The topic of faked marvels has been touched upon before. However, one would be foolish not to include the most famous gaff (fake) of all. The history of The Feejee Mermaid was, and continues to be, one of the most unique and enduring of all sideshow frauds. As the picture above illustrates, The Feejee (Fiji)…
The golden age of sideshow was built on the shoulders of deceit. It is human nature to exaggerate, and it was often in the nature of the Showman to boldly lie. P.T. Barnum was not the first to do so, he only perfected flimflam into a science. In fact, his career began in 1835 with…
Pasqual Pinon, was known as The Two-Headed Mexican and he was a featured attraction with the Sells-Floto Circus in the early 1900s. The story went that Pinon had fled Mexico after loosing his family ranch to Pancho Villa. Due to his unique deformity he was able to display himself for a substantial amount of money…