10 Vintage Circus Sideshow Acts

1.

Isaac W. Sprague - Not much is known about about Isaac Sprague, “The Living Skeleton” who was a successful sideshow attraction in the mid-1800s. He was normal weight until age 12 when he suddenly felt ill and began losing weight. Even though at the age of fourty-four he only weighed 43 pounds, he had a marriage and three sons whom all were of normal weight.

2.

Robert Huddleston - Known at “The Amazing Pony Boy”, Huddleston suffered from congenital genu recurvatum, an advanced form also known as “backward knee syndrome”. After WW2, Huddleston settled in a small town in Texas where he continued to perform with wild success bringing his number of years in the carnival circuit to thirty-six. He died in 1970 in Fremont.

3.

Pip and Flip Snow - Billed as the amazing pin-heads from the Yucutan, Pip and Flip Snow were actually from Hartwell, Georgia. Jenny Lee Snow and Elvira Snow were born with microsephaly, which caused extremely small craniums and delayed mental developement. The sister’s parents would loan them to several sideshow attractions in order to pay the bills. At the height of their popularity (after starting in the 1932 film FREAKS along with Koo Koo the Bird Girl) they were earning $75.00 a week, which was a very large sum during the great depression. Jenny passed away in her early 20s, however Elvira lived into old age, passing away in 1974.

4.

James Morris - Morris was know as the “India Rubber Man” and was an incredibly big draw for the sideshow business. He was able to stretch the skin from neck over his eyes and crowds paid big money to see him, even as much as to earn Morris $300 dollars in a week when he was touring with the Barnum circus. The act of stretching his skin however was very painful and he often ended up with lasting scars and damage due to his act.

5.

Millie-Christine - In 1851 these two ladies were born into slavery in North Carolina. Their life can only be described as too crazy to be true. They were sold for $1000 to Joseph Pearson Smith, a showman, and performed in his show until they were kidnapped. They were finally found performing in Birmingham, England were slavery was illegal. When brought back to the states they were billed as the “Two-Headed Nightengale”. They atteneded etiquette lessons, taught multiple launguages and even learn how to play music. They passed away at age 61 as the oldest known conjoined twins on record.

6.

Frank Lentini - Mr. Lentini was a big draw for his three legs, four feet and two sets of genitals. At age eight his family moved to the United States and entered their young son into the sideshow business, billed as “The Great Lentini”. Other performers in the business were so enthralled with Lentini and respected him so much he was known in the business as “The King”.

7.

Koo Koo the Bird Girl - Born Minnie Woosley in Rabun County, Georgia in 1880, Woosley was born with Virchow-Seckel syndrome. She had a very small cranium, terrible vision, no teeth and a very short stature. Little is known about Woosley after the 1940s, however she was said to still be performing on Coney Island well into her 80s.

8.

Commodore Nutt - George Washington “Commodore” Morrison is probably one of the most famous of the sideshow attractions of his day. Born in 1848 he was a huge attraction in P.T. Barnum’s American Museum in New York City.Morrison even married another dwarf, Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump, in the winter of 1863. Their “Fairy Wedding” was a news story all over the country, it was a welcome relief from the horrors of stories from the Civil War.

9.

EDOUARD BEAUPRÉ - Unlike most sideshow performers, there is much known about the life of this real life giant. Beaupré was born in the small Saskatchewan of Willow Bunch and was average height until he was nine. At nine years old little Edouard was 6.1 ft. tall and at age eleven he had grown to 7.1 ft. He stopped going to school however he was very intelligent, speaking French, English, Souix, Cree and Méchif. He passed away in St. Louis on July 3, 1904 where his final height had reached 8.3ft, making him one of the tallest humans in recorded history.

10.

Annie Jones - It’s only natural that when you think of a sideshow, you think of the Bearded Lady. However Annie Jones is probably the most famous bearded lady in history. Born in Marion, Virginia, she joined P.T. Barnum’s troop at the age of nine-months old, earning her parents $150 a week. At age Barnum’s Freaks, which is actually a word she tried to have abolished from the art during her long career.