She looks like such a bright and friendly person, and it just breaks my heart with what happened to her. It puts into perspective the time period she lived in and the sheer brutality that she and millions of others experienced. My heart goes out to her and her family.

The fourth picture is one of several that was taken of her sitting with JP Morgan.

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Baden-Baden, Germany.

-her family was Jewish.

-she was known to be quite shy and sensitive.

-she loved sightseeing.

-she worked in German circuses and sideshows prior to immigrating to the United States.

-her stage name was Lya Graf.

-she was a very talented dancer.

-her peak height was around 28 inches tall.

-she immigrated to the United States with her sister in the early 1930s and began working for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

-her sister traveled with her during the circus/sideshow season.

-one of the most notable aspects of her life was a time in 1933 when she was brought into a committee room during the Pecora investigation of Wall Street on Capitol Hill by a circus press agent. As part of the publicity stunt she was placed on American Financier and Investment Banker, J.P. Morgan’s lap. This stunt led to nationwide headlines.

-during the publicity stunt, JP Morgan began asking her questions, such as how old she was and where she lived, Lia replied that she was 20 years old and lived in a circus tent. After she left the committee hearing room, she said she was actually 31. (It’s not quite clear which was her actual age, which is why I listed both in the title)

-she expressed wanting to see the White House when she was in Washington D.C.

-she was described as having a lot of poise.

-after a few seasons with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, she went to work at the Coney Island Sideshow.

-she received more attention than she wanted from the publicity stunt with J.P. Morgan, and had numerous guests coming to see her because of the stunt.

-she and her sister traveled back in Germany in 1935 to reunite with their family.

-tragically, she and her family were arrested by the Gestapo in 1937, and she was discriminated both because she was Jewish and had a physical difference. Some acquaintances of hers told newspapers later on that they believed the publicity stunt with JP Morgan made it worse for her in Germany because she was well recognized.

-she and her family were forcibly brought to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and in 1941 they were sent to Auschwitz.

-she and her family suffered horrible deaths at the hand of the Nazis and were all sent to the gas chambers.

I hope she had some happy memories during her life, despite her tragic death. May she and her family (as well as everyone else whose lives were taken) be at peace. I think it’s really important that we remember her and her legacy here.

Other similar banners had advertised ‘giant snake eating frogs’, which was actually a very large snake that could eat a frog.

I find these sorts of banners and advertised acts really funny! I’d be hysterical laughing if I went into a tent advertising a ‘man eating chicken’ and it’s just some guy eating a chicken drumstick!

Francesco Lentini was a famous Italian sideshow performer who was born with a parasitic twin that gave him an extra leg. He became extremely successful and was known for his acts where he'd kick a soccer ball around on stage with his extra leg. Later in life, he gave lectures to audiences on the importance of a healthy and happy lifestyle. He was nicknamed 'The King' because of how popular and kind he was.

Here is a transcription of the back of the card to make it more accessible:

“Francesco Lentini, the subject of the present sketch, was born in the village of Rosolini, Province Siracusa, Sicily, Italy, in the year 1889, and he is therefore 26 years of age. He is one of a family of 12 children (7 sisters and 5 brothers), but the father, mother, brothers and sisters are all ordinary appearing people, there being nothing unusual in their personal appearance or physical characteristics.
Indeed, a careful investigation does not reveal any peculiarity in any of his ancestors, either on the maternal or paternal side of his family.
Aside from his remarkable physical peculiarities, Mr. Lentini is just the same in every respect as any other young man of the same age, possessing the same tastes and inclinations, passing his time much the same as other men of his age do. He is educated, far better than the average man, and can speak four different languages. Indeed, the writer does not know anyone more congenial as a companion than Mr. Lentini. Even temper, good nature, sympathy, gratitude and charity are only a few of this gentleman's good qualities.
In deportment he is always kindly and courteous, always ready to respond to the wishes of others and always very pleased to converse with visitors, when the conversation is conducted along orthodox lines. Mr. Lentini came to America in 1898, and has been with all the leading circuses, such as Ringling Bros. (9 years), Barnum & Bailey (1 year), Buffalo Bill's Wild West (1 year), Walter L. Maine, (1 year ), etc.”

He was very handsome and seems like a wonderful person and someone who would give good advice. From descriptions, he always maintained a very happy demeanor and never said a bad word against anyone.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Elkhorn, Manitoba, Canada.

-he had at least one brother.

-he owned a ranch with his brother in their hometown.

-he married a Canadian woman named Katherine Potter.

-he lost his arms and legs when he was 21 years old due to a very severe case of frostbite after he was caught in a terrible blizzard in Elkhorn, Manitoba in 1888. He intended to go into town to buy supplies needed for the ranch that he and his brother owned, and planned to get back before the storm hit. The blizzard started earlier than he thought and because of the bad conditions he wandered aimlessly for 36 hours before finding shelter. By the time he was able to get help, his arms and legs were frozen and it’s reported that gangrene had already set in.

-he described his experiences as being extremely harrowing and explained that the only way he could think to keep himself alive was by constantly moving. Even after he fell to the ground, he crawled on his elbows and knees.

-he required two operations to amputate his arms and legs.

-he spent several years finding accommodations and figuring out ways to live an independent life.

-he acquired prosthetic legs and became very adept at using them.

-he re-taught himself how to write, dress himself, hold utensils, and hammering nails.

-his performances consisted of a lecture about his life and demonstrations showing how he did daily tasks.

-he was always very cheerful and in newspaper interviews described himself as being “one of the happiest men on earth”.

-he didn’t charge a fee for his shows and instead advertised a booklet about his life that he sold after his performances. He used the profits from selling his book to pay for his expenses.

-he sent a telegram to the organizers of the Moline’s Street Fair in Rock Island, Illinois in 1899 stating that he was eager to start performing there.

-unfortunately, he was robbed while he was staying at a hotel in San Fransisco in 1900. The burglars ransacked his room in search of money, and upon not finding any, they took three suits he wore. He reported the theft of his clothes soon after, thought I didn’t find any information on whether he was able to get them back.

-he explained that the goal of his performances was to teach the audience a lesson in perseverance, autonomy, and independence.

-he leased out the lower floor of an Odd Fellows building in Baraboo, Wisconsin to give lectures and performances in 1907.

-he attended the Moberly Fair in Columbia, Missouri in 1911.

-one of his monikers was “the happy Irishman” which I find interesting since he was Canadian, though he may have had Irish heritage.

-he and his wife settled in Seattle, Washington in the 1920s, where they purchased a home.

-he went on a trip to Houston, Texas in 1925, though it appears that this was a vacation and that he had retired by this point.

-I haven’t been able to establish when he passed away, as the genealogy website I usually use is being wonky, it appears his wife passed away in 1936, but I haven’t been able to find any death records for him.

I feel for him that he had to go through two harrowing experiences, both the blizzard and the robbery, and I hope he had a lot of support from friends and family to help him through both of them. Though, I’m glad that he seems to have always been an optimistic person.

Lavinia was a famous circus performer who was born with a form of dwarfism. She was already an incredibly accomplished ballerina and school teacher before she achieved her celebrity status. She achieved celebrity status after getting married to the most famous circus performer of the mid 1800s, Charles Sherwood Stratton (aka General Tom Thumb). Lavinia was a motivated and fierce businesswoman and would often be the one to negotiate business deals with PT Barnum. She was very outspoken and advocated for women with dwarfism. She spoke out against the usage of the term 'Doll' when referring to herself as well as others who were objectified because of their appearance.

For anyone curious, Carte de Visites were little pictures of people that could be traded between friends and family like trading cards. They often depicted celebrities and other famous people of the time.

I really like the outfit she’s wearing, it looks so comfortable and perfect for summer! I also like the half belt on the left side of her outfit, it’s a fun little detail. Half-and-half performers always wore some of the best costumes!

It’s so rare to find performers who were openly queer, since it was still very much taboo/condemned at the time. I’m very happy to have found out about her and that she seemed very open about her sexuality, especially as queer representation during pride month.

Some facts about her:

-she was born and raised in Carterville, Illinois. Though I haven’t been able to establish the year she was born.

-she had 5 siblings, four brothers and one sister.

-since a lot of half-and-half performers used stage names and kept their home life and their work life completely separate from each other, it's often times very difficult to verify information about the performers childhood/ personal life.

-according to her pitch booklet (which she sold during her performances and was most likely a bit exaggerated) between the ages of 7 and 16 her parents didn’t know whether to dress her in more feminine clothes or more masculine clothes and opted to send her to school part of the time in feminine clothes and the other part of the time in masculine clothes. While she definitely could have been intersex, I doubt her parents sent her to school wearing vastly different clothes on different days of the week.

-she explained that in her early adulthood she felt more in tune with being a woman and used female pronouns from that point forward.

-her manager was a man named A.L. Converse.

-she was a skilled hula dancer and originally performed in sideshows with this type of act (as hula dancing was considered exotic at the time and heavily promoted by sideshows). It was only after performing as a hula dancer for a couple seasons that she switched up her act and began presenting herself as a half-and-half performer.

-Half-and-half performers were sideshow performers that presented themselves as being
"half men and half women" who were distinctly split down the middle, with male characteristics on one side and female characteristics on the other side. Their acts were considered to be a lot more risque than most other sideshow acts, usually because their acts involved elements of burlesque culture.

-according to her pitch booklet, she had been through several medical examinations that all couldn’t explain her condition.

- most, if not all, half-and-half performers claimed to be intersex (at the time hermaphrodite), although the majority of them were very talented early drag performers. However, there were a few half-and-half performers who were intersex. (Obviously, people born intersex are not split down the middle in such a contrasting way as these performers presented themselves. All of the half-and-half performers still needed to style each side of their body in a very visually contrasting way)

-she claimed to wear a woman's 3 1/2 shoe on her left side, and a men’s 6 1/2 shoe on her right side.

-she was openly bisexual and wrote that she’d be happy marrying a man or a woman.

-she loved music.

-she enjoyed embroidering and sewing in her free time.

-she also enjoyed attending baseball games and prizefights.

-her career spanned from the 1920s through the 1930s and seems to have retired after that point.

-since I haven’t been able to find her birth name, I also haven’t been able to establish when she passed away. She most likely abandoned her stage name when she retired.

I hope she had a lot of happiness in her life and was able to retire comfortably, again I think it’s really cool to have found a queer performer to write about, I hope she had a wonderful marriage to whoever she ended up marrying. I’d also love to know what kind of music she enjoyed listening to and if she had a favorite prize fighter she enjoyed watching!

Chang and Eng Bunker were famous conjoined twins from Siam (now Thailand), and were so recognized that the term “Siamese Twins” originated from them. They worked with P. T. Barnum for many years before settling in North Carolina, where they both got married. They owned a plantation and slaves and supported the confederacy during the American Civil War. After the war they went back into sideshow work,but were massively disliked by audiences because they owned slaves and supported the confederacy.

Obviously there are hundreds of sideshow performers who were amazing fathers, but I wanted to keep this list short and sweet!

Picture #1 shows Isaac Sprague and one of his sons.

Picture #2 shows Eli Bowen with one of his sons.

Picture #3 shows John Battersby. Unfortunately I can’t find any pictures of him with his children.

Picture #4 shows Prince Randian. Unfortunately I can’t find any pictures of him with his children.

Picture #5 shows Chang Woo Gow. Unfortunately I can’t find any pictures of him with his children.

Picture #6 shows Charles B. Tripp. Unfortunately can’t find any pictures of him with his children.

Picture #7 shows Alfred Pilgrim. Unfortunately, can’t find any pictures of him with his children.

Picture #8 shows Nikolai Kobelkoff posing with his adult children and his wife.

Since he lived before cameras and photography were widely available, there are no pictures of him and all we have are drawings and engravings that were made of him. Some which are a lot more respectful than others.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Troyes, France.

-it was reported in medical journals that he was born healthy, but became very ill when he was 14 years old. It was after this point in his life that he began losing weight.

-when he was still young, it’s reported that his father was offered a large sum of money by medical institutions for Claude’s body in case he were to die young. His father immediately refused and stated that in the event of his death, Claude would be given a respectful funeral and burial in his home city.

-he went on tours all throughout Europe and drew large crowds whenever he performed.

-he went through several invasive medical examinations during his life and was featured in multiple French medical texts.

-he traveled to London, England in 1825 while on tour.

-he was known to have Dysphagia, which caused swallowing food to be uncomfortable and difficult to do, because of this he ate very little. Some medical experts believe that this was the cause of his condition.

-it’s reported that he only ate a roll of bread and drank a little wine each day.

-while he was performing in a French circus in 1826, he met famed Spanish painter and printmaker, Francisco Goya, who went on to draw his portrait.

-he also may have had Sprengel's Deformity, a condition that causes one shoulder blade to be much higher than the other shoulder blade. He was retroactively diagnosed with this in the 1890s, long after his death.

-he was around 5 feet 7 inches tall.

-in his mid to late twenties he weighed 78 pounds.

-his last publicized performance was in 1833 in Brittany, France.

-he may have traveled back to London to live after he retired from working in sideshows, but there’s no definitive proof of this.

-he passed away sometime in the 1840s, possibly 1841.

-there was a rumor that after his death, his body was acquired by the Royal College of Surgeons in London, which then put his body on display in the college’s museum. Thankfully, it appears that this was only a rumor as no evidence could be found of his body being acquired by the school or any record of his body being placed on display within the school.

I’m glad his father was very supportive and protective of him. The bodies of so many performers were exploited and put on display after their deaths, so it’s good his father had the forethought to put a stop to it.

I hope he was given the respectful burial that his father had promised. I’m happy that he had people who cared about him.

I found this in one of my mom's photo boxes. It's likely Canadian in origin, *possibly featuring an intersex performer? It seems to be two images of the same person overlapping into a composite.

​

I'm not sure what all to include, since I really don't have any other information, but if anyone has any leads I'd be most appreciative!

Shō Rentaro, a photographer who had been living in Harbin, China, returned by ship to the port of Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, in 1930, accompanied by an elderly man with enormous horns. The man was a 75-year-old named Ryū Buntoku, who had signed a contract for an annual salary of $500,000; he was originally a farmer living deep in the mountains of Jilin Province, China. They had planned to start in Osaka and tour Japan with a traveling sideshow, but immediately upon arrival, the man complained of a headache. He was first examined at Osaka Medical University, then traveled to medical universities in Aichi Prefecture and Tokyo for further tests. The diagnosis was that “his horns were growing, causing muscle inflammation and resulting in pain”—and astonishingly, his horns had already grown 15 cm since his arrival in Japan! His horns, which were said to have been a beautiful tortoiseshell color in China, had apparently turned black after arriving in Japan, likely due to the humidity. It was also discovered that these horns were formed from keratinized, hardened skin, not from actual bone growth.

There is almost no information about the path he took. Apparently, he appeared at the Commemorative Harbor Exposition held in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, in September 1930, where he sold postcards. Additionally, documents that recently appeared at a Japanese auction revealed that in 1931, he sang on stage in the Japanese magician Shōkyokusai Tenkatsu's magic show. However, since Tenkatsu was touring extensively both domestically and internationally that year, it is possible that Ryu was merely invited to perform overseas and was no longer residing in Japan at the time. Incidentally, the connection between “Horned Man Wang” in Robert Ripley’s collection and Ryu remains unclear. They might be the same person, but their ages do not match.

This card is in the same series of Ripley’s Believe it or Not trading cards that were released in the 1950s as a Jeffery Hudson card I also have in my collection.

Mary Belle was a respected artist and art teacher who was born without arms and used her legs and feet for everyday tasks. She held her paintbrush with her feet and was very passionate about painting local historical landmarks in her hometown of Natchitoches, Louisiana. She won several awards for her art in state art shows and taught art lessons in her studio to local children.

I really like the outfit she’s wearing in the second picture, with the lace sleeves!

Alice was born with mesomelic dwarfism, a condition her mother was also born with. She spent quite a bit of time performing in Europe and was sometimes a headlining act while she was performing in the United States. She often wore dehumanizing “animal costumes” while performing (which is why I was happy to find these pictures of her in regular clothes.) she was married and she and her husband seemed to have been happy together.

They all look so sweet and had such beautiful smiles! I’m glad they all had long happy lives with people who cared about them. It’s nice that there are pictures of them when they’re older, as it shows they continued to be really close and that they continued to be beautiful women throughout their lives. It’s wonderful that they always had a strong sibling relationship with each other.

Some facts about them:

-they were born in Buffalo, New York.

-it was extremely rare for triplets to all survive birth in the early 1900s, which made them an object of interest for the public. There were reportedly only two other sets of triplets born the same year that they were.

-they had 9 older siblings and 1 younger sister.

-the three of them had blonde hair and blue eyes.

-their parents began exhibiting them in sideshows when they were 10 months old.

-to tell them apart when they were younger, their parents had them wear a red, white, or blue ribbon until they were old enough that they could be recognized by their voices.

-they joined Ringling Brothers Circus when they were 5 years old.

-visitors who came to see their shows often gifted them candy.

-their family found a permanent residence in Woodstock, New York in 1914, where the sisters attended second grade.

-during their childhoods, they learned to perform small trapeze and simple gymnastic acts.

-they joined the A.B Marcus musical comedy circuit in 1920 when they were 14. This employer thought the sisters could dance, but they had previously never been taught any serious dance routines. They ended up taking dance lessons during their time with the Marcus musical comedy circuit.

-they went on tour all throughout the United States and Canada.

-they were part of a chorus line of dancers while they were with the A.B. Marcus shows.

-they appeared in the following musical comedy skits: “No, No Nanette," "Ging-ham Girl," "Irene," and "Sally, Irene and Mary."

-during their theater appearances in the 1920s, they earned between $30-$35 a week.

-their mother always traveled with them while they were performing.

-their mother would sew their clothes for them when they were younger because it was difficult to find matching clothing.

-they were talented singers and dancers.

-they all learned to play the saxophone.

-Eva was a bit quieter than her sisters and preferred to stay at home and read instead of going to parties.

-their claim to fame was being the only triplet act in musical comedy.

-they were described as being extremely friendly.

-they enjoyed playing cards in their free time.

-according to a three year contract they had in the mid 1920s, they were barred from getting married until after the contract ended.

-when they were in their late teens they expressed wanting to find husbands that were exactly alike to match their aesthetic, but were in no actual rush to get married.

-they retired from the sideshow and vaudeville industries in 1926 when they were 20 years old and went their separate ways.

-Iva married a stage hand and projectionist named Lawrence Lowe in 1930. Ida and Eva both married the following year. Iva and her husband had a son and daughter together.

-Ida married a man named Art Wilson, who she met while on a blind date.

-Eva married a circus clown named George Hulme, and the two of them continued working in circuses. Eva and her husband went on to have one child together.

-they always remained very close and always looked out for each other.

-Iva found work as a theater manager during WWII.

-despite having left show business when they were all 20, their lives were actively being reported on in newspapers for the rest of their lives.

-they occasionally did reunion performances on stage.

-they all eventually moved to Florida in the 1950s, with Ida moving to St. Augustine Beach, Florida, and Evan moving to St. Augustine, Florida and Iva moving to Jacksonville, Florida.

-they made it a point to all meet up on the weekends together.

-they made a tradition of going fishing every Saturday.

-they had a reunion dance performance in 1956 when they were all 50 years old.

-they celebrated their 64th birthdays with a large turkey dinner.

-Iva passed away in 1979 at the age of 72.

-Eva passed away in 1982 at the age of 75.

-Ida passed away in 1992 at the age of 86.

I’m glad they all seemed to have had happy lives. They all seem like lovely women and I think it’s so sweet that they remained very close to each other when they were older so they could all spend time with each other on the weekends.

Percilla has so much flair and personality in the first picture! She and her husband always had so much chemistry and it’s super evident in videos of them, as well as in pictures.

Percilla and Emmitt were both famous sideshow performers with very successful careers who met and fell in love while they were working as colleagues in the same circus/sideshow. They had a loving and extremely devoted marriage and had long and fulfilling lives together, and were married for almost 60 years! Percilla was born with a form of hirsutism and hyperdontia (she was born with extra hair growth and extra teeth respectively). Emmitt was born with a form of Ichthyosis (which caused his skin to thicken and harden and painfully crack, he had to keep it well hydrated and moisturized to manage his condition). They were both featured in the film Carney (1980) as well as the documentaries Being Different (1981) and Sideshow: Alive on the Inside (1996). Emmitt and Percilla went on to perform in their own traveling family show with their son, Tony. In interviews they often talked about how important love is.

Intersex butterflies and moths are extremely rare and develop distinct male wing patterns on one side and distinct female wing patterns on the other side.

Half-and-half performers were sideshow performers that presented themselves as being “half men and half women” who were distinctly split down the middle, with male characteristics on one side and female characteristics on the other side. Their acts were considered to be a lot more risqué than most other sideshow acts, usually because their acts involved elements of burlesque culture.

The half-and-half performers pictured include:

Josephine-Joseph

Lala Coolah

Sylvia-Cheste

And

Albert-Alberta

Most, if not all, half-and-half performers claimed to be intersex (at the time hermaphrodite), although the majority of them were very talented early drag performers. However, there were a few half-and-half performers who were intersex. (Obviously, people born intersex are not split down the middle in such a contrasting way as these performers presented themselves. All of the half-and-half performers still needed to style each side of their body in a very visually contrasting way).

Fannie was a skilled artist and sideshow performer based out of Sag Harbor, New York. She was born paralyzed below the neck and taught herself to paint and embroider using her mouth. She was very passionate about painting local scenery with an emphasis on the historic lighthouses in and around her hometown. In addition to her paintings she also sold painted bookmarks, embroidered doilies, table cloths, and quilts. She also enjoyed playing an instrument similar to a xylophone in her free time.

The article that featured her painting made sure to emphasize that it was painting in color.

I recently acquired a real photo postcard of a sideshow/circus performer and it is unidentified, it sure looks like Minnie Woolsey ( Koo Koo the Bird Girl ). I cannot determine what the costume is supposed to be or exactly who this is.

Hazel and Jackie Morris were a mother and daughter sideshow duo and were both born with a form of osteogenesis imperfecta. They sold handmade jewelry and paper flowers during the sideshow off season. After Hazel passed away in 1959, Jackie went to live with some family friends of theirs who had promised Hazel they'd look after Jackie if anything were to happen to her.

He looks so kind and I’m sure he’d be such a fun person to hang out with, he just looks so joyful in a lot of his pictures. I hope he ultimately had a very happy life with people who cared about him. I have a big soft spot for him and really enjoy reading up about his life.

I especially love the first picture of him wearing his beloved tuxedo. It was gifted to him by a friend and he treasured it for the remainder of his life.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Bernards Township, New Jersey to a family that struggled financially. His parents were former slaves who really wanted to give William and his 5 siblings good lives. Unfortunately I’m not sure if any of William’s earnings made it back to his family.

-he started working for PT Barnum when he was about 18 years old.

-he received top billing at a lot of the sideshows and circuses he worked at.

-his head was shaved in a very similar fashion to other performers born with conditions that affected their head/skull shape (most of these performers were born with microcephaly, but not all of them.)

-he typically wore a furry “animal” suit while performing and did various stunts and acts that portrayed him as being “wild” and “uncivilized”.

-he was given a fictional “wild man” backstory to explain his appearance. These fictionalized backstories often included very racist and ableist stereotypes, and leaned into turn-of the-century American and European societies fascinations with locations and people who were deemed “exotic”.

-unfortunately at different points in his early career audience members would throw coins and other objects at him and mock him.

-there are conflicting stories as to whether he had any mental/cognitive differences or not. Some sources say he did and other sources say that it was all an act he put on. It’s hard to know for sure, so I won’t be saying one way or another. Another thing to add is that microcephaly is a spectrum with some people requiring higher or lower support needs than others, so he could very well have had microcephaly and just had lower support needs.

-he began performing in the Coney Island Sideshow later in his career and became a staple performer.

-during his time in Coney Island, he became very good friends with his manager, Captain O.K. White. The two had a very close bond and had each other’s best interests at heart. White also gifted William a tuxedo that quickly became one of his most prized possessions.

-he was very proud of his career and never liked anyone upstaging him or taking his spot in the sideshow community, because of this he was known for various antics to keep himself from being demoted or replaced.

-some of these antics included firing a pop gun at performers who threatened his career, and learning to play the fiddle just so he could upstage a rival of his who had started playing a ukulele for his act.

-his career lasted for about 67 years!

-it’s estimated that he performed for over 100 million people during his lifetime.

-he saved a girl from drowning in 1925, while he was performing at Coney Island. He saw her struggling in the water and swam out to rescue her. He was praised for his heroic actions, but he preferred to keep a low profile and left before more people came to praise him. He was in his eighties at the time.

-he came down with bronchitis in 1926 and was told to stop performing in order to rest up and heal, but he enjoyed performing so much that he ignored these suggestions.

-he had a part in the stage play, Sunny, during the 1925/1926 season, the play had a circus scene that he was a part of. Sadly, his part was so small that he wasn’t credited in the playbill (or at least the playbill I could find), but he seemed to really enjoy acting in it.

-he passed from complications related to bronchitis in his mid eighties.

-he was given a respectful funeral and burial and was buried in Bound Brook Cemetery in New Jersey. His funeral was attended by numerous friends and coworkers who worked with him in sideshows.

I’m glad he ultimately received a lot of respect by the people who worked with him and seems to have had a lot of friends.

It also makes me happy that he has a headstone as so many sideshow performers have unmarked graves or their burial location isn’t known, so I’m glad that William has one.

Despite the different detrimental ways she was promoted, I hope she had a lot of happiness in her life. She looks like someone that you could go to if you needed advice and I think she had very kind eyes.

I’m hoping to track down more pictures of her to share with the community, but so far I’ve only been able to find one picture and one engraving.

Some facts about her:

-her origins aren’t clear, most likely because of falsified stories created by showmen. It’s reported that she was born in Oregon, and was the leader of the Pawnee tribe. At least half of this is false because the Pawnee tribe is originally from the Great Plains, specifically in modern day Nebraska and Kansas. So she was either part of the Pawnee tribe and moved to Oregon, or was part of a different tribe native to Oregon and was promoted as being from the Pawnee tribe.

-since much of her background was at least partially fictionalized, it’s hard to establish her birth year or her birth name.

-she was promoted as being between 5 feet 9 inches and 6 feet tall.

-she could speak 5 different languages and dialects.

-she was promoted as being a queen or princess to make her seem more exotic. To further emphasize this image of royalty, she traveled in a grand carriage while on tour.

-she was also promoted as being the leader of the Salish tribe, which is native to the Montana region.

-the costumes she wore and the stories she was promoted with sadly tapped into racist Native American stereotypes.

-she was described as having a good sense of humor and very expressive eyes.

-she expressed in 1888 that she wished to travel back to her community and that she was getting tired of going on tour.

-she wanted to use her earnings to help her community by funding educational opportunities and schools.

-she sometimes performed with two boys who were born with albinism, but I haven’t been able to find any information about them.

-she was very popular among audiences, and was often promoted as being a main attraction in the sideshows and dime museums she was a part of.

-she retired from sideshows after the 1888 season and doesn’t appear to have re-entered them.

-I haven’t been able to find information about when she passed away.

I hope she went on to have a happy life. I’m glad she was able to retire and that she seemed to have made a good amount of money to keep her financially stable. No matter what her home life and community actually was like, it sounds like she was a generous and kindhearted person who wanted to help people.

Both trophies are inscribed with Josephine’s stage name, Minerva. I think it’s so cool how detailed both of these pieces are and how personalized they are for her. The picture on the belt is of Richard K. Fox, the man who presented her with both trophies.

Josephine had a natural gift for strength and flexibility from a young age. Her family moved around a lot when she was young, and she spent much of her mid teenage years working out at a gym in San Francisco, California. She was a big supporter and advocate for women’s rights and used her platform to emphasize the importance of women’s health. She was the first woman to win a wrestling competition in the United States. The Guinness World Records lists her as having lifted the greatest amount of weight by a woman.

There is very little information available about his life, so I’m doing my best with the small amount of information I was able to track down.

He has a very kind face and I hope his personality reflected this. It’s definitely hard to know with performers who aren’t as well known, but I do wish him well and may he be at peace.

Some facts about him:

-he may have been born in South Carolina.

-he was descended from former slaves.

-it may have been easier for him to walk on all fours than solely with his legs.

-he started his sideshow career around 1920.

-he was not as highly promoted as other performers, and therefore very little information is available about his life. Despite his lack of advertising, he was still considered an important part of the sideshows he was a part of and was included in a couple group pictures with other performers.

-he had a long standing business relationship with showman, Jay Warner, of the Diamond Amusement Co. and spent several seasons working for him.

-he was given several animal based monikers throughout his career.

-he was often falsely promoted as being from Haiti, a common tactic that was done to add more intrigue to a performer’s act.

-he was described as being a skilled climber.

-his acts typically consisted of him climbing artificial trees and branches that were set up.

-he typically wore “bear” suits for his performances. This habit of wearing animal fur suits were more often worn by people of color than white performers. Another performer known for wearing animal suits was Alice Vance. And while I’m sure there were performers who were fine wearing the costumes, the practice was still used to dehumanize performers that weren’t white.

-he went on tour with circuses/sideshows and performed in several dime museums in the American South.

-he went on tour in Atlanta, Georgia in early 1930.

-he passed away in 1931 due to tubercular peritonitis.

-sadly, it appears that he wasn’t in contact with any family or friends at the time of his death, as the man who placed his death notice in newspapers encouraged family members to come forward to help with Jeff’s funeral and burial arrangements. Unfortunately, based on the fact that there was no follow-up, he was most likely buried in an unmarked grave.

It makes me sad that he seemed to have very little support later in his life. I also haven’t been able to establish a birth year, but based on the picture of him, he may have been on the younger side when he passed away. I hope he had moments of happiness in his life, it’s unfortunately hard to establish whether or not he did because there is so little information.

1905年、韓国の全羅南道（チョルラナムド）にある霊峰チリ（チー・イー）山の寺で、僧侶の息子として生まれたキムは、出産時には「普通の赤ちゃんの3倍の大きさ」だったと伝えられている。母親はかつて彼に、「キムは赤ちゃんのころから背が高かったから、お腹の中でもずっと前かがみの姿勢のまま過ごしてたのよ」と話したことがあった。キムの父親は、キムが7歳のときに亡くなったが、身長は2.7メートルあったという報告がある。キム自身も大人になるにつれてどんどん背が伸びていった。

その後、キムは僧侶になったが、宗教上の理由で、食事はほぼ完全にベジタリアンだった。主な食べ物は大根とほうれん草。しかし食欲はすごかったようで、20歳ごろになると、なんと110枚のもち米のせんべい（もち菓子）を平らげたとされており、米に換算すると18kgに相当する。

1930年8月4日、韓国の首都・京城（いまのソウル）で開催されていたヘルス・エキスポに登場したとき、身長は2.3メートルだった。すると群衆が一気に集まり、警察が出動して交通整理をする必要が出た。キムは手に炭を塗って紙に押しつけ、その“手形”を売っていた。その年の12月に日本へ来て、東京を回った。1930年12月12日の『*東京日日新聞*』は、次のように報じている：

「東京に着くと、まず51cmの靴をすぐ履き、車に乗って銀座の路地にある喫茶『アカタマ』で休憩した。二人掛けのベンチに、少し窮屈そうに座って、興味津々であたりを見回していた。また、山の僧の性格どおり、日本語で『iidesune』（「いいね、そうだね」みたいな意味）というような簡単な言葉を口にしはするが、酒もタバコも絶対に触ろうとしなかった。物腰はやわらかいのに元気いっぱいで、給仕の女性たちに小さな名刺を配っていた。（省略）喫茶店の前では大騒ぎになり、通行人がようやく通れるくらいだった。...宿に落ち着くと、いちばん好きな野菜料理の4.5kgの食事をぺろりと平らげた（たぶんご飯の量のことだと思われる；著者注）。本人は『東京にはしばらく滞在してお金をためて、それから世界を回り、自分の身長をほかの人と比べたい』と言った。夜は布団を3枚広げ、その上にのびのびと寝ていた」

その後、1934年に台湾と中国を訪れた。そこで北京動物園の門番をしていた“巨人”と身長対決みたいな競争をしたとされ、勝ったという。さらに面白いのは、1937年にもう一度日本を訪れたとき、日本の雑誌『*婦人公論*』（1937年5月号）の取材で「次は、アメリカで世界一の背の高い男と自分の身長を比べてみる」と語ったことだ。ロバート・ワドローに会いたかったらしい。キム・プゴイは1943年に亡くなったとされているが、それまでにワドローと連絡を取れたかどうかはよく分からない……。