The history of the Freak Show

Freak shows were popular attractions during the mid 19th to mid 20th centuries until changes in societal attitudes towards handicapped persons and tightening of local laws prohibiting “exhibition of deformed human beings” led to the decline of the freak show as a form of entertainment. Featuring attractions such as deformed humans and animals, unusual physical performers, “pickled punks” (abnormal fetuses preserved in glass jars), and occasional hoaxes (e.g. “bouncers” – fake pickled punks made from rubber), the freak show has captivated audiences since as early as the 16th century.

By 1600, severe physical human deformities and animal abnormalities were no longer deemed bad omens or manifestations of evil spirits residing within the person’s body and the public display of deformed persons began to see increased popularity. During the 1600’s through 1700’s, conjoined twins Lazarus Colleredo and John Baptista (whose upper body dangled from the front of Lazarus) toured England along with a “female about four feet high in every part like a woman excepting her head which nearly resembles the ape” made rounds in Europe. By 1810, Sarah Baartman (aka Hottentot Venus), a southwestern African woman was exhibited throughout London and France until her death in 1815 (at which time her body was dissected and her brain, skeleton and genitalia put on display for more than a century).

During the mid-1800’s, the display of sideshow freaks became big business, particularly in England and the United States. Small shows began to pop up in America in 1829, around the time of the arrival of Chang and Eng, the original Siamese twins. In 1844, American circus pioneer P.T. Barnum travelled to England with his distant cousin, Charles Stratton (aka Tom Thumb). At just over two feet tall, the diminutive Stratton was instructed to lie about his age, claiming he was 11 years old instead of his actual age of five and billed as General Tom Thumb. P.T. Barnum had already experimented with faux-creations such as the Fiji Mermaid which he exhibited with great success in 1842.

By 1884, during the heyday of the Victorian-era freak shows, Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man) was displayed in London’s East End and billed as “half-a-man and half-elephant”. Merrick was exhibited in the back of an empty shop on Whitechapel Road (directly across the street from the London Hospital) by a man named Tom Norman, who collected and travelled the countryside with freaks such as Eliza Jenkins, Mary Anne Bevan, the Human Skeleton, and the Balloon-headed baby. Merrick had an iron bed with a curtain drawn around to afford him some privacy. Norman gathered an audience by standing outside the shop and drawing a crowd through his showman patter.

“Ladies and gentlemen … I would like to introduce Mr. Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man. Before doing so I ask you please to prepare yourselves—Brace yourselves up to witness one who is probably the most remarkable human being ever to draw the breath of life.”

It was at this time that tastes changed and shows like Norman’s began to cause public concern, both because of the rowdy crowds that they attracted and on the grounds of human decency. London police and magistrates became increasingly vigilant in closing freak shows down.

By 1932, Tod Browing’s Freaks movie, which featured many real-life freaks such as limbless Prince Randian, the legless Johnny Eck and conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton, prompted public outcry and was relegated to obscurity until it was re-released in 1962. By the 1950’s, the freak show had almost disappeared entirely. Today, Coney Island in New York remains one of the few providers of sideshow entertainment left in the world.

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