Ichthyosis finds its etymological origins in the Greek term for ‘fish’, however the majority of human exhibits afflicted with the skin condition often adopted an Alligator-themed epithet. Susi’s skin, however, was particularly coarse and cracked and the title of ‘elephant-skinned’ seemed more appropriate and illustrative. While accounts do vary Susi was likely born in 1909 as ...
Esther Parnell was born in Kenly, North Carolina on March 5th, 1926. She was one of six children and while her sister and three of her brothers were born with perfectly average skin, Esther and her brother William were afflicted with ichthyosis. There are several forms of ichthyosis, a rare skin condition that derives ...
Ralph Albert Krooner was born in Montpelier, Vermont in 1888 and he owed much of his fictitious and show-worthy back story to the long-discredited medical theory of maternal impression. The theory of maternal impression was once a popular phenomenon that attempted to explain the existence of birth defects and congenital disorders. The theory stated that an emotional stimulus experienced by ...
Few Human Marvels can ever compare to the unusual case of Count Orloff.He was a human oddity sometimes incorrectly billed as ossified, and correctly touted as being transparent. Ivannow Wladislaus von Dziarski-Orloff was born in Hungary in 1864.While he was completely normal during his childhood, at the age of 14 he began to experience an unknown wasting disease. By ...
Persons with unusual skin conditions often used their affliction to their financial advantage in the world of the sideshow. The alligator-skinned (sometimes called elephant-skinned) individual became a very common attraction in the golden age of sideshow - in fact few popular sideshows were without at least one such individual. Not to ...
