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,…
FAKE FREAKS – The Pretenders
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,…
MIGNON – The Penguin Lady
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…
ISAAC W. SPRAGUE – The Original Living Skeleton
Isaac W. Sprague was born on May 21, 1841 in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. According to one of his early cabinet cards, he was a normal and active child until the age of twelve – when he began to rapidly lose…
PRINCE RANDIAN – The Human Caterpillar
The man who would become Prince Randian was born in 1871 in Demerara, British Guiana to Indian slave parents.Despite being born without arms or legs he was incredibly self sufficient. Randian was brought to the US in 1889 and, while…
THE HILTON SISTERS – Chained For Life
Contrary to popular belief, outright exploitation was not very common in sideshow. The majority of human marvels displayed themselves for their own reasons and quite often reaped massive financial and personal rewards for doing so. However, of the few performers…