[CRACKING ICE]
[QUIRKY FAIRGROUND MUSIC]
Oddsbodkins takes you back to the exploitative world of the carnival attractions,
to bring you the top ten most famous sideshow freaks of all time.
Fanny Mills developed Milroy’s Disease at a young age, her feet swelling so much that
her makeshift shoes were reportedly made from the skins of three mountain goats.
When she finally lost the ability to walk unassisted, giant-footed Fanny resorted to
exhibiting herself at various dime museums. Although the museum promoters
sensationally offered five-thousand dollars to any man willing to marry her,
giant-footed Fanny Mills was happily married, retiring a wealthy woman in 1892.
Grady Stiles Jr. was born with ectrodactyly, a condition that sees the hands and feet fuse into claws.
Stiles had little option but to join a traveling carnival, working his way
up to top billing as the Lobster Boy. As an adult, Stiles was an abusive alcoholic.
On the eve of his daughter’s wedding, he shot and killed her husband-to-be. Confessing the
the crime, he was convicted of third degree murder, receiving just fifteen years probation
due to his condition. Stiles met his own grizzly end head while watching TV in his trailer.
A sideshow performer, hired by his wife, shot him three times in the back of the head.
Ella Harper’s contribution to the bygone freak shows was an orthopaedic condition which
caused her knees to bend backwards, forcing her to walk on all fours. She joined The Nickel
Plate Circus, where as The Camel Girl, she soon became the star of the show. The high
wages provided by the circus proprietor allowed her to achieve her ambition when she finally
left the circus at the age of 16 to attend high school.
In 1930 a photgraph landed on the desk of Robert Ripley, of a farmer in Manchukuo, China.
Taken by a travelling Russian banker, the photograph shows a farmer, normal in every
respect apart from a huge horn on the back of his head. Ripley offered a cash reward
to anyone who could bring the farmer, known only as Wang, to the United States for an
appearance in his Odditorium. But Wang, possibly the only man whose head ever came with its
own handle, disappeared from the public eye in the early 1930’s and was never heard from again.
Charles Sherwood Stratton stubbornly stopped growing when he was six months old, and by
his 18th birthday, was measured at just 2 feet 8 and a half inches. No amount of coaxing
could persuade him to grow any higher. Signing with P.T. Barnum at the age of five, Stratton
was promoted as General Tom Thumb, amassing fame and fortune that afforded him a lavish
lifestyle, and eventually a business partnership with Barnum himself. General Tom Thumb died
at the age of 45, and was buried in an itty-bitty grave at Grove Cemetery, Connecticut.
The Human Caterpillar was born without arms and legs: ideal entertainment for Edwardian
society. A physically handicapped man moving himself around the stage without the benefit
of limbs never failed to amuse, ensuring him a life-long career as a sideshow performer.
The Caterpillar's set pieces included shaving himself with a cut-throat razor,
and rolling and lighting cigarettes using only his lips,
earning him a cameo role in the MGM feature film "Freaks".
Myrtle Corbin was born with four legs. Two more than was strictly necessary. A dipygus,
with two separate pelvises side by side from the waist down, able to move her inner legs,
but... a little bit disappointing for walking. Myrtle entered the Coney Island sideshow
as "The Four-Legged Girl from Texas" when she was just 13, proving so popular that rival
showmen faked their own four-legged ladies to lure back the customers. The Four-Legged Lady
retired at 18, married, and went on to give birth to four daughters and a son.
The term “Siamese Twins” was first used to describe Chang and Eng, conjoined twins
born in Siam in 1811. After a long sideshow career touring the world, they pooled their
money, bought a plantation, and married sisters Adelaide and Sarah Yates, between them, fathering
21 children. Sharing the same marriage bed night after
night may well been a contributing factor to the rift that developed between the sisters,
who moved into separate houses, Chang and Eng visiting them each in turn.
On a cold January night in 1874, Eng woke to discover Chang had passed away in the night. A doctor
was immediately summoned to perform an emergency separation, but by the time he arrived, Eng
himself had died of blood poisoning, three hours after his brother.
Perhaps the worst case of sideshow exploitation was that of Schlitzie, a severely mentally
retarded microcephalic, capable of speaking only the simplest words and phrases.
Schlitzie was exhibited in countless sideshows until the age of 67, becoming the most famous
of microcephalic performers. Schlitzie spent three years in retirement before his death
in 1968.
The most famous sideshow freak of all is without doubt Joseph Merrick. Merrick’s condition
manifested at the age of five. After four years in Leicester Union Workhouse, Merrick
began his career as a sideshow freak before he was robbed by his road manager and left
to fend for himself in Belgium. Making his way back to London, he became a permanent
resident of the London Hospital, under the care of a Dr Treves. During his time at the
hospital he became famous among London’s elite, receiving many visitors, including
Alexandra Princess of Wales. On April 11th 1890, Joseph Merrick, forced by his condition
normally to sleep upright, lay his head down on his pillow for the first time since he
was a child, and died peacefully in the night. After his portrayal in the 1980 film The Elephant Man,
Joseph Merrick takes his rightful place at number one on our list of the top ten most
famous sideshow 'freaks' of all time.