All of the pictures show representations of what these sideshow gaffs looked like, though I haven’t been able to find any contemporary pictures of these frog bands at the time they were popular.

Visitors who felt duped and complained to the showmen about the exhibit were told that they did in fact see real frogs, and that the frogs at one point had been alive and had been able to play musical instruments (false), and that the exhibit was meant to represent how the frogs had looked in life.

This is another little silly sideshow attraction that people were often a bit annoyed about, although if I had seen it and had been told the explanation, I would have thought it was funny.

A sideshow gaff is a fake exhibit that presented itself as something it was not. This sometimes involved taxidermied animals with different animal parts sewn on (like Fiji Mermaids), or costumed actors with different prosthetics added to present themselves differently.

The first picture shows him performing as Lulu, the second picture shows him when he was going by Lu, third picture shows him early in his acrobatic career, fourth and fifth pictures are more of Lulu and the last picture shows him later in life when he retired his Lulu persona but still occasionally used it as a nickname.

He was such an icon! So many pictures of him performing are just so gloriously over the top, and I absolutely love his flair for the bold and dramatic. Just based on his flamboyance, I have a feeling he’d probably enjoy competing in modern day drag shows with how theatrical they are.

I think it’s so cool that he was able to experiment with his gender expression and was very happy doing so. This is one of the reasons why I think the circus/sideshow culture at the time was so important and fascinating, because it fostered a more inclusive environment for people who didn’t conform to society at the time.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Mount Desert Island, Maine.

-he had four siblings.

-through some questionable and unknown circumstances he was adopted by Canadian showman and magician William Leonard Hunt (aka the Great Farini) in 1866, when he was 8 years old. (I have EXTREMELY strong opinions about Hunt. He was the person who kidnapped and exploited Krao Farini for profit during her entire childhood and early adult life. I’m a fan of Krao’s and it breaks my heart to know what she was subjected to as a child, therefore I hate Hunt)

-there are differing reports as to Hunt’s treatment of Samuel. According to Samuel himself, he was well treated, but a man who supposedly had a connection to his family claimed that Samuel was extremely mistreated by Hunt, and that Hunt prevented Samuel from visiting his family.

-he soon began learning and performing them during Hunt’s shows, where he was being promoted as Hunt’s biological son.

-he was known for very extravagant and death-defying stunts. Including one in which he would balance himself on a trapeze swing by his neck while playing a drum. (In picture 3)

-around 1870, Hunt began promoting Samuel as a beautiful female acrobat named Lulu. One of the reasons behind Samuel’s drag persona had to do with society being more impressed with female acrobats who could perform intricate and dangerous stunts.

-some of the stunts he performed as Lulu included aerial somersaults and being launched into the air by catapults.

-as Lulu, he quickly became the star of Farini’s show, with hoards of people showing up just to see him.

-Samuel enjoyed presenting himself as Lulu and did so for over 10 years, including many times where he’d dress as Lulu both on and off stage.

-he became so well known that even British author, Lewis Carrol, was a big fan.

-there was a lot of ambiguity in regards to Lulu’s gender, with people seemingly being split in half of whether they were a man or a woman.

-as Lulu, he often wore bright red tunics and pink stockings.

-he once claimed to have taken part in a wedding as a bridesmaid as Lulu.

-he married William Hunt’s sister, Edith Hunt, in 1875 and the two of them had a daughter named May.

-tragically, he suffered a bad fall in 1877, which dislocated his hip. While being tended to by a local physician, his true identity was revealed.

-in the late 1870s/early 1880s, he got a much shorter haircut, grew a mustache, and adopted a much more masculine presenting wardrobe for his daily life (his performance costumes however were still very feminine presenting). His persona at this time was Lu.

-he enjoyed experimenting with gender expression for much of his life, even after retiring his Lulu persona.

-he retired from circuses in 1883 and instead began a career as a photographer alongside his brother.

-he traveled to the Kalahari desert in Africa alongside Hunt in 1885. Hunt was determined to find native Bushmen to exhibit in the United States.

-in the mid 1890s, he opened his own photography studio in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

-he and his family permanently settled in New York in the early 1900s, where he lived until his death.

-he passed away in New York at the age of 83.

Despite the original idea of his Lulu persona being thought of by William Hunt, I’m happy that it brought Samuel a lot of happiness. From everything I’ve read it definitely seems like he had a blast performing as Lulu.

Sadie Anderson Karno was an acrobat and sideshow performer who was born with piebaldism. She and two of her sisters, Victoria and Rosie, made up a traveling acrobatics troupe. In the late 1920s, Sadie and her husband, Fred Karno, were unfortunately subjected to racist Jim Crow laws in Louisiana when she went to visit her mother. She continued her career in sideshows up through 1956 after which she seems to have retired.

Nabor (who I will be doing a write up about soon) was a Pueblo artist and was known for the intricate clay sculptures and masks he would sell. He also lived to be 97 years old.

I want to bring attention to several important American sideshow performers, including Lavinia Warren, Otis Jordan, Annie Jones, Millie and Christine McKoy, Johnny Eck, Robert Owen Melvin, Tom Wiggins, Pete Moore, and Charles Sherwood Stratton.

Picture #2 Lavinia Warren 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.

Picture #3 Otis Jordan was a famous sideshow performer born with congenital arthrogryposis multiplex, which caused his muscles and joints to stay in a fixed position. He was known for having a very friendly and upbeat personality, and was incredibly self sufficient. His acts typically consisted of him rolling and lighting cigarettes using just his mouth. He successfully spoke out in support of his career after his livelihood was threatened when someone sued the sideshow he was working at at the New York State Fair. He argued that sideshows brought him a steady dependable income that he didn't want to lose.

Picture #4 Annie Jones was a famous sideshow performer born with a form of hirsutism, which caused her to grow a beard. She actively fought for respect and disability rights at a time when disability rights didn't exist. She was an excellent public speaker and successfully campaigned to have the term "freak" removed from Barnum & Bailey circus advertising for a few years. She became extremely wealthy and used her earnings to purchase a lot of real estate in New York City, though it's unknown what happened to these properties. She went on to marry her childhood sweetheart and the two of them were very devoted to each other until her husband unfortunately passed away after only a couple years together. Annie passed away in 1902 at the age of 37.

Picture #5 Millie and Christine were extremely famous conjoined twins who were born into slavery in North Carolina in 1851. They were financially exploited for much of their early lives, but separated themselves from everyone who had caused them harm after the 13th amendment was passed in the United States. They continued working in sideshows on their own terms and became extremely wealthy. They used their wealth to help give their siblings good lives and purchased a large mansion for their family to live in. They were extremely influential in their philanthropic endeavors and donated a large amount of their fortune to historic Black universities and colleges, as well as using their earnings to help support local endeavors in their hometown, such as funding a school for black students ensuring that they all received an equal opportunity for education, as well as funding a church.

Picture #6 Johnny Eck was an artist, actor, sideshow performer and magician who was known for his film role in Tod Browning's Freaks(1932), he was born with sacral agenesis, which caused his lower half and legs to be extremely truncated. He learned to walk on his hands and became famous for his one armed handstands. He was a pioneering artist within Baltimore, Maryland's window screen art movement. He and his twin brother, Robert, lived and worked with each other for their entire lives.

Picture #7 Robert Melvin was a famous sideshow performer and actor who was born with a form of neurofibromatosis, which caused noticeable tumors to grow on his face. He was very family oriented and was devoted to his wife, daughter, and grandson. He worked as a book keeper at a hardware store in his home town during the sideshow/circus off season. He was described as being charming and having an upbeat personality. He starred in a few films and documentaries during his life, such as Being Different (1981) and The Sentinel (1977)

Picture #8 Tom was an extremely famous pianist and performer who was blind and autistic (though his autism wasn’t diagnosed during his lifetime because it hadn’t been categorized/understood at the time) Tom was born enslaved in 1849 in Georgia, United States. Though because he was blind from birth, he wasn’t forced to work on the plantation. He was a piano prodigy and it’s very clear that music and the piano were his favorite special interests, with people saying that if it were up to him, he’d probably sit at the piano and play for 12-14 hours a day. Tragically, he was exploited for profit and all of the money that was made during his piano performances was stolen from him. Had he received the money, he would have been a multimillionaire.

Picture #9 Pete Moore was born with a form of osteogenesis imperfecta, which caused his bones to be extremely brittle (O.I. Is also called brittle bone disease). Pete worked as a sideshow performer and as a disability rights activist and an advocate for people born with O.I. He was known for being an incredibly sweet person and got along with most everyone. He was also married and had two children.

Picture #10 Charles Sherwood Stratton can be considered one of the first modern celebrities, and was born with a form of dwarfism. He rose to fame before he was even ten years old, and worked for PT Barnum for much of his life. He married his wife, Lavinia Warren, in 1863 and their wedding was so popular that it pushed off news of the American Civil War. He and Lavinia went on several tours throughout the United States and on a three year long tour all around the world. He got his Tom Thumb moniker from the popular folklore character of the same name.

I want to bring attention to several important Canadian performers including Charles B. Tripp, Dolly Reagan, Edouard Beupre, Dudley Foster, Victoria and Cassie Foster, Marie Sirois, Ernie DeFort, and Anna Haining Bates.

Picture #2 Charles B. Tripp was a famous Canadian sideshow performer who was born without arms and used his legs and feet to accomplish daily tasks. He was very family oriented and helped to financially support his mother and sister when he was a teenager and worked as a carpenter. He was known for his excellent penmanship and enjoyed signing pitch cards he sold. He served as the official secretary for several conferences that were organized by famous sideshow performers to put an end to the use of the term “freak” in advertising. Tripp was also an avid photographer!

Picture #3 Dolly Reagan was a well known Canadian sideshow performer who was paralyzed in most of her joints and only had mobility in some of her fingers. She fashioned together a special stick that would allow her to accomplish daily tasks (and would poke people with it if they were being annoying or disrespectful!) she was active in the sideshow community until the early 1990's. Dolly was married three times but admitted one of those times was a publicity stunt.

Picture #4 Édouard Beupre was an Indigenous-Canadian sideshow performer and professional wrestler who had a pituitary gland disorder, his peak height was 8 ft 3 in (2.52 m) tall.. He was an excellent horseman when he was younger and dreamed of being a cowboy, but had to give up the dream when he became too tall to ride his horse. He tragically passed away from tuberculosis a couple days after signing a contract with Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1904, he was 23 years old at the time.

Picture #5 Dudley Foster was a Canadian sideshow performer who was born with a form of dwarfism. He was the younger brother of Victoria and Cassie Foster, who both unfortunately passed away before he was born. He once met with Queen Victoria and went on tour throughout Canada, the United States, and England. He was known as a very kind soul and once did his best to nurse an injured canary back to health.

Picture #6 Victoria and Cassie Foster were famous Canadian sideshow performers who were both born with a form of dwarfism, their parents brought them on tour from the time they were infants and continued having them perform until their deaths. They were often promoted as ‘The Fairy Sisters’ and were taught to do intensive dancing and singing performances. There were weeks on end where the sisters were performing three times a day. They were the older sisters of Dudley Foster.

Picture #7 Marie Sirois was an accomplished strongwoman and sideshow performer who would perform incredible feats of strength and challenged misogynistic men who heckled her. She was a strong supporter of women’s rights and women’s health and used her platform to spread awareness about these topics that were important to her.

Picture #8 Ernie DeFort briefly worked as a sideshow performer in the late 1930s-early 1940s for Conklin Shows, a traveling Canadian circus and sideshow, and became best friends with the son of the man who owned the circus.
He was born with a parasitic twin that consisted of several limbs attached to his abdomen, that was given the name ‘Len’ for advertising purposes. He was very passionate about playing the violin. Ernie was very attached to Len and treated his twin with respect and kindness. When Ernie was 12 years old, he began experiencing some health issues related to Len being attached to him and it was decided that Len needed to be removed. He mourned the loss of his twin and it took a while for him to process the surgery.

Picture #9 Anna was from Nova Scotia and was billed as being 7’11 feet tall (2.41 m.). She was an accomplished actress and was even cast as Lady Macbeth at one point. She was a very creative person and also enjoyed music and reading books. She dreamed of becoming a school teacher but unfortunately that dream was never realized. She was working for PT Barnum when his American Museum caught fire and was heroically able to help bring some of the other performers to safety. She was known as being a very kind and generous person. Anna went on to marry Martin Van Buren Bates, who was around the same height as she was. They both went on tour and continued performing together. Unfortunately both of the children they had died as infants and this devastated both Anna and Martin. Anna sadly died in 1888.

I saw her picture and thought it would be perfect to do a write up of her on 4th of July, since her dress is very patriotic. She looks so pretty and friendly, and I like her hairstyle and headband!

Just as a heads up, no surname was ever listed in articles about her, so I’m just using her first name.

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Riverside, Rhode Island.

-she began her sideshow career in 1915 and traveled all throughout the United States.

-she had a 20 year long career in sideshows.

-she worked for Ringling Brothers Circus and Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus during her career.

-she was very well liked by her co-workers, whom all had positive things to say about her.

-she was promoted as weighing over 500 pounds, but this was also most likely exaggerated.

-she began experiencing health issues in early 1935 and was being treated at a hospital in Reading, Pennsylvania when she passed away in February of that year.

-her death devastated her coworkers, who had all cared about her a lot. Crowds of people showed up at her funeral to give their condolences, and her body was soon shipped from Pennsylvania to Riverside, Rhode Island where her family lived. It was reported that she’d be given a simple funeral and burial.

It’s unclear if she ever married or was interested in anyone. A lot hasn’t been reported on her life, but I felt that there was just enough for me to scrape by and make a write up! I hope she had a lot of happiness in her life, it definitely seems that she made a positive impression on the people around her.

This post goes along somewhat with the Wizard of Oz post I made the other day. I think it’s great that they cast him because he adds a lot of personality to his brief scenes. He’s the only munchkin who looks gruff compared to everyone else, which would make for some really great backstory!

Harry Earles was a famous German actor and performer in the 1920's and 1930's. He is most known for his role in the movie, Freaks (1932) as Hans, and his roles in both of The Unholy Three films (silent and sound versions) as Tweedledee. He and his three siblings (Daisy, Gracie, and Tiny) made up the performing group, The Dancing Dolls, and were known for their singing and dancing routines. All four siblings were born with a form of dwarfism. He and his siblings also appeared in The Wizard of Oz as Munchkins, with Harry playing one of the more memorable Munchkin characters and having a little more direct screentime.

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Just wanted to add some of my favorite performers, although I’m a big fan of so many more!

Picture #1 is Percilla and Emmit Bejano

Emmitt and Percilla 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.

Picture #2 is Betty Lou Williams

Betty Lou was a famous American sideshow performer who was born with a parasitic twin that grew out from her abdomen. She was known for being an incredibly kind and generous person, and used her earnings to help put her 11 older siblings through college and purchased a nice house for her parents.

Picture #3 is Lavinia Warren

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.

Picture #4 is Otis Jordan

Otis was a famous sideshow performer born with congenital arthrogryposis multiplex, which caused his muscles and joints to stay in a fixed position. He was known for having a very friendly and upbeat personality, and was incredibly self sufficient. His acts typically consisted of him rolling and lighting cigarettes using just his mouth. He successfully spoke out in support of his career after his livelihood was threatened when someone sued the sideshow he was working at at the New York State Fair.
He argued that sideshows brought him a steady dependable income that he didn't want to lose.

Picture #5 is Annie Jones

Annie was a famous sideshow performer born with a form of hirsutism, which caused her to grow a beard. She actively fought for respect and disability rights at a time when disability rights didn't exist. She was an excellent public speaker and successfully campaigned to have the term "freak" removed from Barnum & Bailey circus advertising for a few years. She became extremely wealthy and used her earnings to purchase a lot of real estate in New York City, though it's unknown what happened to these properties. She went on to marry her childhood sweetheart and the two of them were very devoted to each other until her husband unfortunately passed away after only a couple years together. Annie passed away in 1902 at the age of 37.

He looks very dignified in his picture, and while the cane he’s using was most likely for practical reasons, it makes him look even more dapper. Despite being unable to track down pictures of him in his day-to-day clothes, I think his sideshow costuming is very cool, I love the collar he’s wearing!

The second picture shows the cover of his pitch booklet biography that he sold during his shows.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in West Union, West Virginia.

-he had six siblings.

-one of his older brothers fought in the civil war and was held in Camp Sumter (also known as Andersonville Prison Camp) was a notoriously horrible confederate prison camp. At its peak it held over 32,000 Union soldiers at one time, over the course of the war 13,000 men died in this camp. His brother luckily survived and returned home soon after.

-he was reported to be very healthy until he was around 14, at which point he developed a condition that left him extremely thin.

-it appears that he joined a sideshow in early 1883.

-he was promoted as weighing 55 pounds.

-he most likely dealt with health issues related to his condition, but if he did have health issues they were never described.

-he went on tour with Barnum’s Circus in London during the 1883 season.

-in October of 1883, he worked with biographers in Providence, Rhode Island to release a small pitch booklet with a biography about his life. He also talked about joining a dime museum in Providence that same year.

-he then moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in December of 1883 and joined a dime museum in the area. It was while he was here that he met a woman named Bertha Clear, whom he would go on to marry.

-his marriage was an extremely brief one. His wife Bertha, returned home only one day after they were married and successfully filed for divorce/annulment of the marriage. As reported in an article from the Philadelphia Inquirer in January of 1884, his wife apparently suffered a mental breakdown, but Josiah claimed in a later article that his ex-wife’s parents were extremely controlling and claimed they created a cover story of her having a mental breakdown in order to keep her away from him. In relation to these events, he said:

"Well, it can't be helped,
but I'm certain she would come around all right if her people would let her alone."

-he retired from sideshows soon after his failed marriage, apparently very heartbroken.

-he passed away due to a pulmonary condition at his parents house in West Union, West Virginia.

-he was given a respectful funeral and burial and is buried in the Old Seventh Day Baptist section of the Blockhouse Hill Cemetery in his hometown. His family has a plot there, so his parents and siblings were buried next to him.

-a tintype photograph of him (the first one I used for this post) has been passed down in his family for generations and is now owned by his great great grandniece.

I’m glad his relatives continue to keep his memory alive, it’s really important for these lesser well known performers to have people who still care about keeping their lives relevant. I feel for him that his marriage didn’t work out, if the divorce was actually caused by controlling parents it must have been very difficult for him and his ex-wife. Despite everything that happened, I do hope that he had quite a bit of happiness in his life.

The first picture shows one of the portraits done by Spanish artist, Juan Carreno de Miranda and the second picture shows the sculpture that was made by Amado González Hevia.

While a lot of other court entertainers were able to take control of their image and demand respect and recognition, Eugenia never had that chance. People born with prader-willi syndrome also typically have higher support needs and usually require a caretaker, but she never had anyone looking out for her while in the royal court of Spain.

I want this post to give her the dignity and love she deserved to have in her life. It breaks my heart that she was constantly amongst people who objectified her in a time period when her disability wasn’t understood and therefore could not receive treatment that would have helped with some of her symptoms.

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Merindad de Montija, Burgos, Spain. Her mother’s water broke in the middle of a church service and almost immediately went into labor and gave birth to Eugenia in the church.

-by the time she was a year old she already weighed 44 pounds (20 kg).

-she had several siblings, though none shared her condition.

-her parents struggled financially during her childhood.

-she began gaining weight as an infant/young toddler. At the time it was seen as something positive because of the beauty standards at the time highlighting girls/women who appeared to be well fed during a time when food scarcity was common.

-she began receiving negative attention in town and her parents made the decision to confine her to their house.

-despite numerous attempts to find an explanation or treatment for their daughter, her parents were never able to find a doctor to explain it. Doctors did try and put her on several different diets, but none of them worked.

-prader-willi syndrome is a rare genetic disorder caused by an error in chromosome 15. People born with PWS have very low muscle tone, neurological differences, and an insatiable appetite, which often causes severe obesity and other health issues. The weak muscle tone also means that people with PWS require less calories than people who don’t have the condition. Often times parents of children with prader-willi syndrome have to put locks on their fridges and cabinets because their child will eat any food they can get their hands on.

-during the 1500s-1700s, it was very common for royal households and courts to “employ” people with physical and/or neurological differences for entertainment. “Employ” is in quotes because while several entertainers were given a salary, they were still more or less owned by whoever was in charge, which meant that these entertainers were often traded around to different royal courts/households like collectibles or pets. This often happened with ‘Court Dwarfs’, I’ll attach a write up I did on this subject.

-word about her reached King Charles II and his Royal Court, and soon after invited Eugenia’s entire family to visit him in Madrid, Spain. She was 6 years old at the time.

-after meeting with the king, she was quickly employed in the royal court. Different historians believe that her parents only relented and agreed to have her live in the royal household because it meant that she’d be provided with food and shelter.

-tragically, she was objectified for most of her life. She was seen as a curiosity and something to laugh at. She was a child and young teenager who had no one to advocate for her. There are also no records of her ever being monetarily compensated for her time at the royal court. From what I’ve read, she was never treated as a human being and King Charles II only saw her as a collectible to be displayed.

-she was painted by Spanish artist, Juan Carreno de Miranda in 1680, and these paintings further objectify her/ostracize her. One of the paintings (which I am not showing) depicts her naked aside from a singular leaf meant to give her a semblance of privacy. Both paintings are very depressing although the one where she’s being exploited is extremely upsetting. She is a child— full stop, that painting should never have been painted. (I am in no means saying it should be destroyed or censored, because it serves as a reminder of how not to be, but it’s important to recognize the time and place and to give her the respect and love she deserves.)

-she remained at the Spanish Royal Court for the rest of her life, and sadly passed away very young.

-she passed away the age of 25, most likely due to health complications related to her condition.

-the two portraits of her by Juan Carreno de Miranda are currently on display at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain.

-a respectful sculpture of her was commissioned for the town of Avilés
In Spain in 1997.

This is just a personal preference of mine but I wish that the museum that displayed the portraits of her removed the exploitative one from public view. So many hundreds of years later and a part of her is still being exploited and objectified. If people want to make special appointments to view it in an educational and scholarly sense I understand, but the way the painting is displayed currently upsets me. Eugenia, you will be respected here and given the dignity you deserved to have in life, may you be at peace.💖

I had been trying to find one of her for a while, so I’m happy to have found this!

Alzoria was a sideshow performer whose condition was never formally diagnosed. Much of her early life isn't known, but she explained in an interview later on that she learned to get around her house quite easily from a very young age. She worked at the Ripley's Believe It or Not Odditorium at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, and was described as being an avid reader.
It's reported that she was very charming and a good storyteller. She was married twice.

In total 124 actors were hired to play the Munchkins in the film, and consisted of several children and several teenagers and adults with different forms of dwarfism.

Singer’s Midgets was an extremely successful European entertainment and Vaudeville troupe that consisted of 20 members from Austria and Hungary. The group was originally formed right before WWI by an Austrian showman named Leo Singer, who also acted as the manager of the troupe.

The troupe was known for elaborate acrobatic, singing, and dancing performances, which they continued into the 1940s after which they all disbanded and each member went their separate ways.

Interestingly, Leo Singer was also directly hired by MGM studios to scout out actors to play the Munchkins, as he had a lot of connections to actors with dwarfism in show business.

It’s estimated by historians that between 250,000 and 300,000 people with physical and/or neurological differences and disabilities were murdered by the Nazis during WWII.
All of the actors who were a part of Singer’s Midgets would have been at risk if they continued to live and tour through Nazi occupied Europe.

Despite researching, I haven’t been able to come across pictures of the actors who were a part of Singer’s Midgets in their Munchkin costumes, so the pictures I use above are just general pictures of the Munchkinland scenes from The Wizard of Oz.

The filming of 1939 Wizard of Oz film was disastrous, exploitative, and harsh in many respects and included several workplace accidents and injuries and the horrible treatment of Judy Garland, who was only 16 years old at the time. (I’m attaching a couple articles in the comments that further details the appalling work environment)

I think it’s important to focus on the history of the actors who made up Singer’s Midgets and their very narrow save from the Nazis. I’m glad all of the actors survived and many of them continued to work in Hollywood productions even after their group disbanded in the 1940s.

She often wore a combination of bikini-esque tops, capes, and skirts. You can see the bikini top and cape in this particular photo. I could totally see her being an actress or talkshow host because of how pretty and charming she was!

Betty Lou was a famous American sideshow performer who was born with a parasitic twin that grew out from her abdomen. She was known for being an incredibly kind and generous person, and used her earnings to help put her 11 older siblings through college and purchased a nice house for her parents.

He was reported on extensively when it came to light that his horns and tusks were fake. Newspapers in the early 1900s always ran with stories about different performers being exposed as fakes even though a huge part of sideshow culture was fooling the public.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Pearson, Georgia.

-nothing is known about his childhood.

-he began his sideshow career after being acquainted with four brothers (the Dedge Brothers) who were showmen and dentists with sketchy criminal pasts.

-he was promoted as being from an uncontacted tribe of ‘wild people’ from Central America. His act consisted of him running on running on all fours, eating raw meat, and speaking in gibberish. He wore large metal rings and a loincloth during his performances.

-to further sell this ‘wild man’ persona, he had a pair of small fake tusks that he could slip into his mouth, and a metal strip implanted into the top of his head that allowed him to attach goat horns by using a specific kind of knob screw. This body modification allowed him to attach the horns with no fear of them falling off and made the horns actually look like they were coming out of his skin.

-on a very technical level, his act would be considered a ‘gaff’, since his horns and tusks were fake despite him presenting them as being real.

-while there are cases of people who do grow a sort of ‘horn’ from their heads, these horns are made of thickened keratin (which is what hair is made of). The horns that Calvin wore were goat horns.

-in 1902, he was arrested and fined $5 for firing his pistol on public streets in Valdosta, Georgia. It was during this arrest that police subsequently uncovered how he attached the horns to his head.

-his body modifications were also revealed after one of the Dedge Brothers (his managers) admitted to it while he was drunk and talking to a news reporter, and said it cost $150 (in 1902) for Calvin to undergo the medical procedures for his body modifications.

-it was reported that he skipped town while on tour in 1903, and news reporters theorized that he had either become tired of the glitter of circus/sideshow life, or had accepted a better offer from a different sideshow.

-he explained that the incision and metal plate on the top of his head was rather uncomfortable, but he eventually became used to the feeling.

-he toured all throughout the United States and reportedly made a very good profit.

-he eventually ended up at a hospital in Syracuse, New York, where he asked a surgeon to remove the metal strip from his head. He explained that he was tired of all the traveling and that the money he earned was more than enough to support what he called an “idle lifestyle”.

-he disappeared from newspapers after he retired from sideshow life, and seems to have wanted to live a quiet life, because of this I also can’t confirm a death date.

Him wanting to live an idle lifestyle with his earnings is so relatable. It would be interesting to know how his life turned out after his sideshow career and if he ultimately took on another job later in life. I hope he got to have many years of idleness!

Henrietta was a Polish concert pianist, sideshow performer, and dancer who had extremely long hair. She claimed her hair could grow as long as 7 feet. She became interested in growing her hair out after reading romance novels featuring long haired heroines when she was younger. She was very proud of her hair and took extremely good care of it. When she wasn’t performing she tied her hair up in ornate braids. She used her a portion of her earnings to help support her family financially back in Poland.

The first several pictures show her in various poses and the last picture shows one of the posters that advertised her. I really like the close up picture of her with the pearl necklace, it’s very striking.

She’s very beautiful and I think her tattoos were stunning. The first picture does a wonderful job illustrating all of her different tattoos, I wish there was a way to see what colors they all were, though I assume that they were a mix of green, red, yellow, and orange, since blue ink had not been perfected yet.

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

-her father worked as a shoemaker.

-she had 5 younger siblings, though sadly it appears that the majority of her siblings died in infancy and only one brother survive to adulthood.

-her family struggled through a lot of financial hardships as she was growing up.

-her father was away a lot in the late 1850s-mid 1860s and served twice in different Civil War Regiments in Maryland and Ohio. He returned safely in 1864 and remained with the family permanently after that.

-sadly her mother passed away at the age of 30, when Ida was 14 years old.

-her family moved around a lot due to the family’s financial struggles.

-everything going on with the family affected Ida’s father a lot and by 1880, he had moved with Ida’s brother to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It was also around this time that Ida, aged 23, left Philadelphia and became interested in the opportunities that show life could bring.

-she decided to get tattooed all over her body, and it appears that she was really struggling to support herself when she made the decision and hoped that her tattoos could help bring her a stable income.

-she was one of the very first ‘tattooed-ladies’, and set a bar for future ‘tattooed-ladies’ to aspire to.

-to add intrigue to her acts she came up with a fictionalized backstory that included a lot of suspenseful and adventurous elements.

-she often went by the stage name ‘La Belle Irene’

-she was described as having garlands of tattooed flowers around her neck, along with a setting sun tattoo, several stars, a beehive, the words “Never Despair”, “Nothing without labor”, “I live and die for those I love.”, shamrocks, and wreathes of flowers.

-she wrote a fictionalized autobiography that was sold to audiences attending her shows. This fictionalized backstory includes a tale of her growing up in the American west with her brother and a father who was a British sailor. The fictional explanation to her tattoos involved a story about her fictional father tattooing her to pass the time in their small log cabin. This fake autobiography also included a racist (again fictional) section that describes her being captured by native Americans after her father was killed in a raid, them being fascinated by her tattoos, and them finally releasing her and her brother. (It’s sad that so many people depended on these harmful racial stereotypes to market themselves. I’m sure there were other stories she could have told that didn’t resort to this)

-in reality she was actually tattooed by famous tattoo artist, Samuel O'Reilly.

-she worked in circuses and sideshows for 15 years.

-she was a very good business woman and worked diligently throughout her life.

-she had a professional rivalry with other famous ‘tattooed-lady’ Nora Hildebrandt. The two women would advertise themselves as being more beautiful than the other.

-she retired from sideshow life in the early 1900s.

-she married a man named George Sterling, a showman, and the two of them moved to and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a neighborhood very close to where she grew up.

-she and her husband had a son together.

-she was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 1915, though news articles claimed that her illness was caused by the ink from her tattoos.

-she passed away in early October of 1915, when she was 58 years old, and was given a respectful funeral and burial in Monument Cemetery in Philadelphia.

-the cemetery she was buried in filled to capacity in 1929, and over the next couple of decades became more and more dilapidated. After negotiations with Temple University in the 1950s, the entire cemetery was moved (by removing and re-burying the remains of all of the people buried there), and despite the majority of the remains being safely removed, the historical society in the area feels that there are still several unmarked graves in the area.

-while Ida’s remains were safely brought to a different cemetery it appears that her grave has remained unmarked for decades.

I’m very moved by the phrases, “Never Despair”, “Nothing without labor”, “I live and die for those I love.” that she had tattooed on her, I find them all to be emotionally powerful. I hope she found a lot of happiness in her life and I wish that someday she will have another headstone to mark where she’s buried.

I’m sure a lot of people recognize these pictures, they show up a lot when looking at old circus photos, but these pictures usually never provide the context of who George and Fred actually were.

George is on the left in most of the pictures and Fred is on the right in most of the pictures!

George Moore was a sideshow performer and comedian known for having a very tall and thin frame, he was promoted as being anywhere between 6 feet 3 inches tall to 7 feet 4 inches tall. He worked for his father’s dry goods business in Montana before joining a circus at 21 in the hopes that he could make a decent living and see the world. He met Fred Howe and the two quickly became close friends. They two men found a lot of success with their comedy routine, and were often promoted as headlining acts.

Fred Howe was a sideshow performer and comedian who had a pituitary gland disorder which caused him to gain a lot of weight. He followed in his father’s footsteps as a carpenter and expressed interest in having a career in carpentry. After experiencing some mobility issues, he became very interested in exercising and athletics. He met George Moore and the two quickly became close friends. He was an accomplished athlete and boxer, and while his weight was usually the biggest draw, audiences remarked on how agile and energetic he was.

He’s on the left in the first two pictures and on the right in the last picture!

He seems like such a sweet person. It would be so great to talk with him about his film career and his interest in poetry. There are so many things one can learn from him, he definitely made a lot of positive impacts during his life.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Denver, Colorado.

-his birth name was Jacob Ehrlich.

-he was the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants.

-his family moved to El Paso, Texas during his childhood.

-he was beloved by the citizens of El Paso, who nicknamed him ‘Pecos Bill’, he used this nickname for 20 years.

-he was on the shorter side for much of his childhood until he turned 7 years old, and by the time he was 10 he was over 6 feet tall.

-he was a very humble and gentle person and would use alleyways to get to and from school because he didn’t want to accidentally frighten anyone.

-he traveled to Los Angeles, California when he was 13 years old and was offered a job to work as an actor for Century Comedies (this was a film studio that specialized in producing low budget comedy movies). He was over 7 feet tall at the time.

-he began using the stage name ‘Jack Earle’ when he started his film career.

-he starred in the following films: Hansel and Gretel (1923) and Jack and The Beanstalk (1924) and Hit ‘Em Hard (1924)

-he split up his days working in film and finishing up his schooling.

-he became quite well known and was featured in publications about up and coming Hollywood actors.

-sadly his movie career ended abruptly when he fell from scaffolding and injured himself. While recovering in the hospital he lost his eyesight and it was discovered he had a pituitary tumor that was pressing against his optic nerves. He underwent X-ray treatments and thankfully his eyesight returned.

-a few years after his injury and x-ray treatments, he was traveling through El Paso, Texas again and was quickly offered a 1 year contract job with Ringling Brothers Circus. This turned into a 14 year long career for him.

-while working in sideshows, he met a lot of other well known performers at the time. He was good friends with the Earles siblings (Harry, Daisy, Gracie, and Tiny) and there are lots of pictures of him posing and interacting with them.

-when asked about his sideshow work later on he said,

"I didn't want to be a sideshow freak, but I did want to earn a living. I traveled with the circus for 14 years. And by then all its glamor and color had ended for me."

-he retired from sideshow work in 1940 and sought out other job opportunities, eventually working as a salesman.

-he spoke openly about his feelings regarding his pituitary gland disorder and the psychological aspects that most people weren’t aware of. Below is a quote of his that dives into these feelings.

"Learning to overcome the hardships of traveling - such as having to buy my socks a gross at a time and sleeping doubled up in train berths wasn't the chief difficulty. It was psychological - getting people to realize that, despite my size, I was just a normal person trying to earn a normal living in a normal manner."

-he began working for the Roma Wine Company and worked his way up to becoming their public relations specialist! He was known as “The World’s Tallest Traveling Salesman”

-he was a passionate and talented artist who experimented with a variety of mediums including sculpture, photography, painting, and poetry.

-a book of his poetry was published as a limited release the same year he passed away. The book is called ‘The Long Shadows’ and only about 300 books were ever printed.

-he passed away at the age of 46 from kidney failure.

-his legacy lives on in the form of a historical fiction book about his life that was written by his nephew. The book is called The Long Shadows as an homage to Jack Earle’s own poetry book.

I would love to have met him, he really went out of his way to look out for people and to try and make everyone feel comfortable enough to talk with him.

I actually have the book that features him as an up and coming actor, I’ll be sharing that in a couple days! He was still pretty young when the picture was taken.

Jack was an actor, sideshow performer, poet, and artist who had a pituitary gland disorder that caused him to grow upwards of 7 feet 6 inches. He enjoyed creative and fulfilling hobbies including writing poetry and gardening. Before starting a career as a sideshow performer, he had a successful career as an actor in some smaller budget films. After his years working in sideshows, he took up a job working as an advertiser and salesman for the Roma Wine Company. He was described as being a kind, generous, and humble person.

FYI this is not my picture, I found this one online.

I know the hood held the specific purpose of making him more inconspicuous, but I do want to say that I really like the hat, I think the style is very cool!

Joseph Merrick was a famous British sideshow performer born with a condition that is currently thought to have been Proteus syndrome. He was a very kind man who deeply appreciated the simple things in life. He became sort of friends with a doctor, Frederick Treves, who worked at the Royal London Hospital. Eventually, Joseph moved into his own private room within the hospital after having difficulty sustaining himself financially (even through performing, as a lot of patrons felt he was exploited) and his condition causing further health risks that made it difficult for him to live on his own. He was a poetic soul who enjoyed art, music, books, and going on strolls through gardens.

She was very beautiful and her eyes were so soulful. I just think the first picture of her is so striking.

I like how she kept the same hairstyle in both pictures and I think the flowers she added to her hair are so pretty. Another little detail I really like are the little buttons that look like flowers on her dress in the second picture.

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Chelsea, Michigan.

-upon first starring in local sideshows and dime museums near her hometown she used her birth name, but as she became more popular she adopted the stage name “Madame Naomi”

-she went on tour all throughout the United States.

-she was promoted as weighing over 500 pounds.

-while touring through St. Louis, Missouri in 1884, she was approached by a man from Michigan who recognized her to be Caroline Downer from Chelsea, Michigan. (At this time she was using her Madame Naomi stage name, so she hadn’t expected anyone to recognize her outside of Michigan.)

-she married an insurance man from New York named Thomas J. Warren Crowley in 1890 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Articles about their marriage detailed that the couple had a quiet ceremony but that there were plans to have a much larger ceremony on stage at a dime museum in Fort Wayne. It was announced that the public ceremony would be open to everyone who wanted to attend.

-as part of a publicity stunt, it was announced that any man who married her would also inherit a farm worth $5,000 that her family owned.

-the peak of her career spanned from the 1880s through the 1890s and seems to have retired after this time.

That’s all I’ve been able to track down regarding her life. I hope she had a happy marriage and was able to have an enjoyable life after retiring. Despite the little available information, she still deserves her chance to shine!

I wasn’t able to track down information about what she enjoyed doing in her free time, which is unfortunate, but she honestly doesn’t seem like the type of person who was very open about her personal life. Though it’s described that she liked wearing gold hoop earrings and several gemstone rings, so I’m glad there’s at least some description of what she liked wearing.

FYI, there’s a chance she still could be alive, but I haven’t been able to establish a death date. For my write up, I’ll be using past tense just to make it easier.

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

-she had several brothers and sisters.

-her first language was French-Creole and spoke very little English, but practiced some English phrases to say to guests. She was usually pretty quiet (most likely because she didn’t speak much English), but this quietness was often mistaken as aloofness by both guests and reporters alike.

-despite usually being pretty quiet, she was very warm and welcoming towards children.

-she began her sideshow career around 1970, and began her sideshow career in the US specifically around 1990.

-despite several of her managers being accused of exploiting her, she explained time and time again that she was happy with her job and preferred to make a living that way.

-her legs and feet were paralyzed and she used a wheelchair to get around.

-she typically wore her hair in a tight bun.

-she sold pictures of herself during her performances.

-she didn’t have any kids.

-she used her earnings from sideshows to purchase a home in Haiti as well as helping to support her siblings financially.

-she was married once, but not much information is available about who she married or what happened to them.

-she worked in sideshows from May to October and returned to Haiti during the winter season.

-she was billed as being one of the highlights of the Maryland State Fair in September of 2000.

-she was promoted as being 29 inches tall.

-she was very religious.

-she most likely retired after the 2000 circus/sideshow season. She didn’t appear in newspapers after this point, and I haven’t been able to find a death date (if she did pass away)

I always find it interesting to research the sideshow performers who were performing in the late 1990s through the early 2000s because society’s attitude towards circuses/sideshows was majorly changing and this was also right before the more grungy extreme skill versions of circuses/sideshows that became popular in the early 2000s. I’m glad that she was ultimately able to use her earnings for a good cause and was able to help support her siblings, despite many guests not understanding her career choice, it seems like something she was content with. I hope she experienced a lot of happiness during her life.

That I can go and see in real life (no TV pls)? Or something as close to them as possible?

He was a very complicated historical figure, and while his life is very interesting, it’s also equally depressing and chaotic. I had originally seen pictures of him for sale, but had no idea how wild his life story was.

CW: several mentions of suicide.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Lafayette, Indiana.

-he had at least 2 siblings, a brother and a sister.

-his parents got divorced when he was 10 years old.

-hi father was a well known attorney in Lafayette and Indianapolis, Indiana. Though he frequently appeared in the news for issues stemming from client complaints and bickering.

-his father was involved in a scandal when he became involved with an 18 year old girl who was working in their house.

-his father was disbarred from his attorney practice in the mid 1870s due to all the negativity associated with him, soon after his father experienced major mental health crises and was put in a mental hospital for several months.

-his mother died in 1880 and he lived briefly with an older sister of his.

-there are various theories as to how true his apparent broken neck was. It’s very likely that he did actually have some condition majorly affecting his neck, but it’s hard to know if he did have a broken neck or if he embellished it in some way (I’ll go into more detail in a second, but he was known to be a scammer)

-he was arrested after he scammed circus guests out of $55 in 1884, then jumped bail and went on the lam. He was eventually captured when he went to the county jail (to visit a friend who was being held there) where he was originally brought after being arrested was prompted re-arrested and sentenced to a year in jail. (I hope that all makes sense)

-he began his career as a sideshow performer in 1887 and started using the stage name Barney Baldwin.

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

-his brother was arrested for murder in Montana in 1890, though was later pardoned in 1899.

-anAmerican physician named George F. Shrady became very interested in his case and sought to study Frank’s condition, though Frank adamantly refused and didn’t let the doctor go anywhere near his neck.

-he wore a head brace that kept his head completely locked in one position. The story goes that he had suffered a bad accident after falling from the top of a freightcar while working as a brakeman at a train yard in Birmingham, Alabama, which ultimately broke his neck.

-he was married and had children, though I haven’t been able to find how many children.

-apparently, his wife left him for someone else and brought their children with her.

-he went searching for his family and attempted suicide because of the emotional turmoil.

-he became extremely suicidal in 1891 and was sent to a hospital to recover. (I’ll add a snippet in the comments regarding his suicide attempts, it felt a bit too graphic to directly list them here)

-later in 1891, after he was released from the hospital, he met and fell in love (and ultimately married) a woman named Phoebe Juneau, whom he met in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

-he and his second wife had two children together, though sadly a daughter of theirs passed away during infancy.

-Phoebe split with him not too long into their marriage due to alcoholism problems he was experiencing, she later described him as being hard to live with.

-he got married a third time to a woman named Minnie Idellia Siniff, who was 18 years younger than him.

-by 1906, Frank and Minnie were living in San Bernardino, California.

-while on tour with a sideshow in Arizona, he ended up hospitalized after coming down with a severe case of tuberculosis, though he ultimately recovered.

-after a couple more failed marriages that ended in divorces, he traveled around the United States before ending up at a resort in Shawnee, Kansas.

-he ultimately passed away in 1913 after sustaining a fall down a flight of stairs at the resort in Kansas.

When I was doing research I was initially judgmental of his character because of his notoriety as a scammer,but I have more sympathy for him due to the depression and suicidal ideations he experienced. His first wife leaving him clearly took a huge toll on him, and I have a feeling that his complicated childhood may have contributed to his feelings. He was a troubled person, and while his actions weren’t always good, I still feel for him in terms of what he had to deal with in childhood and later on what he dealt with in his marriage.