Freak show facts for kids

A freak show was a type of exhibition that displayed people with unusual physical traits or conditions. These shows were popular in the past, especially from the 1840s to the 1940s. People would pay to see individuals who were uncommonly tall or short, had unique diseases, or performed shocking acts. Sometimes, people with many tattoos or piercings, or performers like fire-eaters and sword-swallowers, were also part of these shows.

A Look Back at Freak Shows

People with unusual bodies have been seen as interesting and entertaining for a very long time, even since the medieval period. Crowds would gather to watch them. For example, in the early modern era, King Charles I of England saw Lazarus and Joannes Baptista Colloredo, who were conjoined brothers from Italy. Lazarus had his brother's underdeveloped body hanging from his chest. When he wasn't performing, Lazarus would cover his brother with a cloak.

Freak shows were also popular in pubs and at fairs. Performers often combined their unique appearances with special talents. In the 1700s, Matthias Buchinger, who was born without arms or lower legs, amazed audiences with magic tricks and musical skills in England and Ireland.

Freak shows became very successful businesses in the 1800s, both in the United States and Europe.

The Golden Age of Freak Shows

The late 1800s and early 1900s were the most popular time for freak shows. From the 1840s to the 1940s, people with unusual physical, mental, or behavioral traits were displayed for money. Even though some "abnormalities" were fake, making money from these shows was accepted in American culture. Freak shows became common at amusement parks, circuses, dime museums, and vaudeville theaters. The amusement park industry grew because more middle-class Americans had shorter work weeks and more money. People also started to see fun activities as important, which helped freak shows become very popular.

Showmen and promoters displayed many kinds of "freaks." People who were not white or had disabilities were often presented as members of unknown races or cultures. These "unknown" people were advertised as newly discovered humans to attract viewers. For instance, those with microcephaly (a condition causing a very small, pointed head) were sometimes called "missing links" or ancient human types. People with dwarfism who were well-proportioned were advertised as grand. Those with dwarfism whose heads and limbs were out of proportion were called exotic. People without arms, legs, or limbs were sometimes shown as animal-like, such as "The Snake-Man" or "The Seal Man."

How Freak Shows Were Promoted

Freak shows were promoted in four main ways:

• Oral Storytelling: A showman or "professor" would introduce the performers with exciting stories.
• Printed Ads: Long pamphlets, posters, or newspaper ads were used to promote the show.
• Staging: Costumes, performances, and the display area were designed to highlight what was considered unusual about each performer.
• Souvenirs: People could buy drawings or photos of the performers on stage. These souvenirs often came with recordings of the showman's exaggerated stories.

Doctors sometimes gave "medical" explanations for the performers' conditions. These explanations used complicated words that most people didn't understand, but they made the shows seem more real. This culture of freak shows also shaped how people thought about gender, race, and disability.

By the early 1900s, the popularity of freak shows began to fade. They were once the main attraction, but by 1940, they were losing their audience. In the 1800s, science had supported freak shows, but by the 1900s, medical understanding of human differences took away the mystery and appeal.

P. T. Barnum: The Famous Showman

P. T. Barnum is known as the "father of modern advertising" and was one of the most famous showmen in the freak show business. He played a big part in making this entertainment popular in the United States. However, many of Barnum's acts were not entirely true. Barnum knew his business had ethical issues, saying, "I don't believe in duping the public, but I believe in first attracting and then pleasing them." In the 1840s, Barnum opened his museum, which constantly changed its acts. It featured very heavy people, very thin people, little people, giants, and others considered "freaks." The museum attracted about 400,000 visitors each year.

Barnum's American Museum in New York City was one of the most popular places to see "freaks." Barnum bought the museum in 1841 and made "freaks" its main attraction. He was known for aggressive advertising and making up wild stories about his exhibits. The museum's front was covered with bright banners showing his attractions, and a band played outside. Barnum's American Museum also offered many attractions that aimed to entertain, educate, and uplift its working-class visitors. One ticket gave admission to lectures, plays, an animal collection, and a look at strange things, both living and dead.

General Tom Thumb

One of Barnum's most famous exhibits was Charles Sherwood Stratton, a dwarf known as "General Tom Thumb." Barnum introduced him at age 4, claiming he was 11. Charles had stopped growing after his first six months of life, standing 25 inches (64 cm) tall and weighing 15 pounds (6.8 kg). With lots of training and natural talent, the boy learned to imitate famous people. By age 7, he was performing for the public. In 1844–45, Barnum toured Europe with Tom Thumb, where they met Queen Victoria. She was both amused and saddened by the little man, and this meeting was a huge publicity success. Barnum paid Stratton very well—about $150 a week. When Stratton retired, he lived in a fancy New York neighborhood, owned a yacht, and wore the best clothes.

By 1860, Barnum's American Museum listed thirteen human curiosities. These included an albino family, "The Living Aztecs," three dwarfs, a Black mother with two albino children, The Swiss Bearded Lady, "The Highland Fat Boys," and "What Is It?" (Henry Johnson, a Black man with intellectual disabilities). Barnum also introduced William Henry Johnson, a Black dwarf with a small head, whom he called a "man-monkey" and claimed spoke a mysterious language. In 1862, he found the giantess Anna Swan and Commodore Nutt, a new Tom Thumb. Barnum even took them to meet President Abraham Lincoln at the White House. During the Civil War, Barnum's museum attracted large crowds looking for a distraction.

The Tattooed Man

Barnum's most popular and highest-earning act was George Costentenus, the Tattooed Man. He claimed to be a Greek-Albanian prince raised in a Turkish palace. He had 338 detailed tattoos covering his body, each telling a story. He said he was captured during a military trip and given a choice: be cut into pieces or get full-body tattoos. This process supposedly took three months, and he was the only hostage to survive. He wrote a 23-page book detailing his experience, which drew huge crowds. When Costentenus worked with Barnum, he earned over $1,000 a week. He became so wealthy that New York Times wrote he wore expensive diamond rings and jewelry worth about $3,000 (which would be about $94,699 today). Although Costentenus was lucky, other performers were not. When he died in 1891, he gave about half of his money to other performers who hadn't earned as much.

One of Barnum's most famous hoaxes happened early in his career. He hired a blind and paralyzed former slave for $1,000. He claimed this woman was 160 years old, but she was actually only 80. This lie helped Barnum earn nearly $1,000 a week. This hoax was one of his first and most believable.

Barnum retired in 1865 after his museum burned down. Even though Barnum is criticized for exploiting people, he paid his performers quite well. Some acts earned as much as some sports stars do today.

Tom Norman: The English Showman

Tom Norman was Barnum's English equivalent, a famous Victorian showman. His traveling shows featured Eliza Jenkins, the "Skeleton Woman," a "Balloon Headed Baby," and a woman who bit the heads off live rats—an act Norman called "most gruesome." Other acts included fleas, very heavy women, giants, dwarfs, and white sailors painted black who spoke a made-up language and were called "savage Zulus." He even displayed a "family of midgets" that was actually two men and a borrowed baby. He ran shops in London and Nottingham and had traveling shows across the country.

Most famously, in 1884, Norman met Joseph Merrick, often called "the Elephant Man." Merrick was a young man from Leicester with severe deformities. Merrick came to London and into Norman's care. Norman was shocked by Merrick's appearance and didn't want to display him at first. However, he did exhibit him at his penny gaff shop at 123 Whitechapel Road, right across from the London Hospital. Because it was so close to the hospital, medical students and doctors visited the shop. One of them was a young surgeon named Frederick Treves, who arranged for Merrick to come to the hospital for examination. The Elephant Man exhibition was quite successful, especially with the extra money from a pamphlet about Merrick's life.

However, public opinion about freak shows was starting to change, and displaying human oddities was beginning to be seen as wrong. After only a few weeks with Norman, the Elephant Man exhibition was shut down by the police, and Norman and Merrick went their separate ways. Treves later arranged for Merrick to live at the London Hospital until he died in 1890.

Dime Museums

Another way freak shows were displayed was in a dime museum. In these museums, performers were shown as educational exhibits of people with different disabilities. For a cheap entry fee, visitors could see amazing dioramas, panoramas, paintings, relics, "freaks," stuffed animals, wax figures, and plays. No other entertainment before this appealed to such a wide range of people. In the 1870s, dime museums grew, reaching their peak in the 1880s and 1890s, available everywhere. New York City was the dime museum capital, with an entertainment area that included German pubs, theaters, vendors, photography studios, and other fun places.

Freak shows were the main attraction in most dime museums from 1870 to 1900. The "human oddity" was the most popular museum entertainment. There were four types of human "abnormalities" shown in dime museums:

• Natural Freaks: People born with physical or mental differences, like dwarfs and "pinheads."
• Self-Made Freaks: People who created their own "freakdom," such as heavily tattooed individuals.
• Novelty Artists: Performers considered "freaks" for their unusual acts, like snake charmers, hypnotists, and fire-eaters.
• Non-Western Freaks: People promoted as exotic curiosities, often described as "savages" or "cannibals" from Africa.

Most dime museums had no seats in the exhibit halls. A lecturer, also called the "Professor," would guide visitors from one platform to another. He would keep the audience's attention by describing the "freaks" on display. The lecturer needed to be charming and persuasive, with a loud voice. His speaking style was often like a carnival barker's, full of dramatic and exaggerated stories. Dime museum freak shows also provided "medical" testimonials from "doctors" and "experts" who were there to explain the performers' conditions and make the show seem real.

By the end of the 1800s, dime museums started to decline in popularity. Audiences had many other entertainment choices. Circuses, street fairs, world's fairs, carnivals, and city amusement parks all showed "freaks" and began to take business away from dime museums.

Circus Sideshows

In the circus world, freak shows, also called sideshows, were a key part of the show. The biggest sideshow was with the most famous circus, Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey, known as the "big one." This showed how popular and accepted the practice was in American society. In the early 1800s, single "human oddities" started joining traveling circuses. However, these shows weren't organized into typical sideshows until the mid-1800s. By the 1870s, freak shows were common at most circuses, making the circus a main place for displaying human oddities.

Most of the museums and sideshows that traveled with major circuses were owned by the circuses themselves by 1876. By 1880, human exhibits were combined with various entertainment acts from the sideshows. By 1890, the size of the tents and the number of sideshow attractions grew. Most large circuses had twelve to fifteen exhibits plus a band. These bands often included Black musicians, blackface minstrel bands, and groups of dancers dressed as Hawaiians. These entertainers helped attract crowds and create a fun atmosphere inside the show tent.

By the 1920s, the circus began to decline as a major form of entertainment. This was due to competition from amusement parks, movie theaters, and burlesque tours, as well as the rise of radio. Circuses also saw a big drop in audiences during the Depression. Economic hard times and union demands made the circus less affordable and less valuable.

Disability and Freak Shows

Freak shows were seen as a normal part of American culture in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They were considered suitable entertainment for the middle class and were profitable for the showmen, who used performers' disabilities for money.

Ugly laws in the United States, starting in the 1860s, made it illegal for people who were "diseased, maimed, or in any way deformed" to appear in public. This made it hard for such people to support themselves. However, exhibitions were specifically allowed. While freak shows were entertainment, they also provided jobs for those who could advertise, manage, and perform in the attractions. Before social safety nets or worker's compensation existed, severely disabled people often found that performing was their only way to earn a living. In the 1800s, performing in an organized freak show was seen as a "viable" way to make money, instead of begging. Many performers were lucky and talented enough to earn a good living and have a good life through these exhibitions. Some became celebrities, earning high salaries—much more than acrobats, novelty performers, and actors. The salaries for dime museum performers usually ranged from $25 to $500 a week, more than many other performers. "Freaks" were seen as having valuable traits, with a chance to become famous and rich. At the peak of freak shows' popularity, they were one of the few jobs available for dwarfs.

Many experts argue that showmen and managers exploited performers for money because of their disabilities. While many performers were paid well, they often had to deal with managers who were not sensitive about their schedules. Performers worked long hours just to make a profit. This was especially hard for top performers, as more frequent shows sold more tickets. Many entertainers were kept on tiring schedules and given only a small percentage of their total earnings. Individual exhibits were hired for about one to six weeks by dime museums. The average performer had a schedule of 10 to 15 shows a day and was moved from one museum to another week after week. For example, when Fedor Jeftichew (known as "Jo-Jo, the Dog-Faced Boy") appeared at the Globe Museum in New York, his manager arranged for him to perform 23 shows during a 12- to 14-hour day.

Changing views about physical differences led to the decline of freak shows as entertainment by the late 1800s. As previously mysterious differences were scientifically explained as genetic mutations or diseases, "freaks" became objects of sympathy rather than fear or dislike. Laws were passed to limit freak shows for these reasons. For example, Michigan law forbids the "exhibition [of] any deformed human being or human monstrosity, except as used for scientific purposes." At the start of the 1900s, movies and television began to satisfy audiences' desire for entertainment. People could see similar acts and "abnormalities" from their homes or a theater, and no longer needed to pay to see "freaks." While movies and television played a big part in the decline of freak shows, the rise of disability rights was an even bigger cause. Many people now saw freak shows as wrong and profiting from others' difficulties. Even though they were paid well, the performers of the 1800s did not always enjoy a good quality of life. Frank Lentini, the three-legged man, once said, "My limb does not bother me as much as the curious, critical gaze."

Historical Timeline

The display of human oddities has a long history:

• 1630s: Lazarus Colloredo and his conjoined twin brother, Joannes Baptista, toured Europe.
• 1704–1718: Peter the Great collected human oddities at the Kunstkammer in Russia.
• 1738: A creature described as "taken in a wood at Guinea; 'tis a female about four feet high in every part like a woman excepting her head which nearly resembles the ape" was exhibited.
• 1739: Peter the Great's niece Anna Ioannovna had a parade of circus performers escort a couple to a mock palace made of ice.
• 1810–1815: Sarah Baartman (also known as "Hottentot Venus"), a Khoekhoe woman, was exhibited in Europe.
• 1829–1870: The original "Siamese twins," Chang and Eng Bunker, conjoined twin brothers, began performing in 1829. They stopped in 1870 after Chang had a stroke.
• 1842–1883: In 1842, Charles Sherwood Stratton was presented as "General Tom Thumb." Charles had hypopituitary dwarfism; he stopped performing in 1883 due to a stroke that led to his death.
• 1849–1867: In 1849, Maximo and Bartola began performing as "The Last of the Ancient Aztecs of Mexico." Both performers had microcephaly and stopped performing in 1867 after they married each other.
• 1860–1905: Hiram and Barney Davis were presented as the "wild men" from Borneo. Both brothers had intellectual disabilities. They stopped performing in 1905 after Hiram's death.
• 1884: Joseph Merrick was exhibited as "The Elephant Man" by Tom Norman in London's East End.
• 1912–1935: Daisy and Violet Hilton were conjoined twin sisters who started performing at age four in 1912. They became popular in the 1920s and 1930s, performing dance routines and playing instruments. They stopped performing in 1935 due to money problems.
• 1932: Tod Browning's film Freaks told the story of a traveling freak show. The use of real performers in the film caused public outcry, and the film was not widely seen until its re-release in 1962. Daisy and Violet Hilton, the conjoined sisters who had been raised in freak shows, were two stars of the film.
• 1960: Albert-Alberta Karas (two siblings, each presented as half man, half woman) performed with Bobby Reynolds on a sideshow tour.
• 1991: Jim Rose Circus played the Lollapalooza Festival, starting a new wave of performers and renewed interest in the genre.
• 1992: Grady Stiles ("Lobster Boy") was shot in his home in Gibsonton, Florida.
• 1996: Chicago radio host Mancow Muller presented Mancow's Freak Show at the United Center to a crowd of 30,000. The show included Kathy Stiles and her brother Grady III as the Lobster Twins.
• 2000–2010: Ken Harck's Brothers Grim Sideshow debuted at the Great Circus Parade in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This show included a very heavy woman and a bearded woman, as well as self-made performers like The Enigma and Katzen. In later years, the show included Half-boy Jesse Stitcher and Jesus "Chuy" Aceves the Mexican Werewolf Boy and Stalking Cat. Brothers Grim toured with the Ozz Fest music festival in 2006, 2007, and 2010.
• 2005: 999 Eyes Freakshow was founded, calling itself the "last genuine traveling freakshow in the United States." 999 Eyes shows performers in a positive light, saying that "what is different is beautiful." Performers include Black Scorpion.
• 2007: Wayne Schoenfeld brought together several sideshow performers for The L.A. Circus Congress of Freaks and Exotics to photograph them for Cirque Du Soleil. Attendees included Bill Quinn, the halfman; Percilla, the very heavy woman; Mighty Mike Murga the Mighty Dwarf; Dieguito El Negrito, a wildman; Christopher Landry; fire-eaters; sword swallowers, and more.

Modern Echoes of Freak Shows

The entertainment style of old "freak shows" can still be seen in many television programs today. Shows like Extraordinary People and BodyShock show the lives of people with severe disabilities or deformities. These can be seen as a modern version of circus freak shows. To fit today's cultural expectations, the people in these shows are usually shown as heroic, and the programs focus on their families and friends who help them overcome challenges. However, some people, like Chris Shaw from The Guardian, comment that "one man's freak show is another man's portrayal of heroic triumph over medical adversity." He suggests that many viewers might watch these shows with shock rather than sympathy.

Images for kids

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  Madam Gustika of the "Duckbill tribe" smoking a pipe with an extended mouthpiece for her lips during a show in a New York circus in 1930. Her lips were stretched by the insertion of disks of incrementally increasing size.

See also

• Human zoo
• Comprachicos
• Geek show
• Freak show fight
• Claude-Ambroise Seurat