The times and tribulations of Joseph Carey Merrick have long been the subject of books, films and theatre. As a result, ‘The Elephant Man’ is without a doubt the most famous human prodigy of all time. His story garnered the sympathy of Victorian England and after the span of one hundred years, his plight remains no less heart wrenching or inspiring.Joseph Merrick was born on August 5, 1862 in Leicester to Mary Jane and Joseph Rockley Merrick. He had a younger brother and sister and was completely normal until the age of three. In an autobiographical note which appeared on the reverse side of his freak show pamphlet, Merrick noted that his deformity first manifested with small bumps appearing on the left side of his body. By the time he was 12, and his mother passed away, Joseph’s deformities were severe. When his father remarried, his stepmother expelled him from the house and young Joseph began struggling not only against his deformity, but starvation and homelessness as well.
For a time, Joseph Merrick attempted to earn a living by selling door-to-door and on the street. Despite hiding his face behind a burlap mask, Merrick still endured the constant harassment of local children and many adults. His sales attempts were futile and he eventually ended up in the Leicester Union workhouse.
Victorian workhouses were not friendly places. They were akin to prisons, where the unemployed and unemployable toiled in the most unwanted laborious tasks of the era. Due to his progressing deformity, Joseph was soon unable to manually work at all and on August 29, 1884 he took a job as a curiosity attraction.
Contrary to film accounts, Merrick was well treated as an exhibit and well paid for his time. While on exhibit on Mile End Road in London, now the London Sari Centre, his path first crossed with Dr. Fredrick Treves. Treves, who would later chronicle and befriend Merrick, gave him one of his business cards after Merrick politely declined an examination. When human curiosity exhibits were outlawed in the United Kingdome in 1886, Merrick travelled to Belgium for work. There he was indeed mistreated and ultimatly robbed and abandoned by his promoter. He also contracted a severe bronchial infection further complicated by his deformities.
Upon his return to London, Merrick was the involved in a disturbance at Liverpool Street train station when his masked appearance and twisted body caused hysteria. Merrick was unable to speak due to his bronchial infection but had retained the business card of Dr. Treves, which he presented to authorities. Treves was quickly summoned from the London Hospital and soon arranged for Merrick to be given permanent quarters in the hospital.
It was during this time that Joseph Merrick thrived.
Despite a living in constant physical and emotional pain, Merrick possessed an indomitable spirit. He quickly became the subject of much public sympathy and something of a celebrity in Victorian high society. Alexandra, then Princess of Wales and later Queen Consort, demonstrated a kindly interest in Merrick, leading other members of the upper class to embrace him. He eventually became a favourite of Queen Victoria. However, Treves later commented that Merrick always wanted, even after living at the hospital, to go to a hospital for the blind where he might find a woman who would not be repelled by his appearance and love him. In his later years, he found some solace in writing, composing remarkable heartfelt prose and poetry.
In the summer of 1887, Merrick spent time vacationing at the Fawsley Hall estate, Northamptonshire. Special measures were taken for his journey there as he was forced to travel in a carriage with blinds drawn. Merrick enjoyed his time away from urban London greatly and collected wildflowers to take back with him to London. He visited Fawsley Hall again in 1888 and 1889.
Merrick was cared for at the hospital until his death at the age of 27 on April 11, 1890. He died from the accidental dislocation of his neck due to its inability to support the weight of his massive head in sleep. Merrick, unable to sleep reclining due to the weight of his head, may have tried to do so in this instance, in an attempt to imitate normal behaviour.
Joseph Merrick was originally thought to be suffering from elephantiasis. In 1971, Ashley Montagu suggested in his book The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity that Merrick suffered from neurofibromatosis type I, a genetic disorder also known as von Recklinghausen's disease. NF1 is still strongly associated with Merrick in the mind of the public; however, it was postulated in 1986 that Merrick actually suffered from Proteus syndrome, a condition which had only been identified in 1979.
In July 2003, Dr. Charis Eng announced that as a result of DNA tests on samples of Merrick's hair and bone, she had determined that Merrick certainly suffered Proteus syndrome, and may have had neurofibromatosis type I as well. As it stands, many people still mistakenly refer to his condition as elephantiasis.
Merrick's preserved skeleton was previously on display at the Royal London Hospital. While his remains can no longer be viewed by the public, there is a small museum focused on his life, which houses some of his personal effects and period Merrick memorabilia.
Note: While Joseph Merrick is better known as John Merrick, it is not his birth name. Sir Fredrick Treves recalled the name as such in his memoirs. It is unclear if Treves recalled details incorrectly or if Joseph Merrick went by John.
Links:I highly recommend The True History of The Elephant Man.
Joseph Carey Merrick tribute site.
The remarkable Eli Bowen was born in Ohio on October 14, 1844 as one of ten children. While his siblings were physically average, Eli was born with his disproportional feet attached directly to his pelvis.In essence, Eli Bowen was a man born with feet but no legs.
Despite his physical configuration, or perhaps because of it, Eli strived to live an extraordinary life. He endeavoured to not only overcome the limitations of his deformity, but strived to be the best in a profession know for its perfect physiques and physically taxing routines.
Eli Bowen wanted to be an acrobat.
Eli learned early to use his arms and hands to compensate for his lack of legs. Eli would hold thick, wooden blocks in his palms and use them as ‘shoes’, elevating his torso in order to walk on his hands. As a result of that process as well as steady farm labour Bowen developed enormous strength and even in adulthood he was able to navigate his 140 pound frame anywhere he chose. He started his professional career at the age of 13 in various wagon shows before eventually touring independently, performing in dime museums and finally touring Europe with Barnum and Bailey Circus. He garnered a reputation for being a magnificent and effortless tumbler and acrobat and for his phenomenal feats of strength.
Billed as ‘The Legless Acrobat’ Eli Bowen was known for his remarkable tumbling abilities but was applauded internationally for his extraordinary routine known simply as ‘the pole routine’. While Eli stood only twenty-four inches in height he had no reservations about climbing a thirteen foot pole in order to balance on a single hand at its peak. Griping the pole Eli would stretch his torso straight, parallel to the ground, and spin around the pole. Eli would then hold himself parallel to the pole using only his right arm. The routine not only displayed Bowen’s strength, but was also unusually graceful. Soon, Eli Bowen was commanding a salary of over $100 a week.
As he grew into adulthood, Eli Bowen also became well known for his handsome looks and, at one point, he was considered by many to be the most handsome man in show business.
Eli Bowen’s good looks drew many female fans to his performances. At the age of 26 Eli married 15-year-old Mattie and together he eventually fathered 4 healthy sons. He took great pride in his family and the majority of the photos featuring Eli feature his family as well. In fact, as Eli was so regularly photographed a collector can actually watch his children grow into young men and, eventually, adults.
Bowen continued to perform into his 80’s simply because he loved performing. His sons were prosperous, one became a merchant and another became a lawyer and judge and Eli owned property, specifically two farms in Michigan, and so money was never much of a concern. Eli simply loved life in the public eye and could not give up performing.
On May 2, 1924 Eli Bowen passed of pleurisy just days before a scheduled performance for The Dreamland Circus at Coney Island. During his long career he was regarded with great reverence by his fellow performers. They lovingly referred to him as ‘Captain Eli’.
Read more about Eli Bowen in American Sideshow.
The moniker ‘The Man with Two Faces’ has been given to many Marvels during the history of sideshow. While few actually had two faces, Robert Melvin came pretty close. Born in Neurofibromatosis, or NF as it is commonly referred to, is quite varied in its visible symptoms. Some patients are greatly deformed, some grown small nodules or ‘knots’ on their bodies, and some have little more than a few small brown birthmarks. There has been great speculation that Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man, had NF. One look at the facial deformities Robert possessed and their similarity to those of The Elephant Man gives some merit to those assumptions - although, it is still mere speculation. For a time, Robert was even known as ‘The Modern Elephant Man’. Many people were so shocked at Robert's appearance that many believed he was a fake - even a few noted doctors and sideshow historians.
The tumors that afflicted Robert completely distorted the features on the right side of his face. While Robert was not allowed to attend school as a child due to his appearance, he did receive a full education and - through the power of his unbelievably outgoing personality - he became rather well known, respected and loved by his small town neighbors. He never considered his appearance a handicap. In fact, once he entered the world of Sideshow in 1949 at
Robert made a comfortable living with the sideshow both as an attraction and serving as the show accountant. During the off season, Robert kept busy doing the books for a hardware store. He also enjoyed a minor film career, appearing as a sanitarium inmate in Sisters (1973) - along with fellow Marvel Bill Durks - as a surreal demon in The Sentinel (1977) and also in the documentaries Being Different (1981) and I Am Not a Freak (1987).
In 1952, Robert returned to his hometown and married his longtime girlfriend Virginia – a girl he had know since his mid teenaged years - and despite rumors that ‘it would never last’ the pair were married for more than forty years. The two had a daughter, who later gave Robert a grandson and granddaughter.
Robert was known by friends and family – including the extended family he met in the sideshow – as a friendly, gentle, charming and intelligent man. When he passed away on November 19 in 1995, his funeral was well attended by those who loved and respected ‘The Man with Two Faces’ for the Marvelous man that he was.
image: Taken from the book In Search of the Monkey Girl, published 1982.
Labels: deformity
The true tale of Edward Mordake (Mordrake) has been lost to history. His unusual case occurred early in medical history and is referenced only in tales handed down. Indeed, the tale of his life has become so muddled through the passage of time that no solid date of birth or death is evident to modern researchers. The story always begins the same way. Edward is said be have been heir to one of the noblest families in
In some versions of the story, the second face of Edward is a beautiful girl. This is an impossibility as all parasitic twins are of the same sex. Often it was said that it possessed its own intelligence and was quite malignant in its intentions. It has been said that the eyes would follow spectators and its lips would ‘gibber’ relentlessly and silently. According to legend it would smile and sneer as Edward wept over his condition. While no voice was ever audible, Edward swore that often he would be kept awake by the hateful whispers of his ‘evil twin’.
The story has always concluded with young Edward committing suicide at the age of twenty-three. The method of his death also differs, sometimes poison does him in and in other versions a bullet ‘between the eyes of his devil-twin’ puts him out of his misery. In both versions Edward leaves behind a letter requesting that the 'demon face' be destroyed before his burial, 'lest it continues its dreadful whisperings in my grave.'
Is the story of Edward true? The 1896 text Anomolies and Curiosities of Medicine mentions a version of the story and Edward has been featured in many texts, plays and even music as the Tom Waits song ‘Poor Edward’ is based on the story. However, the tale was considered false for quite some time. It was simply too fantastic to believe and, obviously, many parts of the story simply do not make medical sense – years of retelling warped what was likely a very real occurrence.
Chang Tzu Ping was discovered in
It does not require a great leap of faith to conclude that the tale of Edward is based on some nugget of fact, perhaps he had something similar Chang’s condition – mutated by storytellers over time. Consider that the case of Chang Tzu Ping is relatively unknown despite only occurring a few decades ago or the strange tale of The Boy of Bengal. These are indeed very rare cases and the human mind has a tendency to classify the unusual as impossible – it often helps us sleep well at night.
Listen to the Tom Wait song inspired by Edward Mordrake.See a brief video of Chang Tzu Ping here.
image: Janus twin drawing based on Edward -Unknown Artist.
2. Still of Chang from 'That's Incredible', 1982.
The topic of ectrodactyly has been discussed in the past on this very site. The story of Grady Stiles Jr. detailed the condition at length but, to summarize, ectrodactyly is a rare congenital deformity of the hand where the middle digit is missing and the hand is cleft where the metacarpal of the finger should be. It is perhaps best known as ‘lobster claw syndrome’. It is an inherited condition and often occurs in both the hands and the feet. It generally affects about 1 in 90,000 babies, with males and females equally likely to be affected.However, with the so called Ostrich People of Zimbabwe, ectrodactyly occurs in roughly 1 in 4 infants. The Vadoma are a tribe living in near seclusion along the Zambezi River Valley in western Zimbabwe. They were considered something of a legend, a myth, until their mainstream discovery by one Charles Sutton in the 1950’s. The Vadoma are a popular example of the genetic effects of small population size on genetic defects and mutation. Due to the Vadoma tribe's isolation, their population has maintained a constant appearance of ectrodactyly, and due to the comparatively small gene pool, the condition is much more frequent than elsewhere.
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the Vadoma condition is the total acceptance and adaptation of the population. The deformity is not regarded as a handicap; rather it is simply viewed as a fact of life.
A brief video of the Ostrich People can be found here.
Related Articles:
Grady Stiles Jr.
Polydactyl Marvels
Monstrous Fingers
Labels: deformity, ectrodactyly, medical
Read the full story here.
UPDATED: CLICK HERE
Labels: deformity, disfigured, medical
The trait of polydactyl (also known as supernumerary fingers) is an inherited trait and these occurrences have been carefully documented for centuries. Some extreme cases include: an instance of 13 fingers on each hand and 12 toes on each foot, an infant at the Htel-Dieu in The Foldi family (pictured above) was first written of in the 1896 publication Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine. The family of Foldi, part of the Hyabites tribe living in
The inhabitants of the
It is surprising that the trait of extra digits is not all that uncommon. In fact, it is estimated that about one in three thousand Europeans are born with an extra finger or toe. The trait is even more common in
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Labels: deformity
Foot binding was initially a rather mild and harmless practice, performed by women attempting replicating the look of imperial concubine practices – who danced with their feet tightly wrapped in silk. But, by the Qing Dynasty (1636-1911), feet were forcibly bound so tightly and so early in life that crippling deformations resulted. Due to the fact that these women were deprived of autonomy and required constant assistance, foot binding became something of a status symbol.
Beginning as early as age five, the process was long and painful. Due to the tight binding four toes on each foot would break and become highly deformed within a year. Eventually a high arch was formed; the foot would become concave and resemble a ‘lotus blossom’. The ideal total foot length was to be no longer than 10 cm (4 in).
The Xiaohuayuan Shoe Factory in Shanghai still occasionally takes custom tiny shoe orders to accommodate the aged population affected by foot binding. Quite recently, a 90-year-old woman in Shanghai received a new pair of shoes. The shoes were a New Year’s gift from her son and daughter-in-law.
Labels: deformity, disfigured
The practice of preserving and displaying prodigious births is centuries old. In the 1600’s King Frederick III of Denmark has a personal collection of punks numbering in the thousands - a collection started in the 1500’s by Frederick II. and during that same timeframe Ulisse Aldrovandi, an Italian naturalist, had a collection consisting of eighteen thousand various specimens.
The deformities present in pickled punks are incredibly varied. As varied as the nature of human inflictions.
The earliest and most well documented pedigree for a deformed punk display dates back to 1582 when Mme Colombe Chatri died at the age of sixty-eight - and a twenty-eight year old fetus was removed from her womb. The Stone-Child of Sens should have been born in 1554, however labor came and went with no delivery and in the resulting decades the fetus was calcified and ossified within the womb – which actually formed a shell. Mme Chatri seemed to have lived a normal life, with the exception of regular abdominal pains. Following her death and the ‘delivery’ of the Stone-Child – naturalists clamored to claim the fetus and the right to display the tiny marvel. Jean d’Ailleboust wrote a detailed pamphlet in 1582 – complete with illustrations - about the case, which became an instant best seller. Pare featured the infant in his book Des monstres et prodiges and reveals that the child was sold to M. Prestesiegle, a wealthy merchant in the 1590’s. He sold it to a goldsmith named M. Carteron who in turn sold it in 1628 to M. Bodey, a jewel merchant complete with a sort of ‘certificate of authenticity’. In 1653, the Stone-Child came into the possession of King Frederick III as well as a handwritten copy of the d’Ailleboust paper. By this point, the child was heavily damaged, with both arms broken and the marble-like skin worn off in places.
The Stone-Child remained in the possession of the Royal Museum for decades, cataloged in 1696, 1710, 1737 and was transferred to the Danish Museum of Natural History in 1826. The Stone-Child went missing sometime in the late 1800’s – it is believed that is was literally scrapped by Professor Reinhardt when he was director of the museum as he believed it was not a ‘scientific display’.
Strangely enough, the Stone-Boy condition – known today as lithopedion – is not all that rare as some 290 cases exist in modern medical literature.
The classic pickled punk – floating in a jar of preserving fluid - became most popular during the golden age of sideshow and experienced a great resurgence in the 1950’s and 1960’s. During that era many punks were linked to drug abuse, at least in the banner lines outside. Several sideshows featured extensive punk displays – some authentic and others gaffed (faked). Following this era, laws began to restrict the display of punks. To complicate matters, laws differed from state to state – making traveling displays almost impossible. Furthermore, the question of whether punks qualify as 'human remains' further complicates the laws.
The great modern showman, Ward Hall, once had one of the largest punk shows in the United States. During one season he was fined due to the fact that the display of human remains was illegal in the state he had set up his show in. He replaced his punks with rubber replicas – called 'bouncers' – and continued his tour only to be fined again in another state for being a ‘conman’, displaying ‘fakes’ and ‘false advertising’.
While there are still a few stationary legitimate pickled punk shows in the sideshow tradition. Today the best place to find pickled punks is in research or university laboratories or medical museums – like the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. The world's largest collection of pickled punks, once owned by Peter the Great, is currently on display at the Kuntskammer Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Image: Late Sideshow owner Captain Harvey Lee Boswell's favorite Picked Punk
– a fetus with anencephaly –currently for sale at Madame Talbot’s.
In March of 1512 a well respected Florentine apothecary named Lucca Landucci made quite a startling entry into his diary. He described a monster born in Ravenna. He described The Monster as having a single horn upon its head, two bat-like wings, and markings upon its chest, a serpentine and hermaphrodic lower body, a single eye set in its knee and an eagle like claw for a foot. While Landucci had only seen a painting of the marvel, the creature likely did exist. Records indicate that Pope Julius II ordered the child starved to death. The account of Landucci is one of the earliest reliable recordings of a prodigy at the dawn of a new era of recognition and understanding. It also documents the first definable instance of real prodigious birth elevated to mythic proportions.
The rumor of The Monster spread across
While no one is certain as to what the monster really was but it was almost certainly a child born with a severe and unusual genetic disorder. Upon its birth, people could not stop taking about The Monster. People simply had to see the illustrations. They had to hear the stories. Even now, hundreds of years after the original event, people are still talking.
It is human nature to be curious of the wondrous.
You can see more unusual monsters in Treasury of Fantastic and Mythological Creatures.
image: Portrait of The Monster from Paré's ; this illustration includes the odd chest markings.
The cyclopic little girl born almost a month ago in Chennai, India has died according to a report filed on September 11, 2006 with NewIndPress.com. The exact date of her death is unclear, however the article states it was 10 days previous.
The baby girl, who caused a major media and Blogosphere frenzy, was diagnosed with a rare chromosomal disorder known as cyclopia at birth. She was born with a single eye in the center of her forehead, no nose and her brain fused into a single hemisphere.
While the average life expectancy for such and infant is three days, this child lived for nearly a month, the longest surviving case in history.
‘She was losing weight and had to breathe and feed via a tube’. Doctors at the Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital, ‘The parents took away the child though we requested them to preserve the body’.
The parents do not want their child to become a museum specimen; it was their first child after six years of marriage.
It is a shame that, while her birth was everywhere, the passing of this unique and stong willed little girl has not garnered the same press.
Image: a modified photo credited to Scott Carney, taken from Wired News.
Grady Stiles Jr. is a rarity in the world of Human Marvels. By many accounts, this teratological terror was every bit the monster he appeared to be.The Stiles family has been afflicted for over a century with ectrodactyly, a condition commonly known as 'Lobster Claw' syndrome. It is a rare congenital deformity of the hand where the middle digit is missing and the hand is cleft where the metacarpal of the finger should be. This split often gives the hands the appearance of lobster claws although cases range in severity. Often this condition occurs in both the hands and the feet and, while it is an inherited condition, it can skip a generation. While the term ectrodactyly sounds medically sterile when compared to ‘Lobster Claw Syndrome’, a look at its Latin meaning reveals that the word translates to ‘monstrous fingers’.
William Stiles was apparently the first in the family to display the condition in 1805. He was followed by Jacob Stiles, Elisha Stiles and Grady Stiles Sr. Grady Sr. was a sideshow attraction and when Grady Franklin Stiles, Jr., ‘The Lobster Boy’, was born in Pittsburgh on July 18, 1937 his father added him to the show at a young age.
Grady’s condition was severe and he was unable to walk. He learned to use his hands and arms for locomotion and, as a result, developed incredible upper body strength. He married twice and had four children. Two of those children, a girl, Cathy, and a boy, Grady III, were born with variations of ectrodactyly. Although the siblings were from different mothers, they sometimes toured together as The Lobster Family.
Grady had a dark side. He was known to be a highly abusive drunk. He often used his frightening strength to beat his wives and his children. When his oldest daughter Donna fell in love and became engaged with a young man in 1978, Grady didn’t approve with her choice. Perhaps the young man stuck up for Donna, perhaps he confronted Grady. The night before the pair was to be married; Grady picked up a shotgun and murdered the young groom in cold blood.
The trial was a media circus. In court Grady openly confessed to his crime and showed little remorse. However, he did not serve any time for the murder. He used his condition to his advantage. It was stated that since the prison system was not equipped to deal with his ‘disability’, confining him to such an institution would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Grady was let off on 15 years probation.
Following these events, Grady felt invincible. When he resumed beating his family one of his favourite taunts was ‘I killed before and got away with it, I can do it again’. Amazingly, during this time Stiles remarried his first wife Maria. She left her new husband, a sideshow dwarf, to remarry Grady and almost instantly regretted the choice.
Eventually, the family had had enough. On November 29, 1993 Grady was gunned down by a hired assassin. The hitman was then 19 year old sideshow performer Chris Wyant, a neighbor to the Stiles family. He was paid $1500 in cash by Maria and her stepson Harry, to put three bullets into the skull of Grady Stiles Jr.
Wyant was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to twenty-seven years. Harry was considered the mastermind behind the plot. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Maria was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to twelve years in prison.
In her defense, Maria stated ‘My husband was going to kill my family. I believe that from the bottom of my heart. I’m sorry this happened, but my family is safe now’.
The family has carried on. Grady III has a daughter, Sara, who does not have ectrodactyly. Cathy is married and has a lobster-clawed daughter named Misty. The three of them still perform on occasion. Cathy has taken up acting and has appeared in the series Carnivale and in the Tim Burton film Big Fish.
image: Grady postcard in the author's collection. The reverse was signed by Grady himself in 1961.
For more information on medical marvels,I highly recommend Mutants by Armand Marie Leroi.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTSLabels: deformity, ectrodactyly
Frieda Pushnik was born without arms or legs on Feb. 10, 1923 in Conemaugh, Pennsylvania. She claimed that her condition was due to a botched appendectomy conducted on her pregnant mother. The validity of this statement is questionable, however considering no lawsuit was filed – the story is most likely a case of sideshow creativity.Frieda was a testament to human willpower. By all accounts she never considered herself disabled. She accepted her condition as a matter of fact and strived to live as everyone else did. Her mother was the driving force behind this aspiration and it wasn’t long before Frieda was feeding herself, sewing, crocheting and playing as children do. Remarkably, by holding a pen between her shoulder and chin, Frieda was not only able to write legibly – she actually won several awards for penmanship. Because Frieda was limited in movement, her mother would carry her to school daily and her brother or sister would carry her back.
In 1933, Robert L. Ripley, of ‘Ripley's Believe It or Not!,’ heard of Frieda and visited her and her family. He illustrated her story in one of his nationally syndicated cartoons, calling her ‘The Little Half Girl’, and he eventually asked her to appear at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1933.
At the age of 9, accompanied by her mother and sister, Frieda began appearing in Ripley’s ‘Odditorium’ with fellow child marvel Betty Lou Williams. Her act was little more than an introduction and a demonstration of her typing and writing skills but audiences were completely floored. She would repeat the five-minute show many times each hour through what was often a 16-hour day. In the six years she was on tour with Ripley, she was seen by millions. To make extra revenue, she would sell her pitch cards - a variety of portait photos. For a few dollars more she woould personally sign her photos. An example of her handwriting - or 'shoulder-chin' writing - can be seen above.
After a brief retirement, she joined up with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Her sister and mother again joined her. This time her sister actually performed with the circus as a skilled trapeze acrobat and dancing girl and even her mother worked for the circus office as a secretary. In 1944, the circus suffered a spectacular fire which claimed the lives of 167 people. Frieda was luckily carried to safety by a member of the minstrel show.
Despite that frightening experience, Frieda returned again to the circus and continued to perform until 1955, when ‘politically correct’ laws effectively forbid the display of human marvels and killed her livelihood. She retired to Costa Mesa California – fairly well off financially - where she lived quietly, adorning her home with her own oil paintings.
On Christmas Eve, 2000 the remarkable live of Frieda Pushnik ended. She passed away at the age of 77 - the victim of bladder cancer. She had never married, and despite being out of the public eye for decades, the news of her passing was the subject of many news stories. Even in death, 'The Little Half Girl' remains a testiment to human spirit.
Image: one of Frieda's autographed pitch cards dated from her circus days.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
George Williams, The Turtle Boy, was born in 1859 in Arkansas. He was born with a rare form of dwarfism known as parastremmatic dysplasia. Not only does this form of dwarfism stunt growth, Williams was only eighteen inches tall, but it also twists and contorts the bones of the body into grotesque spirals.Williams was incredibly popular during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He primarily worked carnivals and dime museums but he was best known for his lengthy tenure at Huber’s 14th Street Museum in New York.
Despite really looking nothing like a turtle, Williams was often depicted with a shell in pamphlets and advertisements. He was not content to simply allow patrons to view him; he preferred to earn his money by performing. Overcoming his severe deformities, Williams became a very accomplished musician on the harmonica and flute and, in contrast to his diminutive size, he possessed a rich and wonderful baritone singing voice.
Williams had a reputation of being a bit of a pool shark. Often, he played lengthy games with fellow Marvel Laloo, who conceded several rule modifications to Williams - such as allowing the Turtle Boy to shuffle along the felt table itself or sit along the edge of the table.
During his peak, Williams earned $75 a week. This sum was considerably less than many of his sideshow counterparts. This may have been due to his race but regardless he was a content and fulfilled man. He was able to purchase a 160-acre farm near Wheaton, Illinois. In 1920, he was injured in New York when his wheelchair was overturned due to a defect in the sidewalk. He sued the city for $10,000 but lost.
It was the last time George Williams made any appearance in the media. The details of the remainder of his life are unknown.
Image: 1901 cabinet card in collection of the author.
Excerpts of the above taken from the book Very Special People, American Sideshow as well as We Who Are Not As Others.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Mignon was born in the early 1900's, likely around 1910, with a condition called phocomelia. Phocomelia typically results in the stunting of limbs and the fusion of digits. In Mignon's case her fingers were fused in such a way as to resemble flippers. Furthermore, as her truncated limbs forced Mignon to waddle rather than walk – her stage name of 'The Penguin Lady' was both apt and easily assigned.Her name, Mignon, was not her birth name. Most reports indicate that her given name was Ruth. Mignon is the French word for 'cute' and she likely adopted it early in her career. In fact, for quite some time she was know as 'Mickey Mignon' and even today her true surname is debatable.
While Mignon often wore a two piece bathing suit to show off her unique physique, she was not content to rely on appearance alone. She learned to play the rather exotic marimba, an African instrument similar to a xylophone. She proved to be very proficient as she was not only featured in numerous sideshows, her act was also featured at the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago and the 1939 and 1940 World's Fairs in New York.
Mignon married twice in her lifetime. She had a healthy son with her first husband, a 'normal' man by the last name of LaArgo and in the 1950's she married fellow sideshow performer Earl Davis, a gnarled and crippled former acrobat known as 'Hoppy the Frog Boy'. The two performed together for close to a decade.
Following her retirement in the 1960 Mignon disappeared from public view and the final chapters of her story remain shrouded.
To learn more about Mignon and other Human Marvels purchase American Sideshow.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Randian was brought to the US in 1889 and, while he performed at many dime shows and museums, he gained most of his fame performing for P. T. Barnum. In front of the large crowds Barnum provided Randian demonstrated the ease in which he was able to shave, paint, write and even roll cigarettes. Not only was he able to roll a cigarette, he was also able to pull a match from its box, strike it, and light his freshly rolled cigarette.
Randian had many nicknames during his career. Randian’s typical costume consisted of a striped wool garment and his main mode of transportation was writhing about on the ground in a worm-like fashion. These two visuals led to his most common nickname – ‘The Human Caterpillar’ – and he went on to appear in a variety of carnivals and sideshows, including Coney Island, for a forty five year stint.
Randian had a role in the 1932 film freaks, in which he demonstrates his cigarette rolling skills and utters a single unintelligible line. Oddly enough, it is said that he spoke several languages including Hindi, French, English and German.
By all accounts, he was a bright and charming man with a great sense of humor. Both of these talents helped him land a wife and make use of his one remaining appendage.
He and his wife had five children.
Eventually Radian retired to Paterson, New Jersey and in 1934 he died at age 63 of a heart attack following a comeback performance.
Call him what you like: The Living Torso, The Snake Man, The Human Worm, The Human Cigarette Factory or the Amazing Caterpillar Man. Radian was a man who, despite his physical limitations, truly lived live to his fullest.
Update: As the film 'Freaks' is now public domain, click here to see Randian in action.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The promise of suggestive sexual content lured many warm blooded men to curiosity displays, carnivals, and sideshows. The Cooche Shows (exotic or burlesque shows) presented by carnivals in the first half of the 20th century proved incredibly successful. But the shy or modest man would often opt to take in the sideshow, where skin was often available for viewing in a more discreet situation. The idea of a seeing a tattooed woman in a revealing bathing suit, in an era when bathing suits looked more like dressing gowns, drew many men into the tents of the sideshow – sometimes even accompanied by their wives or sweethearts.Frances O'Connor benefited from the innocent sexual undertones in her act. She was able to show a great deal of leg, more than was really appropriate in her prudish era, and she was never reprimanded for her actions. Frances showed her bare legs a lot – for they functioned as her arms.
Frances was born on September 8, 1914 in Renville County, Minnesota. Born without arms, she learned to use her feet in incredibly dexterous ways. Despite her physical condition, or perhaps because of it, Frances possessed a very outgoing personality. That combined with a natural beauty and the the sheer spectacle her legs created as they competed otherwise mundane daily chores, made her a natural for the sideshow.
Her sideshow career began in Wyoming with the Al G. Barnes Circus – her mother serving as her manager - and eventually she worked with Ringling Bros. And Barnum & Bailey for over 20 years, until the mid 1940's. She was given the moniker of 'The Living Venus De Milo' and, while not the first sideshow worker given this name, she was perhaps the best suited. By all accounts she was a very beautiful woman who attracted droves of men and eligible suitors to her shows. Not only was she beautiful, but her sweet disposition made many men swoon and it has been said that she turned down hundreds of marriage proposals during her career.
Frances and her incredibly dexterous legs and feet were featured in the 1932 film Freaks. In the film, she does such things as smoke a cigarette, drink from a cup, cut her food with a fork and knife and use a napkin to dab the corners of her mouth – all performed with a ballerina-like grace. Francis was so capable with her feet that she was able to sew and knit as a hobby.
Eventually, as she aged, Francis lost interest in traveling and the crowds lost interest in her. Shortly after her managing mother passed away she decided to completely retire from show business. Francis disappeared almost completely into obscurity overnight and, despite having many suitors in her prime, she never married or bore any children. She lived out the remained of her life alone in California before passing away in 1982 at the age of sixty-seven.
Excerpts of the above taken from the book Very Special People as well as We Who Are Not As Others.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Fanny was born in England in 1860 and immigrated to to Sandusky, Ohio shortly after her birth. From an early age, Fanny began to show signs of Milroy's Disease. Milroy's is essentially a Lymphedema - a gross swelling, fluid building and discoloring of the soft tissue – localized only to the lower extremities. It is most common in women, with seventy to eighty percent of all those afflicted being female, and the severity of the inherited condition varies.Although Fanny was a tiny woman, weighing in at a lithe 115 pounds, her feet expanded to require a size 30 shoe.
Fanny's feet were said to have measured more that nineteen inches long and seven inches across. Her shoes – rumored to be made from the skins of three goats – were slipped on over pillowcase socks. She was unable to walk without assistance and, when she began exhibiting herself at Dime Museums in 1885, she brought along her friend Mary Brown to serve as a nurse and attend to her special needs.
It did not take very long for promoters to label fanny the 'Ohio Bigfoot Lady' and litter the areas surrounding the dime museums and the carnivals Fanny attended with posters and pamphlets. Promoters also began to issue a strange promotional challenge. A reward of five thousand dollars was put up to any man willing to marry the Ohio Bigfoot Lady.
The challenge was successful as droves of bachelors came out to the show to take a look at Fanny – all paying an admission fee to see her. Many of these men were hoping to marry Fanny. However Fanny was already married to a man named William Brown – a man who happened to be the brother of her friend and nurse, Mary Brown. Furthermore, he married her free of charge.
At her peak she was earning more than $150 a week – a small fortune at the time. However after giving birth to a stillborn child in 1887, Fanny's health began to fail. Her health eventually forced her to retire in 1892.
Fanny returned home to Ohio with her husband William. She died that same year.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Most sources indicate that Ella Harper was born in In 1886, Ella was the star of W. H. Harris’s Nickel Plate Circus, often appearing accompanied by a camel when presented to audiences and she was a feature in the newspapers of every town the circus visited. Those newspapers touted Ella as ‘the most wonderful freak of nature since the creation of the world’ and that her ‘counterpart never did exist’.
The back of Ella’s 1886 pitch card is far more modest in its information:
‘I am called the camel girl because my knees turn backward. I can walk best on my hands and feet as you see me in the picture. I have traveled considerably in the show business for the past four years and now, this is 1886 and I intend to quit the show business and go to school and fit myself for another occupation.’
It appears that Ella did indeed move on to other ventures and her $200 a week salary likely opened many doors for her. After 1886, no further references to Ella ‘The Camel Girl’ can be found.
image: 1. Ella Harper's 1886 Nickle Plate Circus Pitch Card from the author's collection.2. From the book We Who Are Not As Others.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Grace McDaniels was born in 1888, the same year that Jack the Ripper was terrorizing Grace likely suffered from Sturge-Weber Syndrome. Sturge-Weber Syndrome is a genetic condition which, in Grace’s case, caused a large, port wine coloured birthmark to thicken and distort the flesh of her face. Her condition was degenerative in nature and became worse with age. Shortly before her death, the fold of skin on her face hung more than four inches below her chin. Eventually, Grace had difficulty speaking due to the growth that enveloped her face.
Grace was very sensitive about her appearance. She often tried to hide her disfigurement with makeup and then later, as her condition worsened she took to wearing a veil. Grace also greatly disliked being called a freak and hated the ‘World’s Ugliest Woman’ epithet used to advertise her appearances. She was often seen backstage covering her ears as not to hear the ballyhoo – the outside sales pitch - and the talker calling her a freak and detailing her deformities. However, as time went on and she began to make a good living with the sideshow, she became more and more comfortable with her condition and position in life. Eventually, she was able to convince the talkers and promoters to refer to her by the moniker she is know by today – Grace McDaniels the 'Mule Faced Woman'.
Those who knew Grace said she was a wonderful, if shy, person. Later in life, Grace became a mother. A great deal was made of the event and for quite some time an almost fairytale mythology sprung up around the birth of her son Elmer. Contrary to those charming stories of love and marriage, the truth is that a carnival handyman - allegedly named Johnny – impregnated Grace while he was intoxicated and was never heard from again.
While Elmer was born a normal child, he grew into a physically and emotionally abusive alcohol and morphine addict who regularly stole from both Grace and from the sideshow - to pay off dangerous gambling debts. Acting as his mother’s manager, it wasn’t long before sideshows stopped hiring Grace due to the reputation of her son.
The sad life of Grace McDaniels ended peacefully in 1958 – and the true monster, her son Elmer, soon followed due to sclerosis of the liver.
Excerpts of the above taken from the book Very Special People and American Sideshow.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
So, what exactly is a pinhead?A pinhead is a person born with a condition known as microcephaly. It is a neurological disorder and is characterized by a smaller than average head. Biologically, during conception the head fails to grow in time with the face - which continues to develop at a normal rate; this produces a person with a small head and a receding forehead. As the individual grows older, the smallness of the skull becomes more obvious, although the entire body also is often underweight and dwarfed. It is very common that the development of motor functions and speech are also usually delayed and mental retardation is common in persons with microcephaly. The term Microcephaly is really a blanket term for many similar disorders. It may be congenital or the result of various syndromes associated with chromosomal abnormalities. What is known is that pinheads have always been a very popular draw.
Most pinheads are shorter than average and have a very distinct appearance thus, during the early years of sideshow, many pinheads were exhibited as a variant species – The Missing Link or ‘The Last of the Aztecs’ were common monikers. There was one individual during the Golden Age of sideshow who was simply considered indescribable. Those who looked upon Zip the Pinhead simply had to exclaim, ‘What is it?’
Born in 1842 as William Henry Johnson, Zip was technically a pinhead - however his condition was not nearly as pronounced as many of the other pinhead performers. However he enjoyed an incredibly long and profitable career and over those many years he was known by many names. At various stages in his career he was ‘The Monkey Man’ or ‘The Man-Monkey’. He was also known as ‘The Missing Link’, the ‘What is it?’ and Zip the Pinhead.
While William was actually born in