The redheaded Grace Hester Gilbert was born on February 2nd in 1876 on a small farm near Nettle Lake, Ohio. She was the youngest of four children and the only one in the family to be born covered in a layer of silken hair. By the time she was 18 she was being exhibited full-time…
The ‘Minnesota Woolly Girl’ – Alice Elizabeth Doherty – holds the unique distinction of being the only recorded American to be born with hypertrichosis lanuginosa. A condition exceedingly rare and unusual. Born with a mane of fine and silky blonde hair; she was an American Werewolf. Alice was born on March 14,1887 in Minneapolis to…
Unlike many of her bearded-lady contemporaries – the Baroness Sidonia de Barcsy was a genuine member of a royal family. Sidonia was born whisker free on May 1, 1866 in Hungary. She remained sans mane until shortly after she gave birth to her son at the age of 19. Her son, Nicu, was a dwarf and was destined to stand less than three feet in height. The Baroness, meanwhile, began to sprout facial hair and in a few short months Sidonia possessed a full beard measuring nearly 9 inches in length.
What would you do for love? In her time, Jean Carroll was a popular bearded lady. More importantly, Carroll was the real deal. Born in 1910 in Schenectady, New York Jean Carroll possessed the genuine foundation of a fine silken beard at the age of ten, when she joined the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. As she aged,…
The case of Julia Pastrana has long been held as a tragic example of exploitation. The remarkable bearded prodigy lived a life of manipulation and in death her body was abused and disgraced by callous souls and ignorance. The life of her contemporary could have easily followed the same shadowed path however her story is…