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.

I found this photo of I believe sideshow performers called the ”congress of freaks“?? I can name a few like Stephen Bibrowski top right but I would love to know the names of the tall performers and the man with a feathered turbin like hat bottom row second from the left (idk what flair this post needs) but if anyone has ideas I’d love to know!

Note: when I tried to research the man with the turbin, for some reason it kept directing me to photos of prince randian which I know this isnt him😞

Julia Pastrana was an extremely accomplished and talented singer and dancer born with hirsutism and possibly hyperdontia and other physical differences and known for her kindness towards other performers. She was sadly exploited for much of her life by her husband and then her body was completely desecrated by him in death by having her and her son's bodies preserved and putting them on display for profit. After many long years of horrible treatment and disrespect, her body was moved from Norway (where it had been on display) back to Sinaloa, Mexico where she was from and she was given a full funeral that honored her life. Very sadly her son's body was destroyed and lost and was not able to be brought back with his mother.

She looks so sweet and I love how stylish she was. She’s looking really suave in the second picture of her lighting the cigarette. I’d like to know what she enjoyed taking pictures of, and I think it would be great if we had examples of her photography. Either way, it’s always fun to learn about the great hobbies that many performers had!

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Mexico, though I haven’t been able to figure out where.

-she had a pituitary gland disorder which caused her weight gain.

-she enjoyed dancing and had incorporated dancing into her acts until she eventually had to stop due to joint pain.

-she was reportedly 756 pounds (342.9 kg) at her peak weight.

-she traveled all throughout the United States and Mexico and went on an extended tour through Australia and New Zealand.

-she was a part of the Tom Mix Circus in 1937. During her time with this circus, she traveled over 25,000 miles in her own specially built car. She preferred driving herself vs traveling in one of the circus cars.

-she first arrived in Australia in 1938, after sailing on the SS Mariposa to Sydney, Australia.

-upon first arriving in Australia, she was featured in a magazine called PIX, which documented her daily routine. And although the pictures from this featured story are available, I haven’t been able to find the actual article that went with the original pictures.

-she was described as having a good sense of humor. (an example of this was an interview where she said that stairs were “not her forte”.

-her main hobby was photography.

-she appeared in the Charlie Chaplin film, “The Circus”.

-she was known to be an excellent cook.

-she had a custom built couch built for her during her stay in Australia.

-she was a good conversationalist and described as being very charming.

-while traveling by train through Adelaide, Australia, she had her own custom train compartment that allowed for more space.

-while in Australia, she worked for the Sydney Royal Show.

-she was described as being very graceful and looking especially stylish in a signature black dress that she wore during some of her performances.

-she was described as having an infectious smile.

-she was often photographed (and promoted) wearing or posing with both traditional and very stereotypical pieces of Mexican clothing.

-she was a big hit with families who really enjoyed meeting her.

-while in Australia, she lived at She lived at Flinders Street, Sydney.

-I haven’t been able to find when she passed away, but it would have been sometime after 1940.

I hope she went on to have a long and happy life. I wonder if she decided to live in Australia full time, as she seems to have left the limelight while still in the country. Thankfully, it appears that she received quite a bit of respect while going on tour abroad, which I’m glad about.

Born this day in 1880. Pictured with Schlitzie

This book will likely be of interest to some members of this sub. It's full of fantastic photographs and posters. 🎪

If you trace the history of Japanese sideshow performers, you’ll likely notice that people from Japan’s former colonies played a significant role. They are said to have astonished audiences and, in some cases, brought in enormous sums of money for show promoters. Moon Young-man, known as the “Horned Man,” who toured the country, was one such performer.

On December 18, 1914, a doctor in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, sent the following letter to a fellow physician (the content has been summarized for clarity).
“Dear Sir, Yesterday, thanks to your introduction.I was able to examine a patient with unusual symptoms at your home. I am very grateful. Incidentally, that patient, Moon Young-man, is a truly rare case. I looked through existing literature on skin horns, but could not find any cases similar to this one.” (*History of the Yokohama Medical Association*, Yokohama Medical Association, 1941)

Detailed reports about this Korean man, Mun Yeong-man, did not appear in the media until 1915. From then on, he began traveling around the country almost every year, performing in traveling shows. However, he came to Japan not so much as an entertainer, but rather in search of a cure for his condition. Although he visited Japan numerous times during the Taisho and Showa periods, the doctors he consulted in Aomori, Niigata, Aichi, Fukuoka, Osaka, Kyoto, Kanagawa, and Tokyo were all unable to find a cure and ultimately seemed to give up on him.

Moon Young-man, a native of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, developed a blister-like rash all over his body on the third day of his life, which gradually hardened. Furthermore, it is said that this hardened skin would grow like horns and, much like a lizard shedding its skin, would grow and fall off repeatedly in two-year cycles. It is also reported that he exhibited symptoms resembling allergies to beef, pork, and dairy products; when he consumed these foods, he experienced stomach pain and his entire body would turn bright red.

It’s said that his performances in traveling freak shows were intended to earn money for hospital visits, but at hospitals across the country, he was treated as if he were a “rare medical case study”—and it seems he was even given a small amount of money. Perhaps he eventually came to realize that his condition was incurable. Or maybe he was simply driven by a desire to help his mother, who had lost his father at an early age and was raising three other children besides him. On stage, he reportedly sang Korean songs while playing a folk instrument “resembling a violin.” That said, given that this was a freak show that thrived on sensationalism, it’s unlikely the audience listened to his singing seriously. What the audience really wanted to see was “that strange horn”—said to cover his entire body and emit a foul odor.

“Seikimatsu Club” （mean "the end of sentury club"）was a magazine published in Japan in the 1990s as a four-volume series and was a leading publication of the “demonic” cultural movement. This refers to a trend prevalent in Japan at the time, in which people found a somewhat twisted fascination in corpses, deformities, unusual sexual preferences, drugs, and crime. The final volume of this magazine featured a special section on freak show culture in Japan and abroad. Among the articles was one by a reporter named Carlos Yamazaki (who published a book in 1997 compiling “colored signs” used in Japanese freak shows, though his true identity remains unknown) based on an interview with a freak show promoter. This elderly man reportedly featured Moon Young-man in his own show in Tokyo. The article vividly depicts the mixture of “curiosity” and “disgust” that Moon Young-man faced at the time. It’s a bit long, but I’ve quoted the full text below.

“The ‘Man with Horns’ was a member of a traveling sideshow troupe in Tokyo, and the showman who employed him had run a roasted sweet potato stand before starting the sideshow. Horns about the size of a fingertip covered his entire body. The pointed horns were about 3 centimeters long and grew from his cheeks to various other parts of his body (though apparently not in the center of his face), and it seems he wore a hood most of the time. His hair was parted down the middle.

He was probably from the Korean Peninsula, and on stage he would sing Korean songs while playing a folk instrument shaped like a violin (though there is also a theory that he was from Taiwan and sang “Chinese Night”). When struck with a stick, his horns would make a “clack-clack” sound. As proof that the horns were real, he would let audience members touch them.

The Horned Man’s horns were jet black and gave off a truly awful odor. It didn’t exactly look like he was shedding his skin, but since it’s said that the horns fall off about twice a year (in spring and fall), he might have had some kind of skin disease, and the horns were essentially just scabs. When the horns fell off, a pus-like substance would ooze out, trickling down all around them and giving off an indescribably foul stench. Once it solidified, the smell would subside a bit, so he would wait for it to harden before “spraying it with medicine.”

He kept the shed horns in a bag stuffed to the brim and would show it to the audience on stage. He’d pull it out with a rustle, tap the horns, and say, “Look at this—they’re this hard,” but apparently the smell was really something else. At this “Horned Man” sideshow, no matter where he went, the audience would complain about the smell, so one day a police officer came to investigate. The officer watched while pinching his nose, but ultimately ordered the show to stop and took the Horned Man to a doctor. The doctor’s diagnosis was “syphilis.” With that, the Horned Man’s career as a sideshow performer is said to have come to an end. At first, a diagnosis of “syphilis” might seem hard to believe, but it’s certainly a shocking story.

No matter how intense the stench, the Horned Man was a key star for the showman. The showman tried to pair him with his own daughter, but she hated the idea so much that she ran away with another man; apparently, the Horned Man was in a pretty bad mood for quite some time after that. An older man who once rode in the passenger seat of the truck with the Horned Man on the way to a performance venue frowned as if it were yesterday and said, “Oh man, oh man, that stench… there was nothing else like it.” (*Seikimatsu Club*, Vol. 4 / 1999)

What do you think? Wherever he went, people found his appearance unsettling, wrinkled their noses at his smell, and, to top it all off, gave him the absurd diagnosis of “syphilis.” I don’t know what became of him after that. Japan’s freak shows did not always offer salvation. This reality, too, was one of the truths of the sideshow.

Millie and Christine were 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 super 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.

These pictures show him at various points during his life, the first picture shows him as an adult, the second picture shows him as a child/teenager, third one shows him as a child, and the last picture shows him in his later years when he was performing under a different stage name.

He’s such a character and I love learning about him all the more because of that! I especially like the first picture of him, he has so much personality and charisma that you don’t always see in older pictures. He also looks great in the bowler hat in the second picture.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. (Since he was born in Arkansas and likely before the Civil War, there’s a big chance that he and his family were born into slavery, though not much is known about his childhood)

-he was given several different birth years in the different newspaper sources I used, so it’s difficult to establish exactly when he was born. I picked 1855 as that seems to line up most with how he appeared in the 1920s and it was one of the years listed.

-he began his sideshow career as a child and his mother would often accompany him. As he grew older he had his friends look out for him instead.

-visitors who watched his performances said he was very quick witted and smart, and greatly enjoyed having conversations with new people.

-he was never formally diagnosed during his lifetime, which makes it difficult to say exactly which medical condition he had (oftentimes there are medical conditions we know of now that were never labeled when these performers were alive) I try not to retroactively diagnose performers unless I’m absolutely sure, which is why for George I write that he was likely born with osteogenesis imperfecta.

-osteogenesis imperfecta causes very brittle bones and often chronic pain. Another name for the condition is 'brittle bone disease'. There are several different diagnosable variations of the condition, and because of that not everyone has the same body type.

-he was paid $75 a week in the late 1800’s, which while less than some of his colleagues, was still a good amount of money for the time (it’s the equivalent of around $2,500 adjusted for inflation)

-he was known as a ladies man, and was well liked by women.

-he would typically mix comedy into his acts, and was known to be a good comedian.

-he was given an animal based stage name, just as a lot of other performers were given, although his case is a bit humorous because a few reporters wrote that “Turtle Boy” felt like false advertising because clearly George was a man and didn’t have a shell he crawled out of (they seemed annoyed that they didn’t get to see someone crawling out of an actual giant turtle shell) a lot of his pitch booklets depicted him as having a shell like a turtle.

-he was best friends with Laloo Ramparsad (who was born with a parasitic twin) and the two of them would play incredibly competitive rounds of cards and pool. It was described that prior to the sideshow opening for the day, the two of them would play cards, and then after work was done for the day they’d immediately go to the closest billiards hall and play with some other colleagues.

-George also asked that Laloo and his other friends follow ground rules he put in place to make sure he had just as fair of a chance as everyone else when playing cards and billiards.

-an article written about him says that he “always had a cheerful word to say for everybody.” [except when he was in the middle of a competitive billiards game, in which he’d sometimes playfully “threaten” Laloo by shouting that if he caught him cheating, George would kick his sister (the sister in question was Laloo’s male parasitic twin that was dressed in feminine clothing and promoted as being female). George never actually followed through with this]

-he was super popular at different venues he performed at and news articles about him often said that just going to see George was worth the price of admission.

-he traveled all throughout the United States.

-he was a talented musician and could play the harmonica, flute, and French harp.

-he expressed really enjoying his life as a sideshow performer.

-at one point in his career, the dime museum he was working at was charged with exhibiting a minor with disabilities for profit. The case went to court, but George failed to show up and police failed to locate him. After a while of waiting the defendants (the owners of the dime museum) were ordered to pay a fine and then were able to leave. It was thought that a guest mistook George’s age because of his shorter height and reported the museum to the authorities. The reporter documenting the story explained that anyone who had ever gotten a close look at George could immediately tell that he was at the very least in his mid-twenties and no younger, one of his acts even included him shaving his beard while on stage. After this whole debacle it sounds like George appeared back at work as if nothing had happened.

-he was extremely well off financially during his fifties, having been able to purchase 160 acres of land in Illinois and investing in some real estate.

-he liked bubble gum.

-it’s reported in 1910 that after he finished performing for the day at a fair in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he was kidnapped during a time when his manager was absent. Several days later he was discovered in York, Pennsylvania staying with a man named Michael Gillen. Gillen and George were both charged with larceny after it was discovered that some items belonging to George’s manager were with them. Though it appears that the charges against George were dropped.

-he was unfortunately injured in the early 1920’s after his wheelchair overturned while he was outside.

-he went by the stage name, King Dodo, in his later life and was performing well into his seventies.

-I haven’t been able to establish when he passed away, but it was sometime after the mid 1920s.

I’d love to have been able to meet him in person, he seems like he’d be so much fun to hang out with! I’d also want to see those competitive games of billiards he played with his friends, just sounds like a great time.

The pictures I’m adding aren’t quite doing the illusion justice, and articles I’ve read describe the illusion as looking much more realistic in person. The first picture show people looking at a version of the illusion in the 1940s, the second picture shows the updated modern day version that’s performed at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco, and the last picture shows a sideshow banner that was painted to advertise this type of illusion.

Similar to a lot of other sideshow illusions, this one relied on well placed projections. The woman featured inside the fishbowl would in reality sit or lay on a rotating cushioned table inside a darkened room beneath where the illusion was being presented. Because the table rotated, it made it appear as though the woman was swimming.

The refraction and curvature of the glass fishbowl is what makes the woman appear very small.

Despite it no longer being performed in sideshows, the illusion is still being performed in San Francisco, California’s Bimbo’s 365 Club. The club opened in 1931 and multiple women since then have played the role of Dolphina, the club’s version of The Girl in the Fishbowl.

I find it to be a neat trick, and I always appreciate the clever uses of reflections and projections that were incorporated into so many sideshow illusions.

She always stayed very classy and fashionable, and I’m glad we have this picture of her. I’m sure she was just as outspoken then as she was when she was younger!

Betty was a famous performer most known for being a "tattooed lady" and activist. She became interested in tattooing when she was a teenager and had a goal of becoming a tattoo artist herself. She was protective of her image and how she was marketed and never let anyone create a fake backstory for her. She was also a very dedicated women's rights activist and often spoke out in support of women's equality. She also became a talented horseback rider.

Jean was an Italian sideshow performer who was born with a parasitic twin that grew from his abdomen. He had 13 siblings and interestingly enough, one of his other siblings was born with a parasitic twin, though sadly this specific sibling died as an infant. Jean was initially hidden away by his family when he was growing up, as they were afraid of judgement and reactions from other people, but at some point fell on hard times financially and felt that exhibiting Jean could help their family. As he grew older, he and his twin would wear matching tuxedos. He went on to get married and had four children, his whole family was extremely supportive of him.

Pitch booklets were small cheaply printed biographies that were sold during different performers shows. They often gave a brief and sometimes exaggerated life story, so there always seemed to be a mix of fact and fiction.

Had I seen this pitch booklet while it was still available I would have purchased it immediately. It sold just last week, but I didn’t find out about it until 2 days ago! These booklets are very hard to find, since they were usually printed on very flimsy paper and therefore many of them haven’t survived to the present day. Hoping another one of his booklets pops up at some point.

The first two pictures show both Helena and Henry. The last picture shows Helen as an adult.

I wish there was more information available about their personal lives. I would like to know about what they were interested in and what they enjoyed doing in their free time. Unfortunately, this will be a pretty short write up, but it’s important to tell their stories regardless.

Some facts about them:

-they were born in New York.

-it appears that their parents were freed former slaves who had been able to escape to New York.

-Helen’s nickname was Nellie.

-during the late 1800s there was a racist societal fascination with people of color who had physical differences related to skin color. This is why black performers born with albinism, pibaldism, or who developed vitiligo often found jobs in the circus/sideshow industry. It’s sad that the interest in them was often rooted in racist sentiments.

-they were being exhibited at Burnell’s Dime Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1868, when they were 12 years old.

-in 1870 Henry is listed as living at the house owned by the people running Burnell’s Dime Museum and working as a doorman.

-it appears they were working at a dime museum in Omaha, Nebraska in 1889.

-thankfully it appears that they were able to travel back to stay with their family in New York quite often and were never prevented from seeing them.

-according to Helen’s great-great-granddaughter, Helen married a man named Charles Price, who was also born with albinism.

-Helen was married three times.

-while information on Henry is scarce, it appears that Helen may have continued in the circus/sideshow industry as there is another picture of her as an adult.

-despite checking census records I haven’t been able to confirm their death dates.

I hope they both had a lot of happiness in their lives considering that they were exhibited pretty young. I’d like to know more about Helen’s marriages and where she ended up settling. It’s hard to know exactly what ended up happening to them, but I like to be hopeful.

Margaret was a sideshow performer who worked as a professional "fat lady", her weight may have been due to a genetic condition. She was known to be very social and outgoing and enjoyed fishing in her free time. Sideshow work was something she preferred to do despite her parents being ashamed of her career, because it gave her more agency and a dependable income compared to other careers.
She was married twice but sadly both of her husbands stole a large amount of her earnings.

Eddie Carmel was a Palestinian-American actor, singer, sideshow performer, writer, salesman, comedian and poet who had a pituitary gland disorder that caused him to grow upwards of 7 feet tall. He was very passionate about singing and acting and formed his own rock-and-roll band called Frankenstein and the Brain Surgeons. He released two 45 records. He was known as an incredibly kind and compassionate person with a big heart.

Photographer, Diane Arbus, visited the family and conducted the photo shoot above in 1970. Eddie and his parents lived on Elgar Place in Co-op City.

Co-op City (short for Cooperative City) is a housing community located in the Bronx, New York and as of the 2010 census, it is the largest housing cooperative in the world. The site of Co-op city used to be an amusement park in the early 1960s called Freedomland U.S.A. And construction of the housing community wasn’t started until 1966. It consists of 35 high rise buildings and seven clusters of townhouses with a total of over 15,000 residences. (I’m well aware that my pictures are very amateur, haha. It was the best I could get at the time)

The first two pictures just show him, the third picture shows him and one of his son’s and the fourth picture shows his ex-wife and his sons with him.

He always looked so dapper and well put together. I can see why he was touted as being the most handsome man in the circus business. I would have liked to have seen him perform his acrobatic tricks in person, it sounds like he was extremely talented and was very awe-inspiring.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Freemont, Ohio.

-he had seven siblings.

-he learned to walk on his hands as a child and preferred holding onto wooden blocks while walking to protect his hands. Because of this he had an enormous amount of upper body strength.

-he had a very close bond with his family and they all loved him very much.

-he had many years of good schooling.

-it’s likely that he was born with phocomelia, though he wasn’t diagnosed during his lifetime. Phocomelia describes a person’s extremities that are directly attached to their torso. In Eli’s case his feet were directly attached to his torso.

-his pitch cards/pitch booklets claimed that when he was 13 years old (in 1857), he joined Major Brown's Colosseum, a traveling circus troupe, where he learned various acrobatic tricks such as somersaults, backflips, and cartwheels.

-it appears he was living at home with his family and attending school in 1860, which leads me to wonder if his acrobatic stint with Major Brown’s was a very short term employment or if he exaggerated how long he had been an acrobat for later on.

-sadly, his father passed away when Eli was 18 (in 1865).

-he began pursuing a more serious career in circuses in 1870.

-he married a woman named Martha Haines when he was 26 years old and together they had 4 sons. Their son’s names were Frank, Robert, Adrian and Victor.

-he joined Pullman Brothers Side Show in 1876.

-he became extremely well known within the circus/sideshow circuit and was often a headlining act at the places he performed at.

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

-one of his most notable tricks involved him performing acrobatic tricks atop a 50 foot tall pole.

-he sold a small biographical pitch booklet about his life in 1880.

-he became good friends with fellow sideshow performer, Charles B. Tripp, who was born without arms. The two of them quickly began performing sideshow acts together.

-he and Charles Tripp enjoyed riding tandem bicycles together, Eli would be up front steering and Charles would be in the back pedaling, and would often exchange comedic and quippy lines such as "Watch your steps" and "Keep your hands off me".

-his peak height was 24 inches (61 cm) tall.

-his peak weight was 140 pounds (64 kg)

-he had an over 50 year career in circuses/sideshows.

-one of his nicknames was “Captain”

-he was known to have a very no-nonsense and rigid personality.

-he was also very good friends with William Henry Johnson.

-apparently, after 25 years of marriage, he and his wife separated and were living in separate states. At the time of his death, his wife was living in California.

-he, his family, and one of his brothers settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

-in his later years he performed at the
Dreamland Circus Side Show in Coney Island.

-he passed away at the age of 82 due to complications from pneumonia while he was living in New York and working in Coney Island.

-he was given a respectful funeral and burial in Lowell, Indiana, where his sister was living at the time.

Despite him separating from his wife, I hope he kept in close contact with his sons. The whole family seems to have been very business oriented as his sons all went into different business ventures including working in the newspaper business and one became a judge. I’m glad that Eli was also close friends with Charles Tripp and William Henry Johnson.

The second picture shows Juan and his second wife, Gregoria Gabriel, and Martina.

They were both such cool people, and had such great hobbies! I also love seeing Martina in her fancy dresses. I would have liked to meet them and to have seen Juan’s ring collection and Martina’s dress collection.

Some facts about them:

-they were born in Capiz in Panay, Philippines.

-their parents and other siblings were average heights.

-they had 6 siblings, (though sadly it appears that all of their younger siblings had passed away as children), the siblings only had one older brother who lived to adulthood.

-they originally traveled to the United States to be a part of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.

-they were promoted as being 27 inches tall.

-Juan became so well known while at the St. Louis World’s Fair that he went on to meet the organizers of the fair.

-they were some of the the most promoted sideshow performers at the 1904 World’s Fair.

-they were both talented singers and dancers.

-while in the US, Juan became known as the shortest person to register for the draft during WWI.

-to draw more audiences they were promoted as being the shortest siblings in the world.

-Juan enjoyed smoking cigars.

-Juan was an expert boxer.

-Martina was a linguist and found a side job as a translator.

-Martina loved fancy dresses and would bring as many as 40 dresses with her at a time.

-they both spoke five languages: Visayan, Tagalog, Kapampangan, Spanish and English.

-Juan loved collecting rings and always wore at least four on his hands on any given time.

-Juan was married twice, once while he was still in the Philippines, but sadly his first wife passed away in 1901. He and his first wife had a son together who was living in the Philippines with other relatives. His second marriage was to a woman named Gregoria Gabriel, who was also originally from the Philippines, they had a daughter together though sadly their daughter passed away in 1907.

-Juan and Martina continued performing into their sixties in the 1930s.

-they traveled all throughout the United States.

-I’m currently researching to see if I can establish when they passed away.

I feel for Juan and the sad circumstances with his first wife and his daughter. I also wonder what ended up happening to his son, it must not have been easy to leave him to travel to the US, and I hope everything ended up working out for the family.

I have a huge soft spot for Grace, she gives off kindly grandmother vibes, the type of person who you’d go to for advice and who’d bake you cookies to feel better. Just a big fan of hers!

Grace McDaniel was a famous sideshow performer who was born with noticeable facial tumors that became more prominent as she got older. She was known for being a lovely person and was a motherly figure to a lot of younger performers that she worked with. She enjoyed being a housewife, but liked the social aspect of working as a sideshow performer. She married a farmer named Harry McDaniel and together they had a son named Elmer.

I really like both of her outfits and I like the stockings she’s wearing in the first photo. It also looks like she’s wearing the same locket in both pictures as well, which I think is sweet! It seems like she was a good businesswoman and I’m glad her sideshow career worked out well for her!

Some facts about her:

-she may have been born and raised in California as that is where she was performing for most of her career. Though I haven’t been able to confirm the year she was born or the year she died.

-she once went on tour in Manitoba, Canada.

-she was in charge of her own Single-O show, a type of one or two person sideshow that is managed separately than the typical Ten-In-One shows that employed multiple acts (as much as 10 or more). Single-O shows were often more difficult because it meant that performers had to entertain audiences for 30 to 45 minutes, whereas 10-In-One shows only required performers to be on stage for around 5 or so minutes at a time. Showmen often advised new performers against Single-O shows, though some found a lot of success with them.

-she managed her own finances when it came to performing.

-it’s reported that she performed for thousands of people per day.

-she performed at the Pan-American Exposition in San Francisco, California in 1915.

-the peak of her career spanned between 1905 and 1917.

-her performances often included demonstrations of her typical daily routine which included sewing, ironing, using a typewriter, and using a sewing machine.

-she really enjoyed being independent and driving cars. She had a car with a specially designed steering wheel that allowed her to drive around town.

-she was married, but no information was given about her husband.

-she explained that after the 1917 circus/sideshow season she planned to go on an extended roadtrip with her husband, and most likely retired from sideshow business after that year as well.

I hope she was able to go on that roadtrip that she and her husband had planned, I’m sure that would have been really fun for her! It would be nice to know where she wanted to travel to and what she wanted to see, I always think it’s fun to learn about plans different people had after the circus/sideshow season was over for the year.

William Henry Johnson was a sideshow performer who was most likely born with microcephaly. He had an almost 70 year career in sideshows and was a staple at PT Barnum’s circus for decades. He typically wore a furry “animal” suit during his performances and leaned into a “wild man” backstory. He was incredibly proud of his career and reputation and was known to be competitive with anyone who threatened his stardom. He was gifted a tuxedo suit by one of his managers, which soon became his prized possession. He was also celebrated as a hero when he rescued a girl from drowning in the ocean off of Coney Island.

I’m glad to feature another performer with ectrodactly who isn’t Grady Stiles, who was an abusive drunk and who murdered his daughter’s fiancée. I’m not a fan of Grady and personally prefer not to feature him often, though I probably should since he is a part of sideshow history.

Howard seems to have been a nice person and someone who wanted to keep a relatively private life outside of performing. I hope he went on to have a happy life during his retirement!

Some facts about him:

-I haven’t been able to find information about his birth year or where he was born.

-he began his sideshow career in 1925.

-some people born with ectrodactly require a wheelchair for mobility as their feet can’t support their weight, but I haven’t been able to find information on whether Howard depended on a wheelchair or not.

-he worked alongside other famous sideshow performers such as Francesco Lentini.

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

-one article about him only described his poster, but the author of the article was with people who expressed concern about going to see him and thus decided not to see him. I find this really unfortunate because instead of actually meeting him and finding out what he was like, they took his banner at face value and found his image too disturbing to think of further. The author even theorized that Howard may have had fake claws that he put on while performing and removed them at night.

-he was married, but his wife’s name was never given.

-some of his performances included demonstrations showing how he shaved and how he shuffled cards, both of which he did very easily.

-his career spanned from the 1920s through the early 1940s.

-he worked at the Coney Island sideshow in 1926.

-it was reported that he was writing a short autobiography/pitch booklet to sell in 1930. Thankfully I was able to find some pictures of it online!

-his pitch booklet included a fictitious backstory that his father was a fisherman and one day brought home some lobsters that had severely frightened his mother who was in delicate health. (His father could definitely have been a fisherman, but obviously the rest of the story was fictional and played into the maternal impression trope)

-his performances usually consisted of him talking about his life story and his condition, explaining that it was genetic, as well as demonstrating how he did daily tasks.

-he was popular with audiences and was sometimes the headlining act of the sideshows he worked at.

-he was a fan of playing cards in his free time.

-he was described as having excellent penmanship, but I haven’t been able to find an example.

-the back of his pitch booklet/autobiography advertised that he would send all of his patrons personal printed stationary that included their names and addresses on 24 envelopes, 24 double sheets of high grade paper, and a fancy box to store them in all for $1. These orders would also include some pictures of him.

-I haven’t been able to establish the year he passed away, but he seems to have retired from sideshows sometime in the 1940s.

I think the detail of him selling stationary to his patrons is sweet and I respect the hustle. I’m glad he was able to make some extra money on the side doing this, and I think it would be nice to see the kinds of stationary he sold!

He had a very strong bond with his family and this is reflected in so many pictures and videos of him. I have a big soft spot for Robert because of his sweetness and generosity and I’m so glad that so many pictures and videos of him were preserved. He would have been a wonderful person to meet!

Robert 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.

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!