The golden age of American and European freak shows – travel exhibition and funfair attractions , often of disabled or disfigured entertainers – cross about a 100 , from or so 1840 to 1940 [ germ : handicap Social History Project ] . Wildly popular during the solar apex of the prudish era , the human curiosities and oddities behind sideshow drape systematically attracted bunch at travelingcircuses , fairgrounds andP.T. Barnum ’s American Museum in New York . Indeed , Barnum , who would eventually go on to host to first Miss America - manner beauty pageant in 1854 , made his mark as the laminitis of the freak show [ source : Thomson ] . He and his British vis-a-vis Tom Norman , who hear theElephant Man , charged customers to watch bewhiskered ladies , conjoinedtwins , picayune hoi polloi and other social outcast .
Contemporary disability studies explicate the appealingness of freak shows as a way of gratify in cultural and social violations , such pay to leer at a morbidly obese soul , and reinforcing social norms by showcasing the abnormal [ source : Craton ] . At the same time , a phone number of lusus naturae show star wielded their impairment to make a levelheaded income and granary publicity and celebrity , which some scholars interpret as success stories for the time [ source : Thomson ] . For female freak in especial , their presence on leg distinguish a distinct breach of Victorian Thomas More . In an epoch whenwomenwere have a bun in the oven to stay near to the hearth and home , the following 10 female who took to the stage to sell their " born " deformities ( i.e. nimiety limbs ) and " made " physical embellishments ( i.e. tattoos ) were particularly compelling – and tabu .
10: Joice Heth, 161-Year-Old Woman
Barnum purchase his first " freak , " former plantation slave Heth , from Kentucky impresario R.W. Lindsay , and trotted her around the Northeast for seven months as her health wane [ source : Reiss ] . For the Mary Leontyne Price of one quarter , visitors could see Heth up close , her wrinkled peel and undisturbed conduct provoking some to assume that she was merely a well - disguised automaton [ author : Curry ] . Indeed , the toothless and crippled aged fair sex was alive , but not for long [ reservoir : Thomson ] . After she choke in February 1836 , Barnum cover to cash in on the Heth hoax . He tear 50 penny for entree to the medicalautopsyof her corpse , and the doctors reported to the 1,500 attendees that , indeed , Heth was far from 161 twelvemonth sure-enough ; she belike passed in her 70 .
9: Ella Milbauer, 586 Pounds of Feminine Charm
sideshow often employed the proficiency of visual contrast to emphasize freakery . For instance , a showman might parade a little person next to a giant to amplify their relative tiptop aberration [ reservoir : Rosenbaum ] . And just as extremely tall and highly short people were regular fixtures in nut shows , bony and corpulent figures also were popular draw . For that reason , fatwomenwould stand on point next to median - sized bystander or " human skeleton " attractions .
Ellla Milbauer , bill as " 586 Pounds of Feminine Charm , " was a democratic sideshow champion who toured with the Ringling Circus [ source : BoingBoing ] . She began working the circus fishgig in 1956 , after the sideshow bloom had go by . Taking over for thecircus ' former fat peeress , Alice from Dallas , Milbauer only tour for five year , likely because sideshows were wane in popularity and many freaks had lost jobs by that stage [ source : Sunday Magazine ] . Yet Milbauer ’s legacy lives on through a portrait of hers that ’s featured in Drew Friedman ’s 2011 book " Sideshow Freaks . " Being immortalized in a freak show account is a noteworthy skill for Milbauer , since rich gentlewoman were typically devalued performers , earning less than other entertainers [ author : Thomson ] .
8: Seven Sutherland Sisters
The Seven Sutherland Sisters rake in more cash as entrepreneur thancircus attractions , but the initial ill fame they win on tour pave their way toward momentary wealthiness . adopt daughters of Fletcher Sutherland , Sarah , Victoria , Isabella , Grace , Naomi , Mary and Dora Sutherland trained as aBarnum and Bailey Circusmusical act with a show - stopping turn . After charming audience with their vocal chords , the sisters would take down their hairdos toward the end of their execution , and their tortuous brunette tress would topple to the storey . Altogether , the Sutherland sisters had nearly 37 feet of hair’s-breadth [ root : Sammarco and Rounds ] .
Their begetter realized that song would only take his girls so far , and he capitalized on their long locks by think of a Seven Sutherland Sisters ' Hair Grower . With their carnival human action providing the devoid publicity , the quinine water sold quickly , make them $ 90,000 in its first yr on the securities industry [ source : Sherrow ] . In fact , hair soda pop sales allowed the Sutherland Sisters and their legendary manes to retire from the carnival . They squander their lot , however , and their imperium finally crumbled at the act of the century , when bob and other short hairstyle came into trend [ source : Sammarco and Rounds ] .
7: Myrtle Corbin, Four-Legged Woman
Myrtle Corbin was born in Tennessee in 1868 with four legs . Technically , the extra pair of wooden leg belonging to Corbin ’s dipygus counterpart that miscarry to full develop . Between Corbin ’s own leg drop two minuscule , unusable 1 attached to its own pelvis . The girl ’s family promptly realized Myrtle ’s money - do potential and make her into the sideshow circuit at age 13 .
parade byP.T. Barnum , Coney Island , Ringling Bros. Circus and other drawing card , Corbin and her extra band of limbs amazed audiences . To counterbalance her " monstrous " anatomy , her promotional " pitch book " ( a form of personalised freak show program featuring an entertainer ’s photo and backstory ) emphasized Corbin ’s deportment , draw her as " gentle of tendency as the summer sunshine and happy as the day is long " [ source : Bogdan ] . clear , the selling angle worked , and Corbin bring in about $ 450 per week at her visor [ source : Hartzman ] .
Corbin ’s popularity coincide with the acclivity of teratology , or the subject field of physical abnormality ( caustically referred to as " freak " ) , making her illustrious in the medical world as well . Articles detailing Corbin ’s strong-arm consideration and her first experience with childbirth in 1889 were publish in medical journals , including the Journal of the American Medical Association , the British Medical Journal ( now BMJ ) and the American Journal of Obstetrics , which described her as belonging to " a class of monster by fusion " [ source : Bogdan ] .
6: Josephine Joseph; Half Woman, Half Man
Austrian - born Josephine Joseph is a famous representative of a sideshow basic : gaffed presentation[source : Springhall].P.T. Barnumhad few qualms about " gaffing , " or faking , a nut so as to sell ticket . Did he , for illustration , really consider thatJoice Hethhad live to be 161 geezerhood old ? Doubtful .
A common category of the gaffed presentation at circuses and freak show include the half - human , half - womanattractions . These men and woman would expose themselves asintersexpeople ( the preferred term for gynandromorph ) , possessing the biologic characteristics of both male and female person . Josephine Joseph is one of the considerably - known " double - bodied " personality , appearing in Tod Browning ’s 1932 film " Freaks . " The correct side of Josephine Joseph ’s body typify masculinity , range the hair short and wearing a strongman ’s leopard leotard . The left side embodied the feminine , sporting long hair , constitution and women ’s clothing and hose . Although fiddling is make love about Josephine Joseph ’s life history outside of his or her calling culmination in the other thirties , the sideshow monster was probably a male imitator [ root : Nickell ] .
5: Hilton Sisters, Conjoined Twins
The Hilton Sisters were among the only sideshow ace to break out of thecircustent and make it to mainstream Hollywood . Indeed , the conjoinedtwinsDaisy and Violet were among the highest wage earner on the vaudeville circuit at the height of their calling in the thirties , bringing in as much as $ 5,000 per week [ source : Thomson ] . In 1932 , they joined Tod Browning ’s cast of social misfit in " Freaks , " and in 1950 , the Hilton sisters asterisk in the B - film " Chained for Life " about their " love and life story " as get hitched with twins .
Perhaps it is n’t astounding that the Hiltons achieved brief stardom , since they were make for up to become entertainers . Raised by themidwifewho fork out them , Daisy and Violet were taught vocalizing , dancing and musical cat’s-paw , and by years 3 , they execute at circuses , circus and funfair [ author : Hartzman ] . Their adopted female parent , whom they called " Auntie , " kept all of their earning to herself , however , and it was n’t until they were 23 years one-time that the twins pursued legal activity to hold on to their income . They revel modest renown , but also weathered strained romantic relationships , which were all at last thwarted by their marry circumstance . In fact , both Daisy and Violet were hook up with briefly ; Violet got buck as a packaging stunt in 1936 , and Daisy ’s new husband walked out after only 10 days in 1941 [ germ : Thomson ] .
Once their whiz languish out completely in the sixties , the Hiltons influence at a grocery store fund in Charlotte , N.C. One twin worked the register while the other would purse groceries [ source : Hornberger ] . A few geezerhood later , Daisy and Violet died in 1969 .
4: Mary Ann Bevan, World’s Homeliest Woman
report of Mary Ann Bevan often emphasize that the " World ’s Homeliest Woman " was n’t bear untempting . In a quality example of how sideshow showcased what are now understand as medical conditions , Bevan ’s rum case resulted from an adult - onslaught metabolic disorder calledacromegaly , also know asgigantism[source : Danzig ] . The circumstance causes the pituitary gland to secrete excessive outgrowth endocrine , stimulatingbonedevelopment ; in Bevan ’s casing , her facial bones magnify , distorting her features .
In 1903 , Bevan , then working as a nursemaid , marrieda husbandman , and the couple had four children together . Bevan might not have ended up in the Coney Island Dreamland Circus Side Show and the Ringling Bros. Circus if her husband had n’t exit unexpectedly , making her the sole breadwinner . Left a widow woman with four tyke in 1914 , Beven entered and won a " Homeliest Woman " rival to earn extra household money [ source : Hartzman ] . To continue indorse her folk , she double up her pageant title into sideshow workplace , and demo her deformed face on stage in front of quail crowds until she pop off in 1933 [ reference : Danzig ] .
In 2006 , a British doctor who discover Bevan ’s look on a Hallmark card that mocked her acromegaly - marred visage became indignant and protested the indignity to the salutation card companionship . As a result , Hallmark quit marketing the " World ’s Homeliest Woman " for profit .
3: Millie-Christine, The Two-Headed Nightingale
Twins Millie - Christine McKoy , get married at the down in the mouth spine , were born into slaveholding in 1852 . Disabled children in slavery conditions were considered worthless burdens , since grove proprietor did n’t care to flow an supernumerary backtalk that could n’t impart to toiling in the field [ source : Disability Social History Project ] . But the rarity of Millie and Christina ’s conjoin Department of State made them more valuable as a possible sideshow attraction , and as a result , thetwinswere bought and sold three or more time before they were 6 years onetime [ root : National Institutes of Health ] . finally , salesman Joseph Pearson Smith bribe Millie - Christine and her family , and his married woman instruct the twins read , writing , singing and dancing .
tour for nearly 30 years , Millie - Christine ’s primary performance talent was singing . Nicknamed " The Two - Headed Nightingale , " the twins hop - skip around the United States and Europe , performing atP.T. Barnum ’s American Museum in New York and even before Queen Victoria . patron could piece up a copy of their autobiography , " Biography , Medical Description and Songs of Miss Millie / Christine , the Two - Headed Nightingale " for a quarter at their show [ informant : Bogdan ] .
In 1882 , Millie - Christine earned a joint income of $ 25,000 while touring on the Great Inter - Ocean Railroad Show , pave the way for retreat later that tenner [ source : Martell ] . Black woman , or any fair sex at all for that matter , bringing in so much money was a rarity in post - Civil War America , which is one reason they ’re considered one of the expectant succeeder in sideshow story . Millie - Christine died in 1912 after Millie , the somewhat pocket-sized twin , concentrate TB .
2: Julia Pastrana, Baboon Lady
In his 1868 publication " The Variation of Animals and plant life Under Domestication,“Charles Darwindescribed Julia Pastrana , the Baboon Lady , as " a remarkably fine fair sex , but she had a thick masculine beard and a hairy forehead " [ informant : Bondeson ] . Born in a Mexican orphanage around 1834 , Pastrana had a uncommon genetic upset called innate generalised hypertrichosis terminalis with gingival hypertrophy , which resulted in excessive hair ontogeny , enlarged gingiva and a observably protruding jaw [ source : LiveScience ] . At the time , of trend , scientist and naturalist like Darwin did n’t understand what do Pastrana ’s apelike visage , get her not only a sideshow sensation but also a aesculapian curiosity .
Pastrana toured around the United States , Europe and Russia , hail as a " nondescript , " or a interbreeding between human and creature or male and female . In appearances in concert antechamber and exhibitions , Pastrana played up her confoundinggender identity , fit out her hirsute soma in frilly clothes , fuzz accessories and shine gewgaw , sometimes clutching bloom to further contrast the masculine and feminine . She also entertain audiences by belting out English and Spanish aria and dancing in a assortment of forms , especially the highland fling [ germ : Bondeson ] .
Anecdotal account from the few who knew Pastrana well indicated that the leer attention she received was a source of forlornness rather than camaraderie . Though she was one of the considerably - bed entertainers during her myopic lifetime , Pastrana was continually subject to unwritten and medical interrogation and constant questioning about whether she was , in fact , awoman . In 1860 , Pastrana died from giving nativity to her impresario ’s child ; the baby boy , hold with Pastrana ’s genetic disorder and suffering from new-sprung asphyxia , barely survived two Clarence Day . subsequently , the mother and Word ’s consistency were embalmed and transport out on the route for exhibition yet again [ source : Sweet ] .
1: Lavinia Warren, Mrs. Tom Thumb
When Lavinia Warren link the greyback to General Tom Thumb in 1863 , President Abraham Lincoln hosted the flyspeck honeymooner for a wedding reception at the White House . The New York Times gushed over the 32 - inch - tall " fagot of Beauty " and her bridal finery in a novella - distance article [ source : The New York Times ] . The joyous – and hard publicise – event notice the climax of the sideshow historic period , and the closest Victorian America would come to embracing a so - telephone junkie as one of their own . The couple had break out of thecircustent and attained unfeigned fame position .
P.T. Barnumbegan exhibiting Charles Stratton , aka General Tom Thumb , in England in 1843 when the small somebody was only 11 geezerhood onetime . Twenty year subsequently , he was one of the most celebrated freaks in the mankind , and hisweddingto Lavinia Warren was mostly a publicity stunt orchestrated by Barnum . Meanwhile , Lavinia Warren had get down traveling in 1858 with a maritime dime bag museum own by her uncle , and in 1862 she joined Barnum ’s brigade at the American Museum in New York [ generator : Bogdan ] . Soon after , Stratton discern Warren and became romantically interested in her , much to Barnum ’s delectation . Once the twain herald their engagement , American Museum crowds swelled to catch a coup d’oeil of the petite St. Brigid - to - be [ germ : Bogdan ] . After Stratton go in 1883 , Warren remarried to another little soul performer , Count Primo Magri , but the ostentation for addict show and their stars had since faded .
