In 1850, Lind traveled to the United States as part of a concert tour promoted by none other than P.T. Barnum, of Barnum & Bailey's Circus fame. During this time, she became known as "The Swedish Nightingale."
While in America, Lind became America's first big celebrity. P.T. Barnum, being a master of marketing, played upon her virtues, namely modesty and charity, to endear her to the public. And it worked. Her concerts drew big crowds and even bigger sums of money. As a result of her popularity, people began naming things after Jenny Lind. Soon there were locomotives, clipper ships and chapels named after her. During the Gold Rush, a town in California was even named after her. The most lasting of these names, though, was that of the Jenny Lind crib.
Supposedly, during her popular tour of the U.S., Lind slept in a bed with turned posts or spindles. So, cribs with turned posts became known as Jenny Lind cribs, and they are still known as such today. Jenny Lind cribs today tend to be simple designs with drop sides, and are sold by many different manufacturers. These cribs still feature the same turned, knobby legs and posts as they did when they were first named for The Swedish Nightingale.
Resources
http://ok.essortment.com/jennylind_rtiv.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Lind
http://www.assumption.edu/whw/IconsFemale/FemaleIcons.html
