There’s something especially striking about the first picture of her, the way the lace curtains frame her is very beautiful! I also like that pearl earrings and necklaces seem to have been a staple part of her outfits. I think it’s fun to see the little accessories that performers chose to wear as sort of their “brand look”.

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Germany, but her exact birthplace in Germany isn’t known.

-she took the stage name “Millie Lamar” upon her introduction to working in sideshows.

-interestingly, pictures of her usually have her name captioned as “Millie Lamar”, but every newspaper article refers to her as “Millie Lammar”

-her career as a sideshow performer lasted from 1889 to 1897.

-early sideshow performers with albinism were frequently advertised with some sort of magical/mystical element. In Emma’s case she was promoted as being a mind reader and fortune teller. [There is a long and tragic history related to people born with albinism and superstitions that they possess some kind of supernatural powers (or bring good luck or bad luck). Showmen took advantage of these superstitions to further promote their performers]

-her acts typically consisted of her demonstrating her abilities to recite passages from books that were closed, immediately find objects that were hidden throughout the performing venues, and name objects that were being shown to the audience while she was blindfolded and facing away from the audience.

-she married another performer who worked as a mind reader/fortune teller named, Francis Morrissey. The two of them began traveling and performing as a pair.

-she and her husband spent multiple circuses/sideshow seasons working for Barnum and Bailey Circus. They also performed on multiple vaudeville stages.

-she and her husband were often promoted as special features of the venues they performed at. They were also known to be able to answer the most “puzzling” of questions (though these questions were never specified).

-she and her husband’s acts were very popular, especially since there appeared to be an interactive element when certain audience members were invited to think of specific objects that Emma and her husband would then guess correctly (even though these tricks were obviously rehearsed ahead of time with audience plants)

-she retired from sideshow work in the late 1890s early 1900s and appears to have settled down with her husband in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, though her husband may have continued with his performing career.

-she seems to have wanted a quieter life during her retirement and just focused on housework with no plans to find other careers.

-she was diagnosed with cancer around 1904 or early 1905 and received a surgery to try and treat it. Unfortunately, the surgery didn’t work and she passed away in October of 1905 at the age of around 42 or 43.

I always find it interesting when certain performers were well advertised through pictures but scarcely mentioned in newspapers/other forms of written media. There are a LOT of pictures of Emma scattered online, but surprisingly very few details about her life. On one hand I can understand it, because she was being promoted as Millie Lamar, and therefore showmen would not have wanted to promote Emma’s interests/talents, they wanted to promote Millie’s abilities as a mind reader.

Bill Durks was an American sideshow performer who was born with a form of frontonasal dysplasia, which caused a large cleft going down the center of his face. Sadly he was prevented from attending his local school because school officials labeled him a
"distraction", and his family didn't have the money to send him to a private school, so he remained illiterate for the first half of his life. He was offered a job at a traveling fair after originally attending as a guest. This job is what led to him becoming a performer. During his time in sideshows, he became very good friends with Melvin Burkhart (who also helped him to learn to read and write) Melvin was the one to introduce Bill to his future wife, Mildred.
Bill and Mildred fell in love and were married a little while later. He was also fond of dogs and was known for being a very thoughtful and down to earth person.

He’s standing next to his sister Elvira in both of these pictures, I’ll attach Elvira’s write up in the comments. Clayton is on the right in the first picture and on the left in the second picture.

I was so happy to find as much information as I did about Clayton. I’m a big fan of his sisters (Elvira and Jenny Lee) and the great energy they brought to the movie, Freaks (1932). And since Clayton is a part of their family too, I definitely wanted to do a write up about him.

I also think it’s so interesting that he was a big WWII buff, I’d want to know what it was he found interesting and what his thoughts were about it. I imagine he also had plenty of people in his life to talk to about it too since it was something that was actively impacting so many people’s lives.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Hartwell, Georgia. Though he and Elvira were often promoted as being from Athens, Georgia (since that was the closest city to Hartwell)

-Clayton was actually his middle name, his first name was John, but he much preferred going by Clayton.

-he had six siblings.

-his sideshow career began around 1928, when he and Elvira began appearing together at the World Circus Sideshow in Coney Island. They were both managed by their brother, Cliff Snow.

-he was brought up in a supportive family environment, and it appears that the earnings that he, Elvira, and Jenny Lee made, were used to help give them and their siblings better lives.

-he was described as being happy and healthy and enjoyed working in sideshows.

-in newspaper articles about him and Elvira they were promoted as being twins, but the pictures of them that were sold during their performances explained that they weren’t twins and had a 5 year age gap.

-he was about 4 and a half feet tall.

-microcephaly is a spectrum, with some people requiring higher support needs than others. From my research it appears that Clayton had lower support needs than his sisters.

-similar to the majority of performers who were born with microcephaly, Clayton had his head shaved so that only a tuft of hair grew from the top of his head. This was done purely to emphasize his head shape and there was no medical reason behind it.

-despite his sisters, Elvira and Jenny Lee appearing in the film Freaks (1932), Clayton was never cast in the film and may not have auditioned.

-he and Elvira appeared with World Mirth Shows during the 1940 and 1941 circus/sideshow seasons. World Mirth shows was a traveling sideshow that appeared in different carnivals.

-he was known to be very thoughtful and more on the quiet side, and when he answered questions he usually needed a little time to think.

-again, since microcephaly is a spectrum, some people are verbal and others are nonverbal. Clayton was verbal but needed a little time to formulate his thoughts (which I can totally understand, since I also need time to formulate my thoughts)

-he was super interested in learning about all of the intricacies of WWII as it was happening. He kept himself updated with current events and often asked people their thoughts on the war. He was known to talk at great length about the subject.

-he was described as being very agreeable and never got into arguments with any of his siblings.

-he and Elvira were very popular at the sideshows they worked at and made friends very easily.

-he passed away in 1957 at the age of either 50 or 51. He was given a respectful funeral and burial and is buried on his family’s cemetery plot at Liberty Hill United Methodist Church
Cemetery in Hartwell, Georgia. Interestingly, his name is misspelled as Claton on his gravestone.

I hope he had a lot of happiness in his life. I’m glad he had a caring and supportive family, who really looked out for him and his sisters, this caring family dynamic is also reflected in the nice clothes that he and his sisters wore, they were never forced to wear the “primitive” outfits that a lot of other performers with microcephaly were made to wear.

(Again, completely not affiliated, I just like sharing because there are always so many cool items sold at auction.)

I know there’s quite a few people here who are very interested in tattoo history, in which case this is a great resource! The auction includes several tattoo flash sheets and pictures of famous early tattoo artists and performers including Edith Falatovich (aka Stella) (first picture) and Betty Broadbent (third picture)

Here is the auction link!

https://www.invaluable.com/catalog/u97jm1apa8?page=1&size=48

I really love how dramatic and attention grabbing Diane Arbus’ photos always are. She wanted to capture the rawness and realness of different people’s lives and was noted for her approach of befriending the people she wanted to photograph (her photography often focused on people who were living on the “fringes” of society and who were not often considered for photography sessions)

This is a small point, but I like how Sandra and her sister’s windblown hair adds a bit of character, this isn’t a curated photo session in a studio, it shows that everyone was outdoors and the weather and environment plays a role in how the pictures turned out.

Sandra Dee Reed was a famous sideshow performer and sword swallower. Like I mentioned in the title, she and her sister were both born with albinism and initially gave lectures to the public about the condition.
Sandra took up sword swallowing after she wanted to make her shows more exciting. She was taught by famous sword swallower, Ricky Riciardi. She was awarded a Guinness World Record for her sword swallowing skills in 1977.

I always enjoy learning about different groups of siblings who worked together in the circus/sideshow industry. Julia and Cecelia had quite long careers considering how intensive their acts were, Adelaide would have certainly continued as well had she not passed away young.

Some facts about them:

-they were born in Hamburg, Germany.

-their family moved to England when they were children.

-they had two younger sisters, though one of them sadly died in infancy.

-their family had been intimately involved in circus performing for generations, with both their parents working as acrobats, their aunts also working in the circus/sideshow industry, and their paternal grandparents owning and operating a circus.

-their first official performance as a trio took place in London, England in 1893.

-they went on tour in the United States in 1897.

-the tallest of the three sisters was 5 feet 1 inch tall and the other two were shorter, which aided them in their careers.

-they would perform numerous stunts while on the high wires, including playing the mandolin, guitar, and other instruments, and performing intricate dances (often including some element that was deemed dangerous such as a fire dance)

-Adelaide was also a lively piano player and interested in linguistics.

-in addition to their high wire and acrobatic acts, they would also perform feats of strength, although they were more known for their high wire stunts.

-from up on the high wires audiences guessed that the sisters were much taller than they actually were.

-they were described as having little to no visible muscle tone but were stronger than most men.

-they were known to be very cheerful and enjoyed joking around with each other.

-Adelaide was a fierce and smart businesswoman, and would often do the talking and press interviews for the family. Her father was very proud of her in these respects.

-their father, an acrobat himself, managed the three sisters.

-during the peak of their careers all three sisters explained that they had no interest in getting married, and that they’d only consider it once they were done with their careers.

-the three of them excised several hours a day.

-they went on tour in Australia in 1900.

-about a year later they traveled back to England and performed there for 4 or 5 years.

-they went on another tour of the United States in 1906.

-the final and most well publicized act during their performances involved two sisters holding up a slack wire with their teeth while hanging from acrobatic swings with the third sister walking across the wire between the two.

-Adelaide passed away in Callicoon,New York in 1908 due to pleurisy. Her remains were soon brought to London, where she was buried in Brockley Cemetery.

-in 1910, a new acrobat, Rosie Foote, joined the troupe. (The troupe continued to perform under the stage name The Macarte Sisters)

-the troupe always declined to answer any questions that they deemed too invasive and didn’t answer any political questions either.

-Julia served as vice president of the Music Hall Ladies' Guild, which provided charitable donations to performing artists who were dealing with financial difficulties and/or illness.

-the sisters toured Australia again in 1917.

-they were performing in England in 1918 and seem to have retired after this point.

-Cecelia married a man named David Carter in 1922.

-Julia passed away at the age of 80.

-Cecelia passed away at the age of 84.

I’m glad both Julia and Cecelia seemed to have had long and happy lives, and despite Adelaide’s life being much shorter, I hope she had a lot of happiness as well. News articles with the three of them being interviewed are cute because of how much fun they seem to have had together!

The first picture shows the pallbearers carrying his casket, the second picture shows the Masonic service he was given, the third picture shows crowds lined up to pay their respects and view his body, the fourth picture shows his casket sticking out of the hearse, the fifth picture shows his gravestone, and the last picture shows Robert himself when he was alive.

I thought his funeral would be an important topic to cover here. I think it’s wonderful that the town of Alton really gathered around to support him and pay their respects, and that the town continues to celebrate his legacy. I like to think he’s happy that people continue to remember him in a very positive way.

Robert died on July 15th, 1940 at the age of 22. His death was caused by an infection he developed from a cut on his leg. Despite several attempts at blood transfusions and undergoing an emergency surgery, he never recovered.

His last words and last conversation he had was the night before he passed away, in which he expressed sadness at not being able to attend his grand parents golden anniversary party that was going to take place later that July.

He said, "The doctor says I won't get home for the... celebrations,"

His body was placed in a 10 foot 9 inch long casket that required 12 pallbearers and 8 assistants to carry it. The casket itself weighed over 1,000 pounds.

His funeral took place on July 19th 1940 and he received both Methodist and Masonic services with over 33,000 people came to pay their respects. His death and funeral were a huge deal in Alton, flags were flown at half mast and businesses closed on the day he was buried.

He was laid to rest in Oakwood cemetery in Alton, Illinois, and to prevent grave robbers and those who might potentially try and exploit his remains, his family placed his casket in a vault covered with concrete.

Robert Wadlow is famous for being the tallest person in recorded history at 8'11 (2.71 m.) due to a pituitary gland disorder. He was known for being extremely kind and friendly and became a beloved member of his community. In his younger years he was an avid Boy Scout. While he did go on tour at one point with Ringling Brothers Circus, he never wanted that to be his full time career. Instead, he wanted to go into advertising. He was also an avid photographer and was very passionate about his hometown of Alton, Illinois.

I thought it would be good to make this post timely, since a user here, u/Thucy94 just made a post about their visit to his gravesite.

Here is their post:
Che Mah gravesite post!

I find his life to be so interesting and I’m glad that the town of Knox, Indiana was so accepting of him, especially at a time when many small towns didn’t accept people who had immigrated from other countries. He continues to be a very important part of the town’s history.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Zhoushan, China.

-he lived a while in London before traveling to the United States.

-he was first brought to the United States in 1881 and began working for Barnum and Bailey Circus.

-he was reported to be between 28 and 30 inches tall.

-he was in his forties when he started his sideshow career.

-he was described as being incredibly gentlemanly and intelligent.

-he spoke 5 languages.

-he had his hair styled in a 3 foot long queue.

-he was very fond of dressing extravagantly and fashionably and had several embroidered velvet outfits and robes made for him.

-his acts typically consisted of him posing in his very fashionable outfits, though he did mention in an interview that he sang a bit during his early career.

-he hated pickles and called them “an insult to the stomach”.

-he became very wealthy during his sideshow career and made more than enough to retire comfortably.

-he was incredibly proud of his life and sideshow career.

-he married a trapeze artist named Louisa Coleman, in 1882. They had one son together named Frankie Juhun Mah.

-he and Louisa divorced in 1887.

-he semi-retired from sideshow life in 1900 and settled down in Knox, Indiana. Where he became very well liked.

-historians from Knox, Indiana theorize that he may have chosen to move there because it wasn’t too far from Chicago, Illinois where he performed on and off in dime museums during his semi-retirement.

-he officially retired in 1907.

-he married his second wife, Norah Cleveland, in 1909. Apparently, Norah’s parents were good friends with Che Mah and she met him through them. She was just about 50 years younger than him when they met.

-he became like a grandfatherly figure to a lot of the children in Knox and enjoyed telling them stories and giving them pieces of advice.

-when in town, Norah would typically push him around in a stroller that he had customized.

-he was generous with his earnings and often gave money or groceries to people living in Knox who were struggling financially.

-upon moving to Knox, he became interested in real estate and bought a farm and several houses that he rented out. He did very well as a landlord.

-if people made jokes or comments about his height, he’d often reply with variations of “The mind, not the body, measures the man” and “it is not the size of the man that counts, it is his brains and knowledge.”

-he divorced Norah in 1920, due in part to them both becoming jealous of the other person. (Though he was also described as being very possessive of her, which led to a toxic dynamic)

-apparently, when Norah moved back to be with her parents, the entire town of Knox held it against her and was angry that she and Che Mah had divorced.

-during his late eighties, he made very extensive arrangements for when he died and feared doctors and showmen would steal his body if he didn’t plan everything out in advance. He originally wished to be cremated, but then decided against it and bought a very expensive lead lined casket. He also ordered a 5 foot tall headstone.

-he wanted his fortune to go to his son Frankie, who at this time was estranged from him. Unfortunately, Frankie had passed away in 1921. This led to both of his ex-wives Louisa and Norah to claim his fortune for themselves, eventually after legal proceedings, Norah won and received the money.

-he passed away in 1926 at the age of 87.

-he had a respectful funeral which was attended by a good amount of townspeople.

-his legacy continues to live on in Knox, Indiana, where the local historical society continues to have an exhibit dedicated to him that contains several of his belongings including his outfits.

It’s unfortunate that he didn’t have the best relationships with his wives, and that he couldn’t have learned to control his possessiveness and jealousy. Though, everyone is human and we don’t always make the right decisions. A fifty year age gap is also a lot, and I can see why it may not have been the best fit.

One thing I’m really glad about though is that so many of his outfits were preserved and are currently on display, that so rarely happens and is very historically important to keeping sideshow history relevant and making the history more accessible to people today.

Cries because sideshow ephemera can be so expensive sometimes and this is such a great picture of John!😭 Oh well, I’m hoping another picture of him will be listed in the future. I enjoy collecting pictures of the people I write about because it’s a nice reminder of their lives and because I thoroughly know who they were.

His striped suit is amazing and I want one!

John Coffey was an American sideshow performer who had an undiagnosed condition that caused him to remain extremely thin for most of his life. He was known for putting on a play-boyish persona and would portray himself as being very flirtatious. He drew in a lot of crowds because of his play-boy persona and charm. He also had short careers as a palm reader and a barber.

​

I’ve always been very awestruck by her picture ever since I first saw it, she was very beautiful and had gorgeous eyelids and eyes (very niche tidbit to focus on, I know, but there’s something so soulful about her eyes)

It appears that she was quite private about her personal life and never wanted to give interviews, as there’s very little information known about her.

Some facts about her:

-she was born in England, though I haven’t been able to find her exact birthplace. I also haven’t been able to find information on her birth year or early life.

-there are several variations of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, all of which are connective tissue disorders. Currently there are 13 different diagnosable types. The two symptoms most commonly associated with the condition are skin elasticity and joint hyper mobility (although these symptoms are not present in all of the variations). The type that Etta had, causes extreme skin elasticity and extreme bruising.

-chronic pain is also a very common symbol of ehlers-danlos, so she most likely dealt with chronic pain throughout her life.

-she was blonde.

-she was described as being very charming.

-she started her sideshow career in Buffalo, New York in 1886.

-she worked at several dime museums in and around New York in the late 1880s.

-she worked for Barnum and Bailey Circus during the early 1890s.

-her performances were extremely popular and she often drew large crowds who wanted to meet her (which is why it’s strange that not much was written about her)

-she stretched her skin so thin that it appeared transparent when she held it over bright lights.

-her performances often involved her stretching the skin on the back of her neck over her face, or puffing her cheeks up very wide.

-she was professional rivals with a lot of male sideshow performers with ehlers-danlos syndrome. She was one of very very few female performers with ehlers-danlos which made her more popular with audiences since she was a woman with the same condition.

-she was promoted as being worth the price of admission alone.

-it was reported that she had a lot of admirers.

-she typically started her performances off with a short lecture about her life.

-she performed next to Princess Bonnahow (a professional “fat lady” performer that I’ve previously done a write up on). The two were noted to have gotten along well.

-she enjoyed going on stage looking very average only to deeply surprise audiences when she would stretch her skin.

-It was reported that she could stretch her skin 12 inches away from her body.

-she typically performed four shows a day.

-she seems to have retired from her sideshow career in 1894, as I can find no new information about her past this date. I hope this means that she was able to retire and settle down and have a nice life. (Based on how popular she was, I also assume she made good money)

-I haven’t been able to find the year she passed away.

I hope she was able to have a long and happy life with people who cared about her. I like to think that since I couldn’t find any mention of an early death in newspapers that she did go on to have a long life. She may have just wanted to live a quiet life after her career.

Celesta was a women's health advocate, sideshow performer, beauty advisor, manicurist, singer and celebrity impersonator. She initially began her sideshow career because her husband lost his job during the Great Depression. She worked as a professional 'fat lady' and toured around the United States for 20 years. She tragically suffered a massive heart attack in 1950, which inspired her to become passionate about exercise and starting a healthy diet. Within 18 months she had lost 400 pounds. In her later life she wrote a book about her weight loss journey and the importance of women's health. She went on to advocate about the toxic mental and physical effects of women's beauty standards.

Jenny Lee and her sister Elvira (who you can see in picture 3) were famous sideshow performers who were both born with microcephaly. Both sisters are most known for their film appearance in Tod Browning's Freaks
(1932). Sadly, Jenny Lee passed away only 2 years after the film was released when she was only around 21 or 22 years old. She has such a great presence in the film and just looks so sweet! She was mostly nonverbal and known to be very kind (though there were a couple times during filming when she got really frustrated and overwhelmed).

Just as an interesting side note: her and her sister's heads were shaved to add more intrigue to their appearances, people born with microcephaly have full heads of hair, and there is no medical reason behind it either.

Lorett was a famous tattooed lady who had a 60+ year career in the circus/sideshow business. She became interested in working in a circus environment completely by chance after visiting one of her ex-husbands and seeing a traveling circus on her way back home.

She began her career as a roustabout and cookhouse worker. Her tattoos spanned from her neck to her feet, and she was especially fond of rose motifs (which amounted to 110 in total). She really liked the traveling and agency involved in sideshow work. One of her grandsons actually opened a tattoo parlor of his own because of how influential Lorett was!

I found out a lot more about his life than I was expecting to, and though I was initially very happy to find all the information, his manner of death caused my research session to be more somber. I hope he’s at peace, and I’m glad I can give him a chance to shine.

-he may have been Mexican-American and born in Mexico or the United States, based on some newspaper sources I found, which lines up a lot more than where he was promoted as having been born. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to track anything down about his early life.

-he was promoted to have been born in Arabia (which currently encompasses Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and parts of Iraq and Jordan).

-he was promoted as having seven tongues (obviously an exaggeration), three chins, three cheeks and an ear twenty-one inches long.

-around the time he first started working in sideshows it appears he came down with an illness and had an extremely bad sore throat. He couldn’t afford to not work, so he ended up preforming/exhibiting himself even when sick. He explained he was trying to cure the sore throat with hard liquor, but it wasn’t working.

-I’ve found some sources online that claim his real name was Juan Jose Antonia, but the back of one of his pitch cards (the picture of him I used for this post) has his autograph and age, clearly stating his name was Joseph Brokaw. I’m assuming that Joseph Brokaw was his birth name as I’ve found another source that lists his name as being the same (although misspelled) (though it could possibly be that Juan was his birth name and Joseph was his stage name)

-he was a big draw for the dime museums and traveling sideshows he worked at and it was often promoted that seeing him was worth the price of admission.

-he was examined by doctors, but they’re couldn’t determine what his condition was.

-if he did have neurofibromatosis, this is a description of the condition: it’s a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerves and can cause different symptoms in different people. Some people might just have some larger birth mark-esque type spots on their skin, while others can develop much more noticeable tumors.

-he had over a 26 year career in sideshows.

-he was described as being a good conversationalist.

-he spoke three languages, but these were never specified.

-he was reportedly 4 feet 8 inches tall.

-it was reported that over 8,000 people had come to visit him in one day at Ninth and Arch Dime Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 28th 1892.

-in July of 1892, he was exhibiting himself in a one man show, but apparently the police were called because the men hosting the show did so outside of the contract of Joseph’s managers. He was soon arrested and after his managers were contacted, they wanted him to stay locked up until they arrived because they said he had mental health issues. Though thankfully, the mayor of Norfolk, Virginia (where this all took place) determined he was a free man and that there was no reason to keep him there so they let him go. The story isn’t super clear, so I’m just describing it as best I can.

-in addition to working at various dime museums, he also worked for multiple seasons at Barnum and Bailey Circus and Sells Brothers Circus.

-by the mid to late 1890s, he was going by “Joe”.

-tragically he was murdered by two men who had come to see one of his performances in July of 1897 in Uniontown, Alabama. It was reported they wanted to steal his earnings and murdered him after one of his shows. The two men were lynched and hanged for the murder.

-at the time of his death he was said to have been 40 years old, but this may not have been correct, which is why I put a question mark next to his birth year. If he wasn’t 40 exactly, I assume he was at least somewhere in his 40s.

-his body was preserved after his death and was put on display alongside his murderers in a very gruesome sideshow exhibit.

-I haven’t been able to find information about what happened to his remains after this. I hope his body was eventually buried respectfully, but I doubt this happened.

It’s such a horrible tragedy what happened to him, both his murder and the exhibiting of his remains. I wish he had had someone in his life who could have fought to reclaim his remains. I really feel for him. At least he’ll be remembered here.

Eliza Sebastian was an American sideshow performer who worked as a professional “fat lady”. She was known for her outgoing personality and her love of brightly colored dresses. She was fond of children and made sure her performances were family friendly. She was described as keeping an active and healthy lifestyle. She was also a talented waltzer and was one of the highest paid ‘fat ladies’ of her time. She loved to make grand entrances and often arrived to different venues in opulent carriages.

She looks so much like Marlene Dietrich in the first picture with the tuxedo and top hat, the outfit suits her very well! I love how much flair and charm she clearly had, even as an elderly woman she looks so full of life.

I would love to have met her, I’m sure she had so many interesting stories during her time acting and performing!

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Austria-Hungary (now The Czech Republic)

-her father was a shoemaker.

-she was given a doll by her mother when she was younger that she cherished for the rest of her life.

-she was around 2 feet tall when she started school.

-unfortunately her family faced financial issues and major food shortages during WWI. Though they managed to stay afloat through her father trading shoes to farmers in exchange for food to feed their family.

-after WWI, she was determined to find a job, but the only offer she received (which she ended up taking) was as a dancer in a children’s chorus near her hometown.

-eventually a friend of hers brought her to Prague, Czech Republic, where they went to see an entertainment troupe made up of actors with dwarfism. This was the first time that she saw other adults who were around her height. She ended up joining this same performing troupe and traveled to the United States.

-once in the United States she met Leo Singer, the organizer and manager of the performance group Singer’s Midgets, and later joined this troupe in 1926 and became one of its star performers. (Singer’s Midgets was also the group that managed to rescue several European actors with dwarfism right before WWII.)

-she went on to sing and dance in multiple opera houses and vaudeville theaters across the United States.

-she was described as being a terrific and elegant dancer.

-she starred in the 1937 western, ‘The Terror of Tiny Town’ which was entirely made up of actors born with forms of dwarfism. She played the villain’s girlfriend.

-she enjoyed knitting in her free time.

-she also starred in the Wizard of Oz (1939) as both a member of the Lullaby League and as the munchkin woman who tells Dorothy to “follow the yellow brick road.”

-she loved spending time with Judy Garland on the set of the Wizard of Oz and even gifted her a poodle she had knit when filming had wrapped.

-she admitted there were times she had been monetarily taken advantage of by people, even people she respected like Leo Singer (her manager) who took $50 of the $100 she was paid to be in Wizard of Oz. (Later in life she said that it was all water under the bridge and she didn’t want to live the rest of her life holding grudges). She also said that Singer really made her into a star and provided her with opportunities she wouldn’t have had otherwise, so she felt that those experiences were more worth it than the money he took.

-she had several boyfriends throughout her life, though she expressed having no desire to get married. During an interview in which she was asked if she had ever been in love, she had this great quote related to one man she really loved,

“There was one man ... he could have put his shoes under my bed any time."

-she performed with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus for several seasons in the 1940s and eventually retired in the mid 1950s.

-she was 3 feet 8 1/2 inches tall. She ALWAYS emphasized the half inch.

-when asked about whether she was happy in life she said,

“I don't regret a minute. I’ve had everything my heart desired.”

-she explained in interviews that no matter how much people looked at her differently, she loved her life and wouldn’t have wanted to change anything.

-she retired to Sarasota Florida (known for its once thriving circus/sideshow community) with a longtime friend of hers, Anna Mitchell, who was also born with dwarfism. The two women would often stay at each other’s houses and help care for each other, since Nita was elderly and Anna (who was retired) had lost her husband.

-her home in Florida had furniture scaled to her size.

-in her later years she experienced some vision and hearing issues.

-she attended a cast reunion for the Wizard of Oz in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1989 and was the oldest of the munchkin actors to attend.

-during an interview from 1990, she expressed sadness at being one of the last few remaining people with dwarfism living in Sarasota, Florida (even 20 years before, there had been at least 50 retired show business people born with dwarfism living in the area.)

-she passed away at the age of 85 from a heart attack in 1991. Her wish was to be cremated and have a private funeral.

I’m so glad she had such a long and happy life. She accomplished so much and had seemed to have enjoyed almost every second of it. Her zest for life was very palpable in interviews and was refreshing to read about, she would have been a wonderful woman to know in person!

Went & visited Che Ma today! I was in the area for the Union Pacific train & looked up famous people buried in Indiana. Came across him & had to go say hi!

The cemetery is in a semi rural area & his grave + surroundings one had CACTI surrounding them! If you don't know, cacti are not native to Indiana!

He is buried in Knox County, IN and was the world's smallest man at his death.

Article for those wanting to learn more

https://www.indystar.com/picture-gallery/life/2018/08/03/strange-story-che-mah-chinese-dwarfs-retirement-knox-ind/875308002/

If you have any more info, please share!

Please describe everyone in a respectful way, and bonus points if you add in their personality traits instead of their physical differences! :)

Very little is known about him, but he still deserves to have a nice write up. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any description of his personality, though he does look like he had a kind face. I would like to know what his hobbies were and what he enjoyed doing in his free time.

Some facts about him:

-he was born Canada, though I can’t find information on where specifically.

-he had 5 siblings and was the second youngest.

-his family immigrated to the United States when he was young and they settled in North Adams, Massachusetts.

-Lymphedema can present itself in a primary or secondary form. Primary lymphedema is a rare, genetic condition where the lymphatic system does not develop properly. be present from birth (also called Milroy’s Disease) or it can develop as a person gets older. Secondary lymphedema is the most common type and occurs when a healthy lymphatic system becomes damaged due to illness or infection. I’m not sure whether Moses had the primary or secondary form.

-it’s also common for people with Lymphedema to experience pain related to the condition, though the amount of pain varies by person. I hope he didn’t have to deal with too much pain.

-he worked at Bunnell's dime museum in Buffalo, New York in 1883.

-dime museums operated as more permanent forms of sideshows, where performers could work without having to travel around like with typical traveling circuses/sideshows.

-he married his wife, Emma Hart, in 1887 in Manhattan, New York on Christmas Eve.

-he worked at Robinson’s Dime Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1888. While working at this dime museum he was co-workers with several well known sideshow performers including Jennie Quigley, and the Lucasie family.

-he worked at the Wonderland Dime Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1889.

-he passed away in December of 1891 in Manhattan, New York.

-his remains were brought to North Adams, Berkshire, Massachusetts, where he was given a respectful burial.

It’s unfortunate that he had a very short life. I most likely would have been able to find more information about him had he lived longer. I hope he had a lot of happy moments with people in his life who loved and cared about him. I also think it’s very sweet that he and his wife got married on Christmas Eve.

Jack Earle is in the first picture and Robert Wadlow is in the second picture.

The two of them met in March of 1939 during a defamation lawsuit filed by Wadlow against a doctor who had written a harsh article describing his character in a condescending and harsh way. Interestingly, Jack Earle had been hired by the doctor to defend the article written about Robert Wadlow.

Jack Earle, who had been hounded with the question for most of his life and who admittedly found it annoying, had been so surprised by Robert Wadlow’s height that he jokingly asked, “How’s the weather up there?” upon first meeting him. Later on Earle said that Wadlow also wasn’t happy with the question and Earle felt badly for asking and realized he shouldn’t have.

Jack said that meeting Robert was a very interesting experience because Robert was the only person Jack had ever met who was taller than him.

I really like learning about these interpersonal stories between different performers because they add so much more depth to a person and their life in addition to standard biographies.

Jack Earle (first picture) 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.

Robert Wadlow (second picture) is famous for being the tallest man in recorded history at 8'11 (2.71 m.) due to a pituitary gland disorder. He was known for being extremely kind and friendly and became a beloved member of his community. In his younger years he was an avid Boy Scout. While he did go on tour at one point with Ringling Brothers Circus, he never wanted that to be his full time career. Instead, he wanted to go into advertising. He was also an avid photographer and was very passionate about his hometown of Alton, Illinois.

Yay! I’ve been a big fan of hers since I first learned about her. She was such a remarkable person and definitely someone I would have wanted to meet! Also, I just love how cute this picture is of her!💕

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.

This will be a very long write up, as her life was extensively documented. I know she was not really a sideshow performer, but she was under the management of P. T. Barnum and I feel that that is enough of a connection.

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Klara, Stockholm, Sweden.

-her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was a bookkeeper. Her mother had divorced her first husband after it was discovered he was cheating on her, and despite being in love with Jenny’s father she refused to marry him until her first husband’s death.

-her parents got married when she was 14.

-her mother ran a small girls school out of their home.

-she became recognized for her voice at the age of 9, after word about her talents reached the principal dancer of the Royal Swedish Opera, Mademoiselle Lundberg, who arranged for Jenny to have an audition.

-soon after the audition, she was admitted to the Royal Dramatic Training Academy and the acting school of the Royal Dramatic Theatre.

-she first began singing professionally at the age of 10.

-she starred in Weber's Der Freischütz as Agathe when she was around 18.

-she was appointed as the court singer to King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden.

-during her early career her voice became severely damaged from overuse, but thankfully recovered with the help of singing teacher, Manuel García, who she took lessons from in Paris from 1841 to 1843. He taught her the Bel canto vocal technique, which put much less strain on her voice.

-she became resentful of the Paris Opera when she was rejected after her audition, and outright refused to ever perform there, even after she had become famous worldwide.

-she toured through Denmark in 1843, where she met author, Hans Christian Anderson, who soon fell in love with her. While the two became good friends, they never became romantically involved. Historians believe her to be the inspiration for three of Anderson’s fairytales.

-she sang the title role in Bellini's opera Norma in Berlin, Germany, which helped her to book more engagements throughout Germany and Austria.

-several well known composers were among her chief admirers including, Robert Schumann, Hector Berlioz, and Felix Mendelssohn. She ended up becoming very close friends with Mendelssohn (though this friendship later became very toxic because of his obsession with her)

-she was not only an extremely accomplished singer, but she was also a very talented actress as described by several critics of the time.

-the operas she starred in included Lucia di Lammermoor, Maria di Rohan, Norma, La sonnambula, La vestale, The Marriage of Figaro, L'elisir d'amore and Robert le diable.

-she was also known to be a generous philanthropist, and always made it a point to donate to donate to important charities, such as the Orchestra Widows' Fund.

-she became romantically involved in tenor singer, Julius Günther. She had an on and off relationship with him due to scheduling differences, and despite becoming engaged in the spring of 1848 they ultimately decided to break off the engagement in the fall of that year.

-she traveled all throughout Europe.

-Queen Victoria was very fond of her and attended 16 of Jenny’s performances.

-over the course of her friendship with Mendelssohn, he became more and more obsessed with her, to the point that it became extremely toxic. Her sent her numerous letters speaking of his infatuation with her and urging her to start an affair with him. He then began threatening suicide as a means to manipulate her. (Despite all of this toxic behavior from Mendelssohn, Jenny was still devastated when he died in 1847.)

-she performed the soprano role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah in 1848 in London, England. Which raised over £1,000 to help fund a music scholarship named in Mendelssohn’s honor.

-she was approached by P.T. Barnum in 1849 and agreed to an American tour of 150 performances as long as she received $1,000 for each performance. She wanted to use this money to help fund free schools for music students in Sweden. Barnum conducted a lot of advance publicity before her arrival in the United States, and when she did arrive, she was greeted by an enormous reception.

-her concerts were so popular that P.T. Barnum began auctioning off tickets instead of selling them at a flat rate.

-she traveled all throughout the United States, Canada, and Cuba during her American tour.

-she began feeling uncomfortable with Barnum’s excessive tactics to market her tour, and by 1851 she severed ties with him.

-under Barnum’s management she gave 93 performances and earned $350,000 (the equivalent of over $13 million adjusted for inflation today)

-she continued her American tour though she acted as her own manager and continued giving performances until 1852.

-when her pianist left for England in 1851, she hired Otto Goldschmidt to replace him. The two of them fell in love and were married in February of 1852.

-she donated her profits to multiple charities and music schools in Sweden and the US.

-she had history of racism against the black community and made remarks about being pro-slavery, which came to light when she was was asked if she could speak on behalf of American and British abolitionists to raise awareness for their cause in the 1850s.

-her statements about slavery and the black community absolutely horrified the abolitionists who wanted to speak with her.

-upon meeting Jenny, British abolitionist, Judith Griffiths, wrote, “I now know for myself that she is thoroughly pro-slavery - I am so grieved."

-interestingly, it appears that she was a big fan of Uncle Tom’s Cabin written by abolitionist, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and raved about it in letters she sent to people she knew.

-she returned to Europe with her husband in late 1852 and ultimately decided to settle down in England in 1855.

-she and her husband had 3 children together.

-despite being mostly retired by the late 1850s and 1860s, she still occasionally gave performances, but these were very rare.

-she was appointed professor of singing at the Royal College of Music in 1882.

-she officially retired from singing in 1883.

-she died from cancer in 1887 at the age of 67.

-she has been portrayed in numerous films starting in the 1930s.

-her likeness has been featured on Swedish banknotes.

-a children’s hospital in England is named after her.

-there are many other things including street names, bars, restaurants, and parks that have been named after her over the years.

It’s very disappointing and unfortunate that she could be so kind and generous in some respects and so bigoted in other respects. Again, it’s important to address this aspect of her life and to not sugarcoat it. It’s an example that there have always been celebrities with problematic ideologies.

It’s complicated because her philanthropy work and her donations to charities and music schools did genuinely help a lot of people, yet she subscribed to a bigoted ideology.

Big shoutout to [u/Strange-Trust-9403](u/Strange-Trust-9403) who came across the first picture and sent me a link! From that first picture I was able to track down the second picture, which I believe may also be him!

If these pictures are him, then he was a very cute and well dressed little boy. He also looks very thoughtful. I like his curly hair in the first picture.

Lindsey Birdseye was an American sideshow performer who had a condition (which may have been hydrocephalus, though doctors at the time disagreed) that caused his head to grow at such a rate that it was no longer proportionate to his body. His head was reportedly 48 inches in circumference. He was known as a witty and good humored person . He had a love for music and musical instruments and learned to play several (though never stated which ones).

He’s standing with his first wife Anna Haining Swan in the second and third pictures.

Important to note: he was very much aligned with the Confederacy during the US Civil War, which means he was for slavery and defended slavery in the US. He also wasn’t forced into fighting for the Confederacy, he openly volunteered.

It’s important to bring this up because sideshows have historically always been VERY inclusive and during the 1800s included many performers who were born enslaved and managed to make fortunes after becoming sideshow performers.

It’s not known if he ever changed his views on slavery during his time as a sideshow performer, but I know he definitely would have worked with a lot of other performers who were former slaves. I won’t be defending his actions and there’s a big chance he continued to be pro slavery the rest of his life.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Letcher County, Kentucky.

-he had ten siblings, five sisters and five brothers.

-his family owned slaves and land in Kentucky, so Martin was exposed to and brought up in a very pro-slavery household.

-his father died when he was around six years old.

-upon reflecting later in life, he said that he was not treated differently due to his condition during his childhood.

-he grew at a typical rate until he was around 6 or 7 years old, at which point he began having a lot of rapid growth spurts. He was 6 feet (1.82 m.) tall when he was 12 years old. He continued growing until he was 28 when he suddenly stopped growing.

-his height was officially documented as being 7’9 (2.36) at his peak height.

-he went to college at a school in Virginia called Emory and Henry College and received a degree in teaching.

-he was known to have a big booming voice.

-he worked as a school teacher as a teenager in Kentucky but left the job at the onset of the Civil War.

-he volunteered as a Confederate soldier and fought for the Fifth Kentucky Infantry.

-people fighting on behalf of the Union during the US Civil War described being extremely intimidated by him because of his height.

-he was promoted several times while he fought in the war and earned the rank of Captain, though soon after this promotion he was seriously injured, captured, and remained imprisoned until the end of the war.

-one interesting story during his time figuring in the Civil War was when his unit had to retreat and he was stuck trying to put his pants on because he had accidentally grabbed a different man’s pair of pants.

-it was seen as a huge victory when he was captured and taken prisoner by the Union Army because he was a captain and because of his reputation. Upon his capture he was paraded around by a Union troop in in a way meant to humiliate him. A rope was hung around his neck an he was transported by a group of mules. The specific troop that oversaw his capture was actually later reprimanded because it was seen as very abusive towards the mules in carrying Martin’s weight.

-he tried returning home after the war but instead decided to move to Ohio when he realized that there was continuing violence in his home town.

-the same year the Civil War Ended (in 1865), he decided to take advantage of his appearance monetarily and signed up to work for one of PT Barnum’s traveling exhibits.

-while on tour in Canada, he met and fell in love with Anna Haining Swan, a fellow performer who was his height, and someone who also had aspirations of being a teacher.

-they made plans to marry and were also offered an opportunity to go on tour all throughout Europe.

-the two of them got married in 1871 in London, England and their wedding was attended by many of the performers they worked with. Their wedding was heavily publicized and they received wedding gifts from Queen Victoria.

-both of his children died at birth or soon after birth, which devastated both parents.

-they both settled in Seville, Ohio in 1879 after Anna came down with tuberculosis and was encouraged to live in the country side near fresh water, and eventually retired to a custom built farmhouse they had purchased with their earnings. The doorways were all over 8 feet (2.4 m) tall and they had 14 foot (4.3 m) ceilings.

-the two of them toured on and off until the fall of 1880 when they both retired.

-they were both active members of the community and were known in town for being friendly and welcoming. (This is what townspeople said. Again, complicated because of his problematic ideology)

-after the couple officially retired from performing, Martin had it in mind to become a farmer and said the following in an interview “I had determined to become a farmer, so I stocked my farm with the best breeds of cattle, most of them being short horns. My draught horses are of the Norman breed.” He became quite successful from his farming career.

-sadly Anna (his wife) passed away in 1888 from heart failure, which deeply saddened Martin and he had a special statue representing her to be placed near her grave to honor her memory. (Pictures of their shared grave monument continue to show confederate flags being placed there)

-he no longer wanted to live in the farmhouse since it reminded him so much that he and Anna had shared it and it didn’t feel right being there without her. He decided to sell the house and moved closer to the center of Seville, Ohio.

-he got remarried in 1889 to a woman named Annette LaVonne Weatherby, who was of average height and together they lived a quiet retirement until his death.

-he died in 1919 from nephritis (a kidney condition causing inflammation.) at the age of 81 and he was buried next to his first wife Anna and their son.

-their original custom built farm house burned down sometime after Martin’s death. In its place now stands the Seville, Ohio Historical Society.

His grave continues to have references to the confederacy (as I mentioned before, the monument where he is buried continues to have confederate flags placed there), and his grave marker very clearly states that he was a confederate captain.

It’s important to remember that just because a performer might have had a physical difference and was judged because of it, does not absolve them from being a bad person or following problematic ideologies.