These Vintage Photos From Circus Sideshows Are the Stuff Nightmares Are Made Of
It wasn’t so long ago that disabled and different people were put on display in what were called “sideshows” (or “freakshows”) as an added attraction when the circus came to town. While some participants were happy and made a good living, many others experienced something closer to indentured servitude.
These bizarre photos below serve as profound documentation of an era that’s, thankfully, behind us.
Note: Some of these photos may be slightly NSFW.
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This was Martin Joe Laurello, who was known as “The Human Owl” for his ability to rotate his head around almost 180 degrees.
via: Pinterest3
Sideshow boxers of very different proportions.
via: Ten Cent Fox4
This man, known as “The Human Caterpillar,” was born limbless and would roll and light cigarettes with his mouth.
This is Koo-Koo, the bird girl.
via: Tumblr6The Human Pincushion.
via: Tumblr7A “performer” with hand and feet deformities.
Lucia Zarate is the smallest person who ever lived, weighing only four pounds at 18 years old.
via: Tumblr9Mike, the headless chicken, survived for 18 months after his head was chopped off.
via: Tumblr10A man who, seemingly, was born with a vestigial tail. His malnourishment may be even more concerning, however.
via: Pinterest11This is the Four-Legged Woman, which may have actually been an illusion.
The Elastic Skin Man.
via: Tumblr13Frank Lentini, known as “The Three-Legged Man” didn’t just have three legs, but four feet, sixteen toes, and two functioning sets of genitals.
via: PInterest14This haunting image is The Pierced Man.
Pip and Flip.
via: Vintage Gal16A legless acrobat with his family.
via: Tumblr17A performer with giant feet and another with no arms.
via: Tumblr18Unzie the Albino.
Annie Jones, who traveled as The American Bearded Woman.
via: Tumblr20This is Schlitzie Simon Metz, who suffered from microcephaly, a shrunken cranium and brain, which caused him to have the intellect of a small child even into adulthood.
via: Tumblr21John Jennings was known as the modern-day Sampson for his ability to lift heavy weights with his hair.
via: TumblrThese “Wild Men of Borneo” were actually developmentally disabled under-grown twins sold by their mother to the circus.
via: Martian Herald23Robert Owen Melvin was known as “The Man with Two Faces” due to his neurofibromatosis. He was said to be very personable and ambitious, even one day graduating from school after his circus days were behind him.
via: Pousta24Conjoined twins marketed as “The Two-Headed Man.”
via: Tumblr25This man, known as Robert “The Pony Boy” Huddleston, suffered from inverted knee joints that kept him from standing up straight.
This performer was known as “The Minnesota Wooly Baby.”
via: Tumblr27This man, Isaac Sprague, was presented as “The Living Skeleton.”
via: Tumblr28Ella Harper was known professionally as “The Camel Girl.”
Atoria Gibbons, who made a name for herself as a tattooed woman, wouldn’t stand out at all these days.
via: Tumblr30Fedor Jeftichew was a Russian child suffering from hypertrichosis (excessive hair growth) and was given the bizarre name “Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy.”
via: Tumblr31This woman was known as “The Living Doll.”
via: Viral Nova32Grady Stiles suffered from etrodactyly, which caused him to develop claw-like extremities. He was given the predictable nickname “Lobster Boy.”
Conjoined twins Josefa and Rosa Blazeh with Rosa’s son.
via: Pinterest34Unknown diminutive performer with a very serious look on her face.
via: Tumblr
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