Friday, November 16, 2007
Ralph Krooner - The Elephant-Skinned Man
Ralph Albert Krooner was born in Montpelier, Vermont in 1888 and he owed much of his fictitious and show-worthy back story to the long-discredited medical theory of maternal impression.

The theory of maternal impression was once a popular phenomenon that attempted to explain the existence of birth defects and congenital disorders. The theory stated that an emotional stimulus experienced by a pregnant woman could influence the development of the fetus. According to Ralph, his pregnant mother was traumatized by a stampeding group of elephants. The rampaging circus elephants allegedly killed five men, and injured twenty-one. Ralph's mother purportedly witnessed the carnage and was so affected by the episode that, four month later, her son was born into the world with an elephantine hide rather than supple skin.

The entire story is, of course, a complete fabrication and taken almost verbatim from the promotions associated with Joseph Merrick. When Ralph was born, Merrick was already living in London hospital and had left his career as an exhibit far behind. Sir Frederick Treves, physician and friend to Merrick, published his book The Elephant Man and other Reminiscences in 1923, which is around the time Ralph began his 30 year career exhibiting himself in carnival sideshows.

Ralph's condition was unique during his time and was certainly not the ichthyosis (alligator skin) that many other strange-skinned performers had. Until fairly recently his condition was a complete mystery but recent events, like this one in Eastern Europe, have shed some possible light on his affliction.

Most recently an Indonesian fisherman named Dede has come to public attention. He has, what appears to be, a much more serious version of Ralph’s condition likely made much worse by decades of medical neglect.

The cause of Dede’s tree-like appearance was discovered by Dr Gaspari of the University of Maryland. Medically he has little more than the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a fairly common infection that usually causes small warts to develop on sufferers. However Dede also has a rare genetic fault that impedes his immune system, meaning his body is unable to contain the warts.

It is quite possible that Ralph possessed a similar genetic impediment, but was able to keep his condition in check with routine soakings, filings and treatment.

The eventual fate of Ralph is currently unknown however a Ralph Albert Krooner passed away in Tampa, Florida in 1952.

image: courtesy of Quasi-Modo.net
video courtesy of Telegraph

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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Written by J. Tithonus Pednaud
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Sunday, March 25, 2007
Mary Ann Bevans - ‘The Homeliest Woman'

Mary Ann Bevans, commonly referred to as ‘The Homeliest Woman in the World’, likely suffered from acromegaly. She was born Mary Ann Webster in London, England in 1874 as one of eight children. She was employed as a nurse and began to display characteristics of acromegaly shortly after her marriage in 1903.

Following the passing of her husband in 1914, found herself solely financially responsible for her four children. In an attempt to make some money, she entered and subsequently won an ‘Ugly Woman’ contest.

She was quickly hired by Coney Island’s Dreamland Circus in 1920 and there she remained, excluding a few short appearances for Ringling Bros and a 1926 World’s Fair spot, until her death at the age of 59 on December 26, 1933.

More recently, a Hallmark Birthday card featuring the image of Mary Ann Bevans launched a feeling of outrage in UK shops. A Dutch doctor complained that the card, which made fun of Bevans, was inappropriate because she had a legitimate disease. Hallmark realized their error and promptly removed the offensive cards.

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Written by J. Tithonus Pednaud
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Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Bizarre Skin Condition in Eastern Europe
I am currently pouring over my old medical journals and papers in an attempt to diagnose this disorder, brought to my attention by the folks over at Neatorama. Does anyone have an idea what this is?


A friend of mine has a relative who is a missionary in Eastern Europe. He recently shared photographs and the story of a man he is caring for, who has an extremely bizarre skin condition. The man has keratin-like matter growing out of the skin on hands and feet, which started when he was young, and very slowly continues to spread and grow. The areas begin as skin lesions, and the matter sprouts from those spots. The growths are very difficult to remove, and the man has so far just had to learn to live with it. There are a few medical precedents to this man's case, but nothing is certain until more tests are done. In the meantime, the missionary is helping to make life easier for the man.

Read the full story here.

UPDATED: CLICK HERE

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Written by J. Tithonus Pednaud
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Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Foot Binding
The unusual Chinese practice of foot binding began during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Although the tradition was officially banned by the Republic of China in 1911, the practice continued for quite some time in rural areas.

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.

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Written by J. Tithonus Pednaud
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Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Mortado - The Human Fountain
Yesterday I mentioned in passing that Mirin Dajo used his unique talent to turn himself into a ‘human fountain’. I would be in error if I did not mention Mortado, The Human Fountain.

Mortado actually had holes bored through his feet and hands. These holes were not traditional piercings and, while seated in a specially constructed chair, copper tubes were feed through the wounds. Water was then pumped through those pipes at high pressure and Mortado became a fountain.

Remarkably, there was no trickery in Mortado’s crucifixion-like wounds. When not seated in his chair, Mortado placed corks into his wounds to keep them from healing over. On occasion, Mortado did reenact a biblical crucifixion. After placing small bags of red fluid into his open wounds, he would then allow an assistant to drive nails into those same holes. The bags would break, the ‘blood’ would flow, and people would proceed to faint.

Not much is known of Mortado’s history. His pitch biography is mostly fictional and that makes reconstructing his true origin difficult. According to his biography he was born in Berlin and served in World War I. He first exhibited himself in Berlin in January of 1929 before meeting a New York Agent and signing a deal with Dreamland circus for their 1930 summer season. But, according to the same biography, his wounds were the result of torture at the hands of savage natives.

How Mortado got the idea for his bizarre act, how he managed to create the holes or even his eventual fate remains unknown. Mortado dropped in popularity and disappeared from public exhibition.

Mortado does live on in Ripley's Museum at Fisherman's Wharf as an exhibit featuring a statuesque fountain.

image: Mortado at Coney Island’s Dreamland Circus in 1930, from Freaks: We Who Are Not As Others by D. P. Mannix.

Sources: Sideshow World and Freaks: We Who Are Not As Others.

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Written by J. Tithonus Pednaud
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Saturday, April 15, 2006
Zebra People - Piebald
Piebald is a word often used to describe animals with large black and white spots, however in the golden age of sideshow – and even long before that - it was used to describe human beings with this unusual skin condition.

Contrary to what one may assume, piebalding is not related to albinism and is instead caused by dominant mutations of an altogether different set of genes in a condition known as Vitiligo These mutations can occur in persons of any color. However, persons of African heritage with vitilligo make up the bulk of sideshow performers – often called leopard or zebra people - and are the subject of most of the medical history – most of that early history is filled with racist statements and ignorance.

The first image depicting 'piebalding' in a human being occurred in the pages of Histoire naturelle by Buffon. A lithograph features a young girl – around the age of five – standing amid an exhibit of curiosities with a two-tone body. Buffon never met the child first hand but owned an original painting the lithograph was based upon. The painting was done by an unknown Columbian artist in 1740 and bore the following inscription:

The True Picture of Marie- Sabina who was born Oct 12 1736 at Matuna a Plantation belonging to The Jesuits in the City of Cartegena in America of Two Negro Slaves named Martianiano and Patrona.

Despite this rather detailed pedigree, many naturalist of the day insisted that the child was the result of a white and a negresse and that to preserve the honor of the Society of Jesus it was written that both parents were slaves. Later, that diagnosis was changed, by Buffon, to include the union of a slave and an albino.

Despite the fact that many other children were born with piebald – John Richardson Primrose Bobey (1774, Jamaica), Magdeleine (1783, St. Lucia) George Gratton (1808, St. Vincent) and Lisbey (1905, Honduras) – Buffons odd hypothesis stood as fact for nearly two hundred years.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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Written by J. Tithonus Pednaud
Link to this Human Marvels article
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