OUR BENEFACTORS
THE BALLYHOO
CONGRESS OF THE ODD
POLYDACTLY MARVELS
The Foldi family (pictured above) was first written of in the 1896 publication Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine. The family of Foldi, part of the Hyabites tribe living in Arabia, confine their marriages to their tribe and they all have 24 digits.
The inhabitants of the village of Eycaux in France, at the end of the last century, had nearly all supernumerary digits either on thier hands or feet. Being isolated in an inaccessible and mountainous region, they had intermarried for many years and perpetuated the anomaly.
It is surprising that the trait of extra digits is not all that uncommon. In fact, it is estimated that about one in three thousand Europeans are born with an extra finger or toe. The trait is even more common in Africa, with about one in three hundred displaying the trait. The French mathematician Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1968-1758) wrote about a doctor he knew named Jacob Ruhe who not only had six fingers and toes – but so did his most of his family including his grandmother, three siblings and two of his children. The Russian Geneticist E.O. Manoiloff published a paper in 1931 on one Viaceslav Michailovic de Camio Scipion who was able to document his multi-digit lineage back over six centuries.
© 2007 – 2008, J Tithonus Pednaud. All rights reserved.
RECOMMENDED READING
American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia
Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit
Sideshow U.S.A.: Freaks and the American Cultural Imagination
Freaks, Geeks, and Strange Girls
Pickled Punks & Girlie Shows: A Life Spent on the Midways of America
The Lives and Loves of Daisy and Violet Hilton: A True Story of Conjoined Twins
The Circus Age: Culture and Society under the American Big Top
Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body
James Taylor's Shocked and Amazed: On & Off the Midway
THE AUTHOR
J Tithonus Pednaud has dedicated this site to highlighting the remarkable lives of those born exceedingly different. These so-called freaks and human oddities stand as uplifting testaments to human spirit and serve as inspiring examples of human tenacity.
9 Responses to “POLYDACTLY MARVELS”
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la famiglia foldi e’ l’ esempio di come la natura possa essere fantasiosa,avere la polidactia con dita ben formate e’ bellissimo!!!!
There’s a relief pitcher in the MLB that has six fingers on each hand. Antonio Alfonseca, of the Philadelphia Phillies.
My grandpa claims he was born with an extra toe on each foot, but they were removed. He claims he has scars too prove it, but I don’t want to see!
How good would this guy be at playing the guitar? This guy would absolutely shred!
I was born with 12 fingers and so were both of my children (my daughter had 12 toes as well). Since this “quirk”- let’s be honest, it’s quite a conversation starter (and stopper!)- is clearly both hereditary and dominant, I’ve always been curious about why no one else in my immediate or extended family displays it. Turns out to be the key in a family secret and may lead me to information about biological relatives I never knew I had! Fascinating genetic stuff- thanks for this sight as it manages to be both informative and respectful- no easy task considering the subject matter!
I meant site. Sorry. I could really use those extra fingers when I type!
my little sister was born with 12 fingers, 6 on each hand, also 11 toes, she had them removed when she was 18 monthes old nobody in the family had ever heard of anything called Polydactly
My Friend was born with 3 thumbs on her right hand. two of them were removed but her only thumb is smaller than her one on the other hand.
Been great reading these stories of digital variations! My mother has another version- syndactyly! Mum’s case is pretty mild, her 2nd and 3rd toes on each foot are fused so it looks like she has 2 big toes on each foot! Apparently it has appeared in the family before, on her father’s side, but hasn’t since. Poor Mum was disappointed with children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren that none of us got her toes! Shame, really. They’d be a great conversation starter!