The history of the Freak Show and the legendary performers who promoted the popular attractions.

Freak shows during the 1600’s thru 1800’s

By 1600, severe physical human deformities and animal abnormalities were no longer deemed bad omens or manifestations of evil spirits residing within the person’s body and the public display of deformed persons in freak shows began to see increased popularity.

During the 1600’s through 1700’s, conjoined twins Lazarus Colleredo and John Baptista (whose upper body dangled from the front of Lazarus) toured England along with a “female about four feet high in every part like a woman excepting her head which nearly resembles the ape” made rounds as circus freaks in Europe.

By 1810, Sarah Baartman (aka Hottentot Venus), a southwestern African woman was exhibited throughout London and France until her death in 1815 (at which time her body was dissected, and her brain, skeleton and genitalia put on display for more than a century). Her remains weren’t repatriated and buried until 2002.

The heyday of Victorian-era freak shows

A photograph of Joseph Merrick (1862–1890), sometimes called the “Elephant Man”. This photograph was published in the British Medical Journal with the announcement of Merrick’s death.

During the mid-1800’s, the display of sideshow freaks became big business, particularly in England and the United States. Small shows began to pop up in America in 1829, around the time of the arrival of Chang and Eng, the original Siamese twins.

In 1844, American circus pioneer P.T. Barnum travelled to England with his distant cousin, Charles Stratton (aka Tom Thumb). At just over two feet tall, the diminutive Stratton was instructed to lie about his age, claiming he was 11 years old instead of his actual age of five and billed as General Tom Thumb. P.T. Barnum had already experimented with faux creations such as the Fiji Mermaid which he exhibited with great success in 1842 as one of his circus freaks.

By 1884, during the heyday of the Victorian-era freak shows, Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man) was displayed in London’s East End and billed as “half-a-man and half-elephant”. Merrick was exhibited in the back of an empty shop on Whitechapel Road (directly across the street from the London Hospital and near the location of the Jack the Ripper murders) by a man named Tom Norman, who collected and travelled the countryside with freaks such as Eliza Jenkins, Mary Anne Bevan, the Human Skeleton, and the Balloon-headed baby. Merrick had an iron bed with a curtain drawn around to afford him some privacy. Norman gathered an audience by standing outside the shop and drawing a crowd through his showman patter.

“Ladies and gentlemen … I would like to introduce Mr. Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man. Before doing so I ask you please to prepare yourselves—Brace yourselves up to witness one who is probably the most remarkable human being ever to draw the breath of life.”

The decline of the freak show

It was around the time of Norman’s Elephant Man show that time that tastes changed and shows like Norman’s began to cause public concern, both because of the rowdy crowds they attracted and on the grounds of human decency. London police and magistrates became increasingly vigilant in closing down freak shows.

By 1932, Tod Browing’s Freaks movie, which featured many real-life freaks such as limbless Prince Randian, the legless Johnny Eck and conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton, prompted public outcry and was relegated to obscurity until it was re-released in 1962.

By the 1950’s, the freak show had almost disappeared entirely. Today, Coney Island in New York City remains one of the few providers of sideshow entertainment left in the world.

Legendary sideshow anomalies

Below are photos of some of the legendary freak show characters of the past.

Conjoined twins Lazarus and John Baptista Colloredo

Lazarus and Joannes were Italian conjoined twins who toured Europe during the 17th century.  The upper body of Joannes Baptista and his left leg stuck out of his brother.  He did not speak and kept his eyes closed and mouth open all the time.  When not performing, Lazarus covered his brother with a cloak.

Contemporary illustration (therefore created before 1700).

Krao – the Missing Link

Krao was put on display in London in 1882.  By 1885 she was moved to the Dime Oddities Museum in Philadelphia and toured with P.T. Barnum for some years.  She ended her career as a performer at Coney Island in New York City.

Madam Gustika of the Duckbill tribe

Circus freak Madam Gustika is seen below smoking a pipe with an extended mouthpiece for her large lips during a show in a circus in New York on April 12, 1930. Little is known about her, but she was probably from a tribe in Ethiopia where the practice of lip stretching remained popular into modern times.

The Salon Sisters – Ella and Elvira (1880)

The Salon Sisters as pictured on a vintage postcard.  Billed as the Two-Headed Woman.  The caption at the bottom reads “One girl, two heads, Two girls, one body – Alive!”

Raja with a second face

Below is a Victorian-era postcard featuring “The Rajah with a second face”. Nothing else is known about the performer.

The Jaramillo Sisters (1802)

Natalie and Aurora Jaramillo were from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Natalia was born in 1889, Aurora in 1896. The sisters suffered from microcephaly, a condition that causes people’s heads to be significantly smaller than usual. People with this ailment were mockingly referred to as “pinheads.”

Miss Rosina (Rose Foster – aka Mermaidia, Miss Tiny)

Miss Rosina toured throughout Europe and despite having no arms, could crochet using her feet. She concluded her shows with the following: “In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I may say that as this is my means of getting a living, you will kindly recommend your friends to see my show.”

Lionel the Lion Faced Boy (Stephan Bibrowski)

Lionel the Lion Faced Boy moved to the United States from Poland in 1901 and began travelling with the Barnum and Bailey Circus.  By 1920 he had moved to New York City and became a popular sideshow performer at Coney Island. He was known to be kind, gentle, and extremely intelligent (he spoke five languages).