This you will not see anywhere else!
Today, when going on a Sunday family trip to the circus, you expect to see beneath the dome of kind clowns, juggling bears and monkeys riding bicycles. And just some hundred years ago, the emotions of joy and laughter evoked in the guests' representations quite different characters ...
Unbelievable, but to stare at people with congenital deformities of the body, like women with four legs or men with hoofs instead of hands, was not considered shameful, and even on the contrary - "freak show" was the most popular and popular entertainment that families went to and on which their owners earned millions of dollars!
Let's look into the tent of the famous "Sideshow" and find out what sensational numbers the spectators could see in the arena every evening?
1. Grady Stiles or a lobster boy
This artist of the circus freaks was already the sixth member of the Stiles family, born with ectrodactyly - a deformation of the hands or feet, resembling claws.
Father Grady decided that the only way to survive and not become an outcast with such an anomaly is to join the circus. But his son's choice was only one - to continue the work of his father.
It turns out that fate has injured the lobster boy not only physically, but also morally. From a young age, the artist of the freak circus was known as a chronic alcoholic, and in 1978, on the eve of the wedding of his eldest daughter, he fired and killed her future husband!
The interesting fact is that Grady confessed to the perfect crime, but got off with only a conditional punishment because the prisons were simply not ready to accept such a ward.
Yes, and finished his life Grady no less terrible - his wife and son from a previous marriage hired a hitman, who made three shots in the head while he was watching TV in the trailer.
2. Charles Stratton or boy-with-finger
Charles Sherwood Stratton was born in 1883 and stopped growing in six months. After the next ten years, his growth, albeit slightly, but intensified and by the age of 18 reached a mark of 82 cm and 55 mm!
Having joined "Sideshow" Charles Stratton began to improve his physical form, and at the same time and accumulate material wealth, which, later, helped him to live comfortably. At the age of 45, the boy-with-finger died of a stroke. His height at the time of his death was 101.5 cm!
3. Myrtle Corbin or a lady with four legs
Mirlt Corbin was widely known as a Texas girl with four legs. A baby was born with a severe anomaly - a fruit with a doubled pelvis due to which there was another pair of reduced legs.
Hardly Myrtle turned one month, as her father began to earn money on it, showing the girl to neighbors for 1 cent. At the age of 13, a "lady with four legs" was already performing in the circus, and by 18 she had accumulated so much money that she could leave the troupe and even marry.
It is rumored that Myrt gave birth to five children - three from one vagina, and the other two from the second.
4. Wang or unicorn man
This man with a congenital anomaly - two 13-inch horns growing from the back of his head was found by an ambitious banker in Manchuria in 1930, and sold to the owner of the circus for big money.
5. Christian Ramos or Lionel "a man with a lion's face"
Christian Ramos was born in Poland in 1891 with a rare anomaly - hypertrichosis - a face covered with abundant vegetation. The boy's mother believes that the wine of such an inborn defect of the son was the punishment for his father's sin - when she was carrying Christian under the heart, he killed a lion. After 10 years, Lionel began to appear in the circus arena, and then, after accumulating money, resigned and moved to New York. Christian Ramos died at the age of 41 from a heart attack.
6. Isaac the Sprague or a living skeleton
Isaac Sprague was born in 1841, and his childhood can remember how quite a prosperous one, until he started to just melt at the age of 12! Unexplained weight loss led to the fact that Isaac joined the circus "Sideshow" and began to perform under a stage name - "a living skeleton."
Isaac died in Chicago from asphyxiation at the age of 46, weighed only 19.5 kg!
7. Ella Harper or the camel girl
Ella Harper was born in 1873 with a congenital anomaly - congenital genu recurvatum, that is, knee joints turned back. It is rumored that it was the camel girl who collected the most number of visitors, for which she received a weekly reward of $ 200 (the equivalent today is $ 5,000).
8. Cheng and Eng - Siamese twins
Cheng and Eng Bankers were born in 1811 in the sternum. At the age of 18 they joined the circus and quite successfully toured until they earned a comfortable old age. After retiring, Cheng and Eng settled in a plantation in North Carolina, where they even married two sisters - Adelaide and Sare-Anne Yates. It is rumored that this "strange family" had 21 children!
One morning, at the age of 63, Ang woke up feeling that Cheng had died. Doctors tried to disconnect the twins urgently, in order to save life yet alive, but ... after 3 hours, the second brother disappeared.
9. Slitzi or the head-pineapple
Despite the fact that Schlitzi was called only "the last of the Aztecs", the wisdom of this people did not get him. Schlitzi was born in 1901 with microcephaly - a small brain and skull, and as a result - severe mental retardation. Incidentally, his type was unusually in demand not only on the circus stage, but even in the movies (he starred in two films!) Schlitzi died at the age of 70 years.
10. Fanny Mills or a girl with big legs
Fanny was born in 1860 in Sussex (England) with a severe leg disease. Despite physical disabilities, the girl even married and gave birth to a son, who, however, was not destined to live. Fanny died at the age of 39, and at the time of death her legs reached 17 inches in length.
11. Eli Bowen or a legless acrobat
A poster on which the legless acrobat Eli Bowen poses in the circle of his family, gathered thousands of fans to the show! Moreover, this popular circus artist even won the nomination as "the most beautiful man in show business" and "the miracle of wild-wild world". At the peak of his career, Eli weighed 64 kg, and his height did not exceed the mark of 61 cm!
12. Mirin Dazho or a man-pillow
Another phenomenal circus artist - Mirin Dazho made a living puzzle. His body could be pierced or pierced a number of times and no damage to internal organs or bleeding was ever recorded!
13. Alice Doherty or woolen girl
Alice Doherty was born in 1887 in Minnesota. Money for her family baby began to bring from birth - her father did not hesitate to "sell" the bride for a fee. And as the number of those wishing to take a look at the "woolen girl" did not decrease, then she managed to earn money for the financial comfort of her large family without problems. Alice died for unknown reasons at the age of 46 years.
14. Minnie Woolsey or the chicken girl
Baby Woolsey was born in 1880 with a rare disease - Virchow-Szekel syndrome (low stature, small head with a narrow bird's face, nose like a beak and big eyes). Besides, she was completely bald, blind and without teeth! In the circus arena, the girl always appeared in a chicken suit and mixed the guests, trying to pronounce some "gibberish". In 1960, Woolsey was shot to death by a car.
15. Anzi or the albino
It is rumored that Anzi was born in New Zealand, but as a child, was stolen to perform in the circus! The main legend invented to entice viewers was that Anzi is an aboriginal of one of the Australian tribes, and what's more, the god of his people, to whom everyone in the tribe is worshiped!
16. Sideshow Boxers
An amazing couple of boxers from the "freak show", alas, remained in the memory of people only on a vintage photo camera in 1900 and without the names of the main characters.
17. Pascual Pine or a man with two heads
A well-known two-headed Mexican, performing in the circus, was proud of his anomaly!
His second head was on the top of the head, and was like a small copy. It is rumored that when Pascual liked to drink an extra glass of alcohol, his second head began to hiccup and even drooled!
18. Annie Jones or the bearded woman
One can imagine the horror of the parents when they first saw their newborn girl with a beard, but ... As soon as a well-known showman appeared on the threshold and the circus owner proposed a high fee for the opportunity to demonstrate this small miracle, the family immediately recognized the child as "the sweetest creature »! Since 9 months Anni began to earn her living, was twice married and once a widow, impressed with playing musical instruments and died at 37 years old from tuberculosis.