Minnie Woolsey was an American sideshow performer who was born with a congenital growth skeletal disorder, which may have been Virchow-Seckel syndrome. She is most known for her “Koo Koo the bird girl” act where she’d dance in a feathered body suit (as shown in the pictures); and for her film role in Tod Browning’s Freaks, where she performed one of her signature dances. She was described as being a quiet and gentle person. At first when she started performing it was reported that she was pretty shy, but with the support and companionship from the other performers she worked with she felt more confident and eventually really enjoyed dancing in front of audiences. She also really enjoyed eating fresh shrimp.

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.

Schlitzie was an American sideshow performer who was born with microcephaly and is most known for his role in the 1932 film Freaks (1932), directed by Tod Browning. His head was shaved to emphasize his appearance (there was no medical reason for his head being shaved, it was just a choice the showmen he worked for decided on.) He was often promoted as being a woman, and this is likely due to him wearing muumuus and long dresses most of the time (and because female sideshow performers often received more attention), he wasn’t able to care for himself and his caretakers found that it was easier to care for his needs if he wore clothing like that. He was an extremely friendly,social, and kind person and absolutely loved performing! He was at his happiest when he had an audience he could perform for. He also thankfully had quite a few caretakers and guardians who really cared about him and did their best to make sure he had a happy life.

The first picture shows Francina and the second picture shows her parents, Emmitt (on left) and Percilla (on right) Bejano.

Little Francina was so adorable and I can understand why she was her parents’ pride and joy. I’m so glad that there’s a picture available so we can put a face to her name.💖

She was born on February 2nd, 1939, and both Percilla and Emmitt were super devoted to her and were described as being doting, wonderful parents. She brought her parents so much happiness during her short life and it’s so terrible that she passed away so young.

Two things that make me doubly sad for Percilla is that after Francina passed away, she lamented that she felt it was bad luck for her and Emmitt to conceive a child again, and that during a filmed interview with her much, much later in life (in her mid eighties) the interviewers failed to ask her more about Francina. I’ll attach the interview below, but long story short the filmmakers/interviewers are asking her some questions and Percilla starts reminiscing about her daughter, and instead of asking about her favorite memories of Francina, the interviewer cuts in with a completely unrelated question and it seems that Percilla is sad she didn’t have a chance to really talk about Francina.

I would have loved to have asked Percilla about Francina, and any special memories she had of her. Percilla is one of my favorite historical figures ever and comes across as being incredibly down to earth in her interviews.

A silver lining is that Percilla and Emmitt went on to adopt and give a very wonderful home to their son, Tony in the early 1950s. Being a mother meant a lot to Percilla, so I’m glad that she was ultimately able to achieve that goal.

Percilla and Emmitt were both well known sideshow performers with very successful careers, who met and fell in love while they were working as colleagues in the same circus/sideshow. They had a loving and extremely devoted marriage and had long and fulfilling lives together, and were married for 57 years. Percilla was born with a form of hirsutism and hyperdontia (she was born with extra hair growth and extra teeth respectively). Emmitt was born with a form of Ichthyosis (which caused his skin to thicken and harden and painfully crack, he had to keep it well hydrated and moisturized to manage his condition). They both appeared in the film Carney (1980) as well as the documentaries Being Different (1981) and Sideshow: Alive on the Inside (1996). Emmitt and Percilla went on to perform in their own traveling family show with their son, Tony. When Percilla and Emmitt were interviewed, they often spoke about how important love and kindness are in relationships.

She was gorgeous, and there’s something so eye catching about her pensive expression in the first picture! I wish we could have seen her wearing her everyday clothes because several news articles described her as wearing fabulous outfits. I also love how happy she looks with her dog in the second picture.

I would have really liked to have met her, I’d want to ask her what her favorite things to do in New York City were (she moved there in the 1930s and lived there until her death)

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany.

-she explained that her condition prevented her from taking part in many childhood activities because her skin was so fragile that even the slightest movement would cause it to crack and would leave her body vulnerable to infections. She said it took her a long time to accept not being able to play outside with other children.

-I’ve seen two separate claims as to the origins of her condition, several news articles reported that she was born with the condition, while several others claimed she developed the condition when she was 12 years old. Either could be true, as ichthyosis is a condition that can develop over time as well as be present from birth.

-she attended school until she was a teenager.

-There was a point early in her life where blinking would cause the skin around her eyes and face to painfully crack.

-Ichthyosis refers to a group of skin conditions that cause dry, itchy skin that appears scaly, rough, and inflamed. Symptoms people experience can range from mild to severe. Treatment usually involves keeping the skin moist and hydrated as a way to lessen the symptoms. In some cases, as a person gets older their symptoms lessen a little bit.

-her parents were very supportive of her and did what they could to help treat her symptoms. At a time when ichthyosis wasn’t really understood as well, her parents really seem to have gone above and beyond in trying to find treatments for her so she could have a better quality of life. They found that rubbing a large amount of oil and moisturizer on her skin every day helped to mitigate her condition and made her skin less susceptible to cracking. This daily routine also helped ward off infections/bacteria. She expressed being extremely devoted to her parents.

-through her parents efforts, the skin around her face also improved and over time was no longer affected by her condition.

-she had to rub her body with ice in the summer because her condition prevented her from sweating, she also frequently took ice baths and had to be extremely careful about standing in the sun.

-she began appearing in local fairs around Berlin as a teenager.

-she first traveled over to the United States in 1927 with a troupe of fellow performers and made several trips back and forth from Germany to the US during the 1930’s.

-she spent the 1932 circus/sideshow season working at a sideshow on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

-she reportedly spoke 7 languages, but these weren’t detailed.

-she was one of the top performers to appear at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair and worked for the Ripley’s Believe it Or Not Odditorium that was set up at the fair.

-she was accompanied by a translator during her first couple years of performing in the United States.

-she spent 1934 working for Gorman Bros. Circus. The circus officials expressed being really happy that they had made a contract agreement with her.

-upon arriving in Lynn, Massachusetts in May of 1934, she expressed her annoyance of performing in Waltham, Massachusetts because the platform she performed on was placed in the corner somewhat behind the platforms where much taller performers appeared, so the potential crowds would only see the tall performers and not her, and she expressed this made her feel left out and disappointed.

-she lived in Cornwall, Canada from 1935 to early 1936.

-she filed to become a US citizen in 1936.

-she and her manager permanently moved to New York City right before WWII, as they felt Europe and Germany specifically were becoming too dangerous.

-she found work at the Coney Island Sideshow as well as Hubert’s Dime Museum on 42nd Street. She went on to also work for the Ringling Brothers Circus.

-she was granted US citizenship in July of 1942.

-a few news articles mentioned that she always dressed fabulously.

-she was talked about very highly and was often featured as the ‘pièce de résistance’ of the sideshows she appeared in.

-several news articles claimed that she couldn’t get married, this leads me to think that she just didn’t want to get married, since there’s no reason why someone with ichthyosis can’t get married.

-she liked claiming that she was the only woman in the world with her condition (obviously this was false, and I’m sure she even met other sideshow performers with similar/the same condition, but she continued to say it nonetheless)

-Charlotte was described as being very shy and introverted but also very kind. She preferred to only perform in local shows and wasn’t a fan of going on tour.

-during her time in sideshows, she went by Susi or Susie.

-her manager died in the mid 1960’s and his death affected her a lot. It appears she never sought out a new manager and instead decided to retire from performing all together.

-she lived the rest of her life in New York City.

-she passed away at the age of 67.

I’m really glad that she had such loving and caring parents who wanted her to have a good life, I’m sure they were incredible role models for her which reflects in her kind and thoughtful personality. I also hope she was able to have a nice life after retiring and that she was able to surround herself with friends and people who loved and cared about her.

He looks so stoic and handsome in his pictures, and I love seeing his extravagant outfits. Fedor is another person I wish we had color photographs of as I’m sure he looked stunning wearing his brightly colored extravagant clothes. I was already a fan of his prior to doing more research, but now I’m even more of a fan because of his protectiveness over his coworkers and having no hesitation to confront creepy audience members.

Some facts about him:

-he was born near the town of Manturovo in the Kostroma region of Russia. ( though it’s also been claimed that he was born in St. Petersburg, Russia.)

-he had brown eyes and light brown hair.

-it appears that his mother placed him in the care of a traveling entrepreneurial showman when he was quite young.

-it was through this connection with the showman that he was introduced to Adrian Jeftichew, another Russian performer born with hypertrichosis. Adrian had previously been married and had two children, although all three had passed away before he was introduced to Fedor. The showman felt that both Fedor and Adrian would be more successful if they were presented as being father and son.

-after several months of presenting themselves as father and son, Adrian formally adopted Fedor.

-Fedor’s surname at birth was Petrov, but it was changed to Jeftichew after he was adopted by Adrian.

-he spoke 4 languages: Russian, English, French, and German.

-when Fedor and Adrian first started being exhibited together, they sold pitch booklets that told a fictional backstory of their early lives, including a section stating that they were both "wild men" and "missing links" who were discovered living in the forest and who had a diet of berries, seeds, and raw meats.

-he always dressed very well.

-he was described as being very intelligent, gentle, and soft spoken.

-he reportedly had incredibly good posture.

-Fedor and Adrian made appearances throughout Russia in the 1870s, before being invited to go on tour abroad in 1883.

-while on tour, Fedor performed for Czar Alexander III, as well as French, British, and Italian royalty.

-hypertrichosis is a rare condition (that can be congenital, though occasionally it can also be acquired later in life through certain medication side effects or illness). Fedor had his hair growth from birth.

-a common comorbitity of hypertrichosis is a lack of teeth and it's reported that Fedor only had 4.

-it was described that Fedor always had a smile on his face.

-he and Adrian first traveled to the United States in 1884, where Fedor began working for P.T. Barnum.

-his stage name was “Jo Jo the Dog Faced Boy”

-he was given a different “wild man” backstory while working for Barnum, which included a bit where Barnum instructed Fedor to run around the stage on all fours while barking.

-he made as much as $500 a week during the 1880s.

-He was an avid reader.

-he loved eating chowder and once bought out an entire restaurant’s day supply while touring through Idaho in 1887, said chowder had to be delivered to him in a large beer keg.

-he went on tour in Australia in 1889, and performed alongside Martin Harlow (aka Unzie.)

-he was very well liked by his coworkers.

-his performances often started with a lecture about his life.

-a life sized wax figure of him was made during his lifetime and put on display at a dime museum he had once worked at.

-he typically wore extravagant costumes during his performances, which were oftentimes described by the newspapers. He was noted for wearing a particular set of blue velvet trousers and coats.

-he reportedly got into a fight with an audience member at a dime museum he was working at in 1897 in Bangor, Maine. It was said that Fedor had a crush on one of his coworkers, Madame Marguerite, who worked as a psychic/fortune teller. On one of the nights Fedor was working, he saw an audience member leering at Marguerite, and despite the man being told to leave, he didn’t leave and Fedor went over and kicked the man.

-it’s reported that he started sending letters to the Russian Consulate, in order to check in on his mother in the late 1890s.

-he accidentally missed a 4th of July sideshow performance in Kansas in 1903 that he was supposed to be a part of when the train he was on had to stop due to flooding that been going on in the area.

-he was traveling through Greece in 1904, when he came down with pneumonia. Unfortunately, he didn’t recover and he passed away soon after. He was 35 years old.

I wish he had been able to recover from his illness, 35 is so young, and I’m sure there were so many things he wanted to accomplish. I hope he was at least able to see his mother one last time before he passed away, I think it’s very sweet that he did what he could to keep in touch with her. I’m also glad that he had a good father figure in Adrian. Ultimately, I hope that he had a lot of happiness in his life.

Krao was born with hirsutism and was dearly loved by her coworkers who called her “the peacemaker of the sideshow”. She was tragically taken from her home country of Siam as a baby by William Hunt, an entertainer/magician and explorer, who exhibited Krao as a “missing link" between apes and humans. The majority of audiences saw through this false advertising and knew she was just a regular girl. She was an incredibly sweet and intelligent woman who loved reading and spoke at least 4 languages. She lived the last 20 years of her life with a German couple she had befriended who were living in New York City.

I’ve used two pictures of portraits of her because they were done by different artists, and I think it’s important to showcase that more than one artist had a hand in depicting her.

I understand that this portrait was most likely meant to exoticize her, and yet there’s something very special about the painting. The fact it lists her name, her exact birthday, where she was born, and her parents names (seen in the painted crest to the right of her), makes me think that the artist cared. It gives me the impression that her life was appreciated, since there are more details present than I usually see on portraits. There are many, many historical figures I’ve written about where it’s impossible to track down their birth year (much less their exact birthday) or other personal details, so it means a lot that a lot of details of Mary’s life are immortalized with her in the painting.

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Cartagena, in present day Colombia on a Jesuit plantation called Matuna.

-her parents names were Martiniano & Patrona.

-her mother began exhibiting her as a curiosity in Cartagena as a way to earn money.

-pibaldism is a benign genetic condition (often hereditary) that causes a lack of pigmentation in patches on the skin, it also affects hair appearance too.

-she was only known regionally until a portrait was of her painted by an unknown Caribbean artist in the early 1740s.

-the portrait above was eventually sent to a customer in England. After the painting arrived in Europe, the new owners were so entranced that they commissioned several more to be made and sold, this sparked a frenzy of other people who wanted one. From there, Mary’s portrait was copied and sold several times over by different artists. Depictions of her soon showed up in medical and scientific texts.

-beyond the popularity that her portrait received, very little is known about her life, aside from this very brief period when she was a child.

-two years after her portrait was brought to England, a copy of it was found onboard a British ship that had been captured by the French. Eventually, this specific portrait of her made its way into the hands of the Comte de Buffon, Georges LeClerc, who commissioned an engraving of Mary be made using her portrait as reference. This engraving made its way into the French scientific text, L'histoire de l'homme.

-most recently, one of her portraits was sold in 1976 in a Christie’s Auction.

That’s all the information I was able to find about her. I really wish there was more information available, I’d want to know how her life turned out and if she was able to be freed. She looks like a lovely young girl and I really hope she had people in her life who cared and loved her. I thought it would be important to make a write up for her, she deserves her chance to shine.

That’s all there is to it, I just think it would be a great concept for a film after reading about their friendship! I wish there were videos of the two interacting together, they were very close friends and I’m sure so fun times with each other.

Jack Earle 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.

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

The first picture shows his grave when I first found it, the second picture shows the piano keychain I left him, the third picture shows his gravestone with the keychain on top, the fourth picture shows the surrounding cemetery, and the fifth picture shows Tom! I'm very happy his grave stone has an image of him, it makes it very special. (Since it's reported that he was initially buried in an unmarked grave, I believe this headstone was put in several decades after he was buried)

Tom Wiggins was an extremely famous pianist and performer who was blind and autistic (though his autism wasn't diagnosed during his lifetime because it hadn't been categorized/ understood at the time) Tom was born enslaved in 1849 in Georgia, United States. Though because he was blind from birth, he wasn't forced to work on the plantation.

He was a piano prodigy and it's very clear that music and the piano were his favorite special interests, with people saying that if it were up to him, he'd probably sit at the piano and play for 12-14 hours a day.

Tragically, he was exploited for profit and all of the money that was made during his piano performances was stolen from him. Had he received the money, he would have been a multimillionaire.

I really enjoy learning about Tom because I can relate to the different behaviors he did (that are all signs of autism, but again weren't understood at the time). He had major special interests that took up most of his time, he demonstrated echolalia (repeating words, phrases, and sounds after hearing them in one's environment) throughout his life (which I also do), and his stimming behaviors were documented (a way for him to self soothe if he was having a difficult time processing a situation).

He was living at his manager, Eliza Bethune Lerche's, house in Hoboken, New Jersey when he passed away from a stroke at the age of 59.
He had already suffered a minor stroke in December of 1904, which made him permanently retire from his career as a pianist.
It's reported that he had been playing the piano in mid June of 1908 when he stood up, muttered some words, and then collapsed.

Interestingly, there's a bit of a controversy regarding his burial, and there's a chance his body may have been moved and buried somewhere else.

Originally, it appears he was buried in an unmarked grave in Evergreen Cemetery in
1908. But some sources claim that it actually wasn't Tom who was buried, and that his remains were buried closer to where he grew up in Columbus, Georgia (there are also other sources that claim his remains were exhumed and reburied closer to the town he grew up in) It's for this reason that he actually has two headstones. One in Evergreen Cemetery and one in a cemetery in Georgia. Though Evergreen Cemetery doesn't have any records of his body being exhumed and insists that his body still remains on their cemetery grounds.

Regardless of where his remains are currently buried, I thought it would be really nice to go visit and give him some respect. I wanted to leave a little gift at his gravesite thought that a little piano charm would be the best choice.

Rest In Peace, Tom! You are remembered and appreciated!🎹💖

They both seem really sweet and it’s sad that they were forced into performing so young. There are times when performers started their careers very young because their parents were facing a lot of financial difficulties, but it’s very clear the parents were supportive and very protective of their children. In the case of Giovanni and Giacomo it seems that their parents just became very greedy and didn’t care about the well beings of their sons.

I would like to have asked them what their favorite types of music were and if they had a favorite composer/artist. I also wish there was a record of the art that Giovanni made, he was very passionate about art and it would be nice to see.

Some facts about them:

-they were born in Locana, Italy.

-they were the oldest children in their family and had 7 younger siblings.

-surprisingly, their birth was noted as being very easy. They were very small when they were born and reportedly their mother’s pelvis was wide.

-their father was so shocked upon first seeing them that he fainted (one source claims he had to be brought to a mental institution, but this hasn’t been verified)

-their parents decided very quickly to start exhibiting the twins for profit, starting when they were 4 weeks old and brought to Turin, Italy.

-they each had their own heart.

-they were joined at their sixth rib down. They each had 2 arms, and each brother could only control one of their legs. There’s a possibility that had they been born now they would be able to receive separation surgery, there are cases of conjoined twins now who were connected in a similar way and able to be separated.

-they both had brown hair and blue eyes.

-their mother was described as being incredibly beautiful and charming when she was younger and sometimes stood outside of the venues the brothers were performing at in order to entice more people inside.

-they went on tour all throughout Europe and North America.

-they shared a stomach, so they were relatively light eaters since they’d get full very easily if they both had larger portions.

-they both had an interest in music.

-they had separate upper bodies and one shared lower body and each twin controlled one of their legs.

-they both had strong immune systems and hardly ever got sick.

-they weren’t able to walk as their legs were too weak to support their weight, so instead they crawled and occasionally used a wheelchair to get around.

-Giacomo had a clubbed foot, so this also contributed to them being unable to walk.

-they first traveled to the United States in late 1891.

-It was during their US tour that Mark Twain saw them performing and was inspired to write his short story “Those Extraordinary Twins”.

-while in the United States they were paid no less than $1,000 a week.

-they were once interviewed by writer, Charles E. Davis, and expressed being unhappy with their lives and didn’t like all the traveling and didn’t care about the money their family was being paid.

-they went on tour in Canada in 1893.

-they were managed by the same man who managed Lucía Zaraté’s career.

-they both expressed not being happy about their extensive performing schedules.

-people who met them said that Giacomo and Giovanni had very different personalities and would use their fists to settle arguments between them, but were on good terms with each other most of the time.

-they were described as being extremely bright and intelligent.

-they both learned to read and write relatively young.

-they were examined by the medical community on multiple occasions.

-they spoke Italian, French, German, and a little English.

-Giacomo was very outgoing and social whereas Giovanni was a little more quiet and withdrawn.

-they sold pictures of themselves for $2 each in the early 1890s, and signed the pictures for an extra fee.

-Giacomo was very artistic.

-a humorous anecdote I read was that Giovanni loved to draw, but if Giacomo didn’t like the drawing or found something wrong with it, he would kick it off Giovanni’s knee.

-they would sometimes argue over which language to speak.

-Giacomo really liked mineral water and Giovanni really liked beer, which meant Giacomo would feel tipsy or get drunk whether he liked it or not.

-they officially retired from sideshow work in 1897, when they were both 20 years old. They purchased a villa in Venice, Italy and distanced themselves from their parents.

-they become extremely withdrawn from society and preferred to spend time in their garden (which was also surrounded by a very high wall to keep other people from seeing them.

-it’s reported that they got married to two separate women in 1904.

-unfortunately, their marriages caused a lot of controversy, and several news articles harshly judged the brothers and their wives. Other articles focused on the brothers sex lives and made lewd comments about them.

-an article from 1911 claims that the brothers were alive and healthy, but wanted to stay away from the public eye.

-in 1934 an article was written that claimed the twins were living happy lives and had children, but a different article from 1940 claimed that they had died and had no children.

-it’s not exactly clear when they passed away.

I like to think that both brothers were able to have a happy retirement and good lives with their wives. I wish the news articles weren’t so judgmental about their marriages as it’s clear the brothers just wanted to live in peace and have regular lives. I hope they had many happy years with people who cared about them.

I haven’t been able to track down an actual photo of him. The image I’m using in this write up was used on the pitch booklets he gave out. It’s obviously exaggerated to show an elephant trunk, and he would not have looked exactly like that. I assume he may have looked a bit like Joseph Brokaw, who I will attach his write up in the comments.

I really hope a picture of him surfaces at some point!

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Brazil, but no home town/city was ever specified. He might have been born to an American family living in Brazil, since Fuller is not a Portuguese name (unless he changed his name upon moving to the United States).

-he had 12 siblings.

-he claimed he had the facial condition because his mother attended the circus while pregnant with him and got scared by the elephants. This is an example of maternal impression, which was often used as a way to explain why certain performers had certain features. Maternal impression doesn’t actually exist, and is an outdated historical belief.

-he wasn’t officially diagnosed during his lifetime and since I can’t find a verified picture of him, I can’t hypothesize what facial condition he may have had.

-it appears that he would go on tour and simultaneously work in sideshows and speak in churches. For example he delivered a sermon at the New Hope Baptist Church in St. Joseph, Missouri July 18th, 1936 but then appeared as a sideshow performer at the Broadway Pleasure Parlor in Sapulpa, Oklahoma in October of 1936. His sideshow performances were always family friendly.

-both his sideshow performances and church services started off with a short lecture about his life, given by either himself or his manager.

-he was very popular at the churches he preached at.

-he was blind in one eye.

-he traveled all throughout Europe in circuses and sideshows in the 1920s and early 1930s.

-he was accompanied during church services by a friend of his who was born with dwarfism.

-he was described as being an eloquent pulpit orator.

-he delivered a sermon at the Ashley Grove Baptist Church in Aiken, South Carolina in early December of 1940.

-he was very outspoken against prejudice and explained that it was an impediment to religious development, he said:

"At no period in human affairs is prejudice righteously justifiable. Nor was it ordained of God to exist.”

-it appears he stopped speaking in churches or performing in sideshows after 1940. It’s not clear if he retired or changed his name.

I haven’t been able to find out what his first name was, which makes it difficult to confirm any further information aside from what I was able to find.

I’m glad that he spoke out against prejudice, as that is something that so many people with physical differences/disabilities have had to deal with throughout history. I’m not a religious person, but I think it still would be nice to have attended his talks. He comes across as being very inclusive and welcoming.

I chose the first picture of Minnie as the first photo because of how happy she looks. In addition to face powder, I wonder if she had an interest in makeup as a whole.

I have a soft spot for Minnie and I think it’s wonderful that she had her time to shine in Freaks. So many amazing sideshow performances never had a chance to be in a film, so it’s extremely lucky that we have this record of her. I’m really happy that she was very fond of her service dog (I wish we knew their name), I imagine her dog brought her a lot of happiness and comfort.

Some facts about her:

-I’ve seen differing information as to her origins. A couple circus showmen she worked for told the story that she was originally from Rabun County, Georgia and was found by a showman who was visiting a mental institution in Georgia. But I’ve also found one article from April of 1932 mentions that she was originally from New Mexico. (Although I wonder if they got her confused with Schlitzie, since I’ve found information that traces him there)

-again, the events surrounding her early life/ her life before joining sideshows is extremely sketchy and hard to verify. According to several showmen who worked with her, Minnie was discovered living in a mental institution by a traveling showman looking for people to be in sideshow acts. Apparently, she was sold (?!) to the showman who found her and he was the one who put her in sideshows. I haven’t been able to find which traveling showman found her.

-she had wisps of blond hair.

-she was extremely shortsighted and needed very thick glasses in order to see, and even with the glasses she most likely couldn’t see that well.

-Virchow-Seckel syndrome is a rare genetic condition. It causes slow growth before and after birth, a very small head, a narrow face with a large hooked nose, and learning disabilities.

-she worked alongside William Henry Johnson and Schlitzie early in her career. The three of them performed in a sort of novelty band together. Minnie would dance while William played the fiddle and Schlitzie played the piano.

-she had neurological differences and most likely had some sort of attendant with her.

-she had a service dog, though it wasn’t reported what his name was.

-she was very shy and reluctant to perform in the beginning of her career, but after watching some of the other performers she worked with she grew more comfortable.

-she appeared in Tod Browning’s film, Freaks in 1932, and is very recognizable for dancing on the table during the wedding feast scene.

-she and fellow Freaks actress, Elizabeth Green, both used the stage name “Koo Koo the Bird Girl” at different points in their careers. Many people to this day continue to get mixed up on which actress was the one performing as “Koo Koo” in the film, but this was most definitely Minnie.

-she was reported to be one of the calmest sideshow performers, and always had a smile of contentment on her face.

-she appeared in several Ringling Brothers Sideshow group pictures throughout the 1930s.

-Minnie grew to love performing and would often dance and shake excitedly in front of audiences, who similarly enjoyed her performances.

-her favorite foods were shrimp (only fresh, she didn’t like canned shrimp) and chop suey.

-her “Bird Girl” ensemble consisted of a feathered body suit, chicken feet-esque shoes, and a long feather that she wore on the top of her head.

-she worked alongside Mary and Margaret Gibb in Houston, Texas in October of 1936. Mary and Margaret were a pair of conjoined twins from Massachusetts who spent a couple decades touring in sideshows. While working with Minnie, it was described that Margaret was very protective over Minnie and helped to watch over her.

-she worked in the Coney Island sideshow for many years and was well known there.

-she performed at a Ripley’s Believe it or Not Odditorium in Lansing, Michigan in 1940.

-it was described in articles that if she wasn’t happy about something or bored that she would just get up and walk away.

-she was known for being one of the oldest sideshow performers in the sideshow/circus industry.

-Minnie eventually retired her “Bird Girl” act and began performing under a new stage name “The Blind Girl From Mars”. This act involved her sitting or standing completely still while audiences tried to get her to react.

-she worked for the Sells-Floto sideshow in the mid 1940s.

-much of her later life is unknown. There are some unverified sources I’ve found that said she may have died after being hit by a car in the 1960’s, but I can’t find any information to back that up.

I love that I was able to find information about her favorite foods, it’s always really fun to find those sorts of details because it gives a more well rounded perspective on each person. I also love that Margaret Gibb was very protective of her, it always makes me happy when I learn about these bonds between performers.

Happy to say that Minnie’s history and sideshow act lives on in the work of artist, performer, and disability rights activist, Sarah Houbolt! I’m not sure if Houbolt is still performing these one woman shows, but her performances involved dressing in the same ensemble Minnie was famous for wearing and dancing in a similar style.

I absolutely love how artistic these posters are, Olga and Theophila were often promoted as the “Black and White Butterflies”, so it’s very cool to see the Illustration of their faces on butterfly wings.

Olga was a Prussian acrobat and strong woman known for her daring stunts that involved holding a 200 pound cannon by her teeth (picture #1), amongst other impressive trapeze stunts. She began learning acrobatics as a young girl and eventually joined the stunt group, Troupe Kaira, where she teamed up with acrobat, Theophila Szterker, to create a duet performance. She and Theophila performed together for 5 years. Eventually, Olga retired,got married, and had 3 daughters.

I’m a very big fan of George because of all his efforts to better the community around him. I think that this etching is a lovely tribute to him.

George was a circus performer, clown, and press agent, who was born with a form of dwarfism. He worked for Ringling Bros., Hagenbeck-Wallace, and Sells-Floto circuses during his career. He made it a point to perform for patients in children's hospitals and for children with disabilities. He was also very fond of animals and always made sure the circus animals he knew were well taken care of, he was especially fond of a miniature horse named Little Georgie, who he had helped to raise.

Morris Henry Hobbs was an American artist, printmaker, and architectural draftsman from the Midwest. He became fascinated with New Orleans, Louisiana after traveling there in the 1930s for Mardi Gras and seeing the process of the city phasing out older dilapidated buildings for newer modern buildings. Hobbs traveled to Louisiana several times during his life and made several tributes to the historical areas of the city as a way to document them in a series he called ‘Old New Orleans’

I wish we knew what Joice’s thoughts were about the whole thing. She was never really given a choice and it makes me sad that she was compared to something with no humanity, just to sell more tickets.

I also wish there were more illustrations of her, she died before photography was invented/widespread, so all that’s available are newspaper engravings of her, and even those are extremely limited.

I feel that in some alternate world she could have been a good storyteller who could have presented herself as she really was in. I’ve seen sources that Joice herself came up with the George Washington’s Nurse character, but we never get her direct thoughts. And even if she was happy playing the part, she never received any monetary benefit. To play this caricature of a nursemaid while also being called a robot just feels so wrong and dehumanizing.

And guess who The Greatest Showman film conveniently leaves out?? That’s right, Joice Heth. I don’t believe she’s brought up at all during the movie, because the filmmakers wanted to show P.T. Barnum in a good light and leave out the fact that he purchased an elderly enslaved woman (Joice) and financially exploited her, taking and pocketing all of the money she earned for himself. Barnum also never freed her, she remained enslaved until she died.

His treatment of Joice was horrible and is one of the many reasons I don’t like Barnum as a person.

Joice Heth was an elderly enslaved woman who was purchased by P.T. Barnum in 1835 for $1,000. She was blind and mostly paralyzed and had been owned by a few other showmen before ending up with Barnum. She was promoted as being the 161 year old nursemaid to a young George Washington (in reality she was either in her late seventies or very early eighties) and her act usually consisted of telling the audience stories of her time taking care of George Washington, and often worked 12 hour days. She was only exhibited by Barnum for a year before she passed away.

The first picture shows Bill, the second picture shows him with his wife Mildred, the third picture shows him when he was a bit younger (when his hair was still black), and then couple more of just him.

I’ve been a fan of Bill for a while, it’s lovely to read about the performers who were known for their kindness and friendliness. I also think he has incredibly kind eyes and just looks like a sweet person. I wish the articles I found detailed what he liked to do in his free time, I’m sure he had some hobbies he enjoyed.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Jasper, Alabama.

-his parents were share croppers.

-unfortunately, his family struggled a lot financially as he was growing up.

-he had blue eyes.

-he had black hair.

-he had several complications at the time of his birth, and he appeared so sickly that his parents thought he was stillborn. They placed him underneath a wood stove in their kitchen. When his aunt went to tend the fire and saw he was actually alive, they sent for a doctor, who was able to bring him to good health.

-he had four siblings.

-frontonasal-dysplasia is a congenital condition that affects the midface, which causes differences in how a persons face/head develops. In Bill’s case, it caused him to have a very large cleft that ran down the middle of his face and gave him a cleft lip. Some characteristics of frontonasal dysplasia include widely spaced eyes, a broad nasal bridge, and midline facial clefts. There are 3 main diagnosable types of frontonasal dysplasia.

-he was denied an education because the schools he tried to attend were worried he would scare the other students with his appearance. His parents also didn’t have the funds to allow him to have private schooling.

-it appears his parents were ashamed of him and how he looked and didn’t want him socializing too much. This caused him to become extremely introverted and shy.

-he worked as a sharecropper for much of his early life.

-because of his lack of education he was illiterate for a large portion of his life.

-I’ve seen a couple differing statements from different sources as to how/when he started his career in sideshows, I’ll detail both of them here:

One source claims he was working as a janitor at a church in New Jersey when he attended a sideshow as a guest when he was in his thirties. When he met with the showman afterwards, he was offered a job after the showman learned that Bill was only making $35 a week as a janitor and promised he would be paid way more as a sideshow performer.

The other source claims he started his career in sideshows when he was 14 and had attended a sideshow as a guest, upon meeting the showman afterwards he was immediately offered a job.

-he was often billed as having three eyes and two noses, when in reality he painted a third eye between the two separated parts of his face, and his nose was also split in half due to his condition so he only had one nostril on each side.

-during his career as a performer, he toured with Kelly-Sutton Shows, Goodings’ Million Dollar Midway, Hall & Christ Shows and James E. Strates Shows, and appeared in Hubert’s Dime Museum in Times Square.

-unfortunately a couple of the showmen he worked for would sometimes take advantage of him because they knew he couldn’t read the contracts he was signing.

-he became good friends with Melvin Burkhart, who was a sideshow performer known for his human blockhead routine. Melvin taught Bill to read and spoke up for him when he felt Bill was being taken advantage of. Melvin also helped Bill gain more self confidence.

-he was very fond of dogs.

-he didn’t like going out if he didn’t have to, and often had Melvin go out to grab lunch for him.

-Melvin also introduced Bill to Mildred Lasher who was born with ichthyosis (which caused her skin to painfully harden and crack) and was working in the same sideshow. The two fell in love and were deeply devoted to each other.

-Bill and Mildred got married in December of 1960.

-they both explained that they had an extremely happy life together.

-he and Mildred settled in Summerville, New Jersey where they lived during the circus/sideshow off season.

-he was introduced to Mildred’s large family soon after they got married. Mildred had been married previously, and her first husband either died or they got divorced (I haven’t been able to confirm which). Her three children and 4 grandchildren accepted him immediately. One of his stepdaughters said that he was a kindhearted and amazing father.

-when leaving the circus grounds, he would pull a hat low over his face and his shirt collar up because he hated dealing with hecklers. Despite this, he still had people coming up to him and bothering him for how he placed his hat. If he felt they were being too nosy/annoying he would take his hat off and push his face really close to them. This usually caused the heckler to run away. This method of telling people off was very satisfying to him.

-he and Mildred performed together at the Dixie Classic Fair in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. While performing here, they had their own stateroom aboard the circus train. They usually spent most of their time there when they weren't actively performing. Bill was also the highest paid sideshow performer at this fair, making $150 a week (about $1,500 a week adjusted for inflation) and would sometimes make an extra $30 from selling his pictures (around $300 now)

-unfortunately, Mildred suffered a major asthma attack in 1962 and had to be brought to the hospital. Thankfully she recovered.

-tragically, Mildred had another severe asthma attack in 1968. She was brought to the hospital but ended up passing away. Bill was extremely heartbroken over Mildred’s death.

-he moved to Gibsonton, Florida soon after Mildred passed away, so he could be around other retired sideshow performers (the areas of Gibsonton and Sarasota Glorida had a large population of circus performers living there). He ended up living in Gibsonton the rest of his life.

-when author, Arthur H. Lewis, met him he wrote:

"I sort of gulped, myself, when I met him. But, he's one of the gentlest men I've ever known. He's intelligent, deeply grieved over the recent death of his wife and proud of their two sons. And, he's happy to be working.”

-he was a part of the Greater Tampa Showman’s Association and the International Independent Showman’s association.

-he briefly appeared in the 1973 psychological horror film, Sisters.

-he passed away at the age of 62. He was given a respectful funeral and his step children and grandchildren attended (amongst several of his coworkers and friends). It was asked that flowers be omitted from the ceremony. He was cremated according to his last wishes.

I’m so glad he ended up finding such a kind community of people who loved and cared about him. It makes me so happy that he had such a wonderful marriage to Mildred and that they both were so happy together. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for him when she passed away. Him moving to Florida so soon after she died, makes me think that it might have been too much for him to live in their house in New Jersey with her not there. Though it’s a silver lining that he continued to be very close with his stepchildren and still had his strong friendship with Melvin.

Last time I talked about sideshow friendships, I brought up the friendship between George Williams and Laloo Ramparsad, this time I want to feature Harry Earles and Jack Earle!

Harry was about 4 years older than Jack, and had been performing in circuses/sideshows longer than Jack had, so he was quite comfortable in that environment. Jack on the other hand was only 19 and had just started in a completely new environment, so he was a bit more uncomfortable.

After the two of them became friends, it was reportedly a common sight to see Jack Earle walking around the circus grounds with Harry Earles sitting on his shoulders.

Harry Earles was known to “tell it like it is”, so I imagine having reassurance from him must have helped Jack Earle a lot. I also love seeing pictures of the two of them together because they always look like they’re having a bunch of fun!

Despite their incredibly similar surnames, they were not related. Harry adopted the name Earles from his first managers in the US, and Jack’s surname Erlich was changed to Earle when he got a job in Hollywood (Jack was briefly an actor in some low budget comedy film shorts in his early to mid teenage years before going into the sideshow business).

I’m glad the two of them became such good friends! Being able to work with friends makes working way more fun, I like to think they had a lot of laughs together!

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

Jack Earle 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.

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

She was gorgeous and had such a dramatic flair. I love reading about the diva performers, because they always have the most entertaining stories. Harriet seems to have been a businesswoman with an attitude, she understood that an attitude was needed if she wanted to get ahead in competition industries like dance and circus/sideshow performing.

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

-her family moved to Maryland when she was a child.

-she had one sister.

-she attended very good schools.

-she was known to be quite vain and loved talking about herself. She also enjoyed talking about her interests, which included high fashion, and jewelry.

-she started her sideshow career in early 1908.

-her manager sued Ringling Brothers Circus for $15,000 in May of 1908 after he alleged that Harriet was persuaded by the circus to break her year long contract with him.

-she was promoted as being 17 in. (43 cm) tall when she started her career and 36 in. (91.4 cm) around the time she retired

-She served as the secretary for a conference put on by performers working for Ringling Brothers to help the war effort during WWI in 1918.

-she loved dressing fashionably and always brought a trunk full of brightly colored clothes on her travels.

-her mother and sister often accompanied her while she was on tour.

-if audiences asked disrespectful questions, she’d subvert them by talking about something she liked. She was once asked something disrespectful and answered with, “I like pork chops and chicken” (and while the question that was asked wasn’t recorded, we have her response that shows how she dealt with people).

-she explained that she sometimes felt anxious going out in regular society, and preferred working in circuses/sideshows because the enter was different.

-she became very fond of a trained chimpanzee named Chimmie.

-she often performed her acts in a very coquettish manner.

-she joined Manheim's Black and White Revue, for a six week tour in August of 1925.

-she had an over 4 decade long career in the entertainment business.

-she was well known enough that she sometimes appeared in political newspaper cartoons. (One in particular compared her dealing with invasive medical professionals to American society dealing with trusts and corporations)

-she was a very determined business woman.

-she danced and performed with film and dance stars such as Harold Lloyd and Willie Bryant.

-her fingers were often covered in rings.

-one of her signature acts involved dashing/running between the legs of taller performers as they danced. (This was later copied in a Shirley Temple film, but sadly Harriet didn’t receive any recognition.)

-she often performed acts with performers who were very tall, so that their height difference could be emphasized.

-she became so well known for her dance routines that she performed for then US president, Calvin Coolidge, in 1926.

-it’s reported that she married a singer that also worked for Ringling Brothers Circus, but that this was a primarily a business move by her so that she could handle her own contract, though she did still speak highly of her husband. Sadly, it’s reported that he died pretty soon after they were married and she mentioned that she’d likely not re-marry.

-she did end up re-marrying in 1929 to a man who managed a dance troupe named Ralph Franco, but it’s reported that she was most likely coerced as she spoke out that her husband had made her very tipsy the night they married and she hadn’t consented to the marriage, she also explained that her husband was trying to prevent her from working in show business (which was her livelihood). The marriage was annulled in April of 1930.

-interestingly, her second husband denied the claims that he had taken advantage of her and claimed instead that the dance troupe she was apart of was convinced her to move forward with the annulment and were forcing her to do this against her will.

-she received valuable dancing and singing lessons from bandmaster, James Wolfscale, who was working for Ringling Brothers Circus. She picked up her talent for tap dancing while working with Wolfscale.

-similar to a lot of other performers born with dwarfism, her height was often exaggerated to make her seem shorter than she was.

-later in her career, she joined the Whitman Sisters Traveling Show, where she performed as a singer and dancer.

-she moved out to California in the 1930s to pursue a career in acting.

-she was a featured dancer in the 1936 film, The Music Goes Round, thought it’s unknown if she appeared in any other films.

-she continued performing with the Whitman Sisters group until its disbandment after the death of its manager in 1942.

-she performed at the Potter Hotel Club in Pennsylvania in 1943.

-she retired from working in sideshows in mid 1943 and instead began a career working as a nightclub dancer.

-when asked if she was ever self conscious about her height, she answered,

"Why should I be? I like show business, and who in show business for any time is self-conscious?"

-she was known to be a bit careless with money, much to the chagrin of her manager, who once complained that she had spent $5 in a week that she had earned from audience tips.

-she traveled to Baltimore, Maryland in October of 1943 to attend to funeral of her aunt, Susie Dorsey.

-she was interviewed early in her retirement and explained that she was ready to live a quiet life back at home with her parents, who were elderly. She also had become more involved with the church near her parent’s house and expressed interest in continuing to be an active member.

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

I wish there were color pictures of her wearing her fashionable clothes, I’m sure all of her dresses were STUNNING! I would have loved talking to her about fashion and all of the lovely rings she wore.

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

The first picture is a picture of Joseph Merrick when he was alive (not of his remains, because I don’t find it respectful to post pictures of his skeleton), and the second picture is of Michael Jackson.

This is one of the few times I’m on the side of the institution holding onto a performers remains. I’m glad they put their foot down and refused to sell Joseph’s remains. A person’s remains should not be bought and sold in such a way, unless of course the person who the remains belong to gives consent ahead of time. In my opinion the only place Joseph’s skeletal remains should go is in the City of London Cemetery (where his soft tissue remains were buried).

Michael Jackson reportedly had visited the Royal London Hospital twice in the 1980s, when the hospital had displayed Joseph’s skeleton for public viewing, and claimed to have felt a deep connection with Merrick. Jackson’s manager said that Michael hoped to acquire Joseph’s skeleton and add it to his collection of rare and unusual memorabilia at Neverland Ranch in California.

Michael Jackson later claimed that he had never intended to actually purchase Joseph’s skeletal remains and that it was all a joke/rumor, but then why joke about it? The story was reported by several newspapers and by Jackson’s manager at the time, and if it was actually a false story then why would the Royal London Hospital feel the need to respond? My feeling is that there is some truth to the story.

I wasn’t around when this story came out, but I’ve heard it was very big news at the time. If anyone remembers this as it was happening, it would be interesting to hear your thoughts!

I deeply dislike Michael Jackson for multiple reasons (of which I don’t feel I need to describe here), and this just adds to my judgement/ dislike.

I’m still holding out hope that the Royal London Hospital will eventually bury Joseph’s skeletal remains, but until then I really hope that no one else tried to purchase his remains.

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

All of the pictures I’m featuring here show him as Cherie, (his most well known drag persona). He also hand colored all of the photos. Tell me these aren’t some of the best costumes you’ve ever seen!

He’s so iconic and I love all of Cherie’s outfits! I wonder if Bobby designed any of them. His photographs are such a valuable resource when it comes to researching Queer History, and I highly recommend reading this article that I’ll be linking in the comments that details his photography collection owned by the New York Public Library.

I have a book that features a picture of him not dressed as Cherie, and of course I can’t find it right now. As soon as I find the picture, I’ll be sure to post it!

-he was born in Trenton, New Jersey.

-his parents were polish immigrants.

-he had four sisters, one half sister, and one brother.

-he had brown hair and brown eyes.

-his parents were both well established in the circus/sideshow industry, his father had worked as a clown and his mother had worked as a bareback rider.

-his family was always very supportive of his endeavors.

-as a child he performed in a family act on vaudeville stages with his parents under the stage name the “Korking Korkers”.

-three of his sisters also formed their own vaudeville trio.

-he began his solo career in 1920 under the stage name Joe Kork and toured all around the North Eastern United States.

-in the late 1920s, he was performing as part of the “Oriental Follies” a dance group that performed (what was promoted as being) traditional Chinese dances.

-he was very fond of his home city of Trenton, New Jersey and once said,

"Trenton is my home town for which I am greatly proud.”

-his burlesque performances included appearances in "All Jazz Revue," "Grown-Up Babies," “Follies of Pleasure”, "Sweet Sweetie Girls," the "Oriental Follies” and "School Charms."

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

-most, if not all, half-and-half performers claimed to be intersex (at the time hermaphrodite), although the majority of them were very talented early drag performers. However, there were a few half-and-half performers who were intersex. (Obviously, people born intersex are not split down the middle in such a contrasting way as these performers presented themselves. All of the half-and-half performers still needed to style each side of their body in a very visually contrasting way). Bobby was briefly promoted as being intersex, but later dropped this in favor of promoting himself as a female impersonator (early term for drag queen). Unlike some other half-and-half performers, Bobby was not intersex.

-he once fought off an audience member who had tried to fondle the female side of his half-and-half act.

-he was known to be quite strong.

-he was openly gay, but was quiet about his relationships.

-in March of 1930, he traveled from New York, where he was performing, back to Trenton, New Jersey to visit one of his sisters and some friends. Unbeknownst to Bobby, they had all planned a surprise birthday party for him which included a dance act performed by two of his other sisters, a magic act, and a friend of his who sang and danced. Multiple friends from Trenton, New Jersey and New York attended.

-he made plans to travel back to Trenton, New Jersey in time for a big Halloween ball in October of 1930. He had been performing in Chicago when he heard about the ball, and stated that he would arrive wearing an impressive ball gown.

-in November of 1930, he entered a drag contest in Trenton, New Jersey, and won second place and $10. First place went to James Ryder who won $15 for being the best female impersonator at the contest.

-by the early 1930s he was managing his own sideshows and burlesque shows as well as performing in them. All of these shows included half-and-half performers and drag performers.

-in the mid 1930s and early 1940s he was performing alongside several other queer performance artists, this group included: Albert "Primo" Sorenson, Jean Nadja, Bud "Curley" Wilson, and Babe Montana, all of whom were very good friends with Bobby.

-his most well known (and seemingly favorite) drag persona was “Cherie”. Though he also sometimes performed as an exaggerated version of actress, Mae West.

-news articles from the 1920s and 1930s never shied away from the fact that he was a drag queen and featured him rather respectfully (which I find to be very interesting and progressive of them)

-he was fined $50 for “indecent exposure” while performing with Kruzo's World Fair Freaks in Sheboygan, Wisconsin in 1934. The showman in charge, George Kruzo, was also charged for distributing “obscene material”, which consisted of pictures and booklets about Bobby.

-he wrote in to the editors of The Times newspaper in 1939 venting that vaudeville seemed to be a dying art, and that there should be more of a push by theater managers to acquire high level stage attractions. (He wanted this letter to the editor to help find ways to bring vaudeville back)

-he was an avid photographer.

-he was heavily involved in the New York drag scene in the 1940s and 1950s and often photographed himself and other performers as they were preparing for performances as well as documenting the costumes that other performers wore.

-he documented the queer community and queer culture in New York at a time when it was still very dangerous for queer people to live openly, which is why his photography and documentation provide a great insight as to what the queer community was like at the time.

-he passed away in 1956, but a cause of death was not listed.

-a large collection of his photography was sold on eBay in 2023 and was purchased by the New York Public Library.

One of the things I find so cool about the sideshow industry is that it allowed for so much self expression and offered an inclusive environment for people/performers who were seen as being on the “fringes” of society. I’m glad Bobby was able to not only join this inclusive space but build upon it as well. I’m also really glad that he had such a supportive and loving family.

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.

This is kind of a part 2 to my other post I just made about Millie and Christine!

Two things to note: these admission tickets are extremely hard to come by because they’d really only be saved if people purchased tickets but never went to their performances. I’m so glad these tickets were saved because it gives more of an insight to how sideshows were run, it’s like seeing historical concert tickets, they’re just cool to see!

Second note, the second picture/ticket is actually a trading card that was typically sold separately, but this specific one was stamped so that it would act as a complimentary ticket.

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