a medical term, it has been applied to persons of unusually short stature, often with the medical condition dwarfism, particularly proportionate dwarfism. Midgets have always been popular entertainers. P. T. Barnum indirectly helped popularize the term "midget" when he began featuring General Tom Thumb, Lavinia Warren and Commodore Nutt in his circus. "Midget" became linked to referencing short people put on public display for curiosity and sport. Barnum's midgets, however, were elevated to a position of high society, given fantasy military titles, introduced to dignitaries and royalty, and showered with gifts. Photographed by National Photo Company, January 23, 1924.