The topic of faked marvels has been touched upon before. However, one would be foolish not to include the most famous gaff (fake) of all. The history of The Feejee Mermaid was, and continues to be, one of the most unique and enduring of all sideshow frauds.
As the picture above illustrates, The Feejee (Fiji) Mermaid [...]
Did you know that the word ‘geek’ has its historic foundation in sideshow? Historically, a geek was a sideshow performer who ate bizarre or unexpected things. Waldo’s talent was unique, certainly unique enough to be called ‘Great’.
Waldo was not the typical geek as he didn’t really eat the items he swallowed. Instead he would swallow [...]
In 1873, Europe became acquainted with a wolf man. A 55 year old Russian man named Adrian Jefticheiev, covered in hair, began to appear at various exhibitions. He was accompanied by his equally hairy illegitimate son. The ‘Wild Man from the Kostroma Forest’ was billed as being the product of an affair between a bear [...]
The Muse brothers had an incredible career. The story of the two black albino brothers from Roanoke, Virginia is unique even in the bizarre world of sideshow. They were initially exploited and then later hailed for their unintentional role in civil rights.
Born in the 1890’s the pair were scouted by sideshow agents and kidnapped in [...]
In 1930 MGM announced that Tod Browning, the man behind the Universal horror film Dracula, would be a sideshow picture loosely based on the Tod Robbins short story ‘Spurs’. The film was intended to be MGM’s big launch into the horror genre. Few realized the controversy that was to come.
Browning was born Charles Albert [...]
Frieda Pushnik was born without arms or legs on Feb. 10, 1923 in Conemaugh, Pennsylvania. She claimed that her condition was due to a botched appendectomy conducted on her pregnant mother. The validity of this statement is questionable, however considering no lawsuit was filed – the story is most likely a case of sideshow creativity.
Frieda [...]
George Williams, The Turtle Boy, was born in 1859 in Arkansas. He was born with a rare form of dwarfism known as parastremmatic dysplasia. Not only does this form of dwarfism stunt growth, Williams was only eighteen inches tall, but it also twists and contorts the bones of the body into grotesque spirals.
Williams was incredibly [...]
The golden age of sideshow was built on the shoulders of deceit. It is human nature to exaggerate, and it was often in the nature of the Showman to boldly lie.
P.T. Barnum was not the first to do so, he only perfected flimflam into a science. In fact, his career began in 1835 with the [...]
Mignon was born in the early 1900’s, likely around 1910, with a condition called phocomelia. Phocomelia typically results in the stunting of limbs and the fusion of digits. In Mignon’s case her fingers were fused in such a way as to resemble flippers. Furthermore, as her truncated limbs forced Mignon to waddle rather than walk [...]
J. Tithonus Pednaud herein presents for your edification and enlightenment a curious collection of human marvels. These portent and exceptionally unique human beings stand as uplifting testaments to human spirit and serve as inspiring examples of human tenacity.
