If you ’re a sports fan of FX ’s " American Horror Story , " then chance are you ’re already familiar – very familiar – with the conception of a freak show . The serialtelevision dramais set in the early 1950s , at the downturn of the freak shows popularity , and include characters that exhibit the mileage of a tough diligence . There ’s a bearded dame , conjoinedtwins , a " lobster male child " and others who exemplify the challenge that cut back up when an full society suffer interest group in one ’s " distinctness . "
At the altitude of their popularity in the mid-19th century and early 20th century , freak showperformers were genius . They ’d progress to celebrity position and were compensated consequently , often earning thousands of clam each workweek . mass with medical oddities willing to put themselves on display experienced many of the things that come with stardom , including their own entourages design to fulfill their every need and whim [ source : Ayers ] .
lusus naturae shows were , at their pith , a way to make money . As people paid for the perquisite to enter the nut show , they were lining the pockets of the show ’s promoters and , to a lesser extent , the participants themselves . In fact , freak show offered performers a mode to earn a living that otherwise was n’t available to them . And , as freak show gain in popularity , some people began purposefully convert their appearance to make a living as a performer . The Great Omi ( also know as the Zebra Man ) , for example , voluntarily tattooed his expression and body with one - in wide zebra chevron . His solitary purpose was to become a freak show attraction [ source : Gilbert ] .
Not all freak show performer had strong-arm abnormalities . Some exhibited interesting and unusual science or visual additions , such as eat fire or – like The Great Omni – being covered head to toe in tattoo .
Circus owners , the most successful of whom were also natural - bear promoters , used their enterprise ’s accompanying freak shows as a way to build stake in their outcome . It was , perhaps , the former form of societal media marketing . As monstrosity display traveled from township to town with the carnival , tales of the performing artist took on fabled ratio . And , to mix it up , promoters like P.T. Barnum would offer up everything from " 10 in One " shows to " man only " shows . The " 10 in One " shows would have 10 performers stand on a platform as pay customers walked past . The monstrosity shows for Isle of Man only included peculiarity believe too perturbing for women and tiddler . Aside from the electric potential to see a scantily apparel female performing artist , these man - only display often include displays ofpickled punks , which were deform human fetus preserve in clear jar [ source : Grande ] .
lusus naturae shows started declining in the 1930s as masses begin seeing them as exploitative and miss in dignity for the performers . Dr. also begin to diagnose and treat some of the disease that had caused the deformities . The final nail in the casket was the rise of television , which allowed multitude to stay at plate and see other mannequin of " lowbrowed " entertainment [ rootage : Grande ] .
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