Historical story

How much "freaks of nature" were earning in 19th century America?

For many "freaks" - as they were contemptuously referred to - performing in front of an audience was a real hell. And it was unprofitable, because the proceeds from the tickets went mainly to the pockets of soulless managers. Some, however, were able to turn the other to their advantage ... and even make a good profit from it. How much exactly?

Being different has always attracted. For centuries, people have instinctively drawn to things, phenomena and situations that are unusual, unusual, different from what they knew and understood. The more bizarre and shocking something is, the greater human curiosity becomes.

Watching exotic animals, plants or views of distant lands, yes, was popular. However, it definitely failed to look at "human specimens", that is, people suffering from severe degeneration, atypical diseases or physical handicaps. They have been called "nature's mistakes", "freaks", "freaks" and "monsters".

Dwarf, albino, werewolf

The approach to the handicapped has changed over the centuries. In some ancient cultures, disabled children were simply killed. In the Middle Ages, illness and deformity were considered a punishment from God, and those who suffered were ostracized. They were surrounded by aversion or even contempt; more than once they were in danger of losing their lives.

This approach changed somewhat during the Renaissance. It was then that "freaks" shows began to be organized, and the attitude towards people whose appearance was different from the norm ceased to be limited only to disgust and fear. Some of them gained fame - this was the case of the Italian Lazarus Colloredo, from whose chest grew head down his underdeveloped brother . Colloredo traveled around Europe, showing its unusual structure and gaining publicity.

One of the first famous "specimens" in Europe were the brothers Lazarus and Johannes Colloredo.

The nineteenth century brought the popularity of the so-called circus of curiosities (in English-speaking countries they are called freak shows ). Clever entrepreneurs gathered a team of "monsters", which they then - for an appropriate fee - presented to the public. It included, among others, albinos, dwarfs and dwarfs, and Siamese twins. The stages also featured a woman with a beard, a "werewolf", that is, an excessively hairy man, and people with physical deformities:excessively tall, very short, extremely thin, with an atypical number of arms or legs, disfigured by skin diseases, overgrown parts of the body ...

During the performance, the "actors" most often appeared naked, so that their deformations were visible. Sometimes they showed up in disguises that made them even more unusual. Sometimes - it depended on the ingenuity of their "owner" - they played roles or scenes. In less sophisticated premises one could even touch these human specimens.

Profitable curiosity?

The freak shows aroused great interest in the audience. Spectators eager for emotions flocked to the performances and visited the cabinets of curiosities. In the second half of the nineteenth century, it was a very popular entertainment, and the owners of the most famous circuses achieved really high profits.

No wonder that for some, "catching" a peculiar case was a real treat. Yunte Huang in the book "Inseparable. The famous Siamese brothers and their encounter with American history ”Quotes the words of the captain of the ship on which the twins Chang and Eng Bunker sailed to America. This is what he wrote in a letter to his wife:

Susan, I have two Chinese boys, 17 years old, fused together and in excellent health. I hope they will make a profitable tidbit .

And how was it with the "actors" performing in circuses? Did they profit from their otherness? Or did they suffer poverty while working for the welfare of their owners?

For some, hitting the circus of oddities was a tragedy. It happened that they were treated there like slaves, locked up so that they would not run away, beaten and forced to obey. But for others, the performances have become a ticket to fame, money and a dignified life . Showing up in a circus or a study of curiosities was still better than manual work or begging. And some organizers of freak shows they solicited attractive actors by paying them travel expenses, offering good rates and looking after them.

For example, Stefan Bibrowski, born in the countryside near Płock, suffering from hypertrichosis, i.e. excessive body hair, was bought by a German entrepreneur for a circus. Covered (also on his face) with long, fair hair, he became an attraction there, performing as Lionel the Lion Man.

In 1901 he came to the USA, where he traveled with the famous circus of the American impresaria P.T. Barnum. He earned well, which allowed him to settle in the States. He lives in Coney Island, New York. He lived comfortably, knew five languages, dressed smartly and had refined manners.

Alice Doherty of Minneapolis, who was born with hair all over her body, also suffered from hypertrichosis. When she was two, her parents began showing her for money. Later, it found its way to an American circus of curiosities, and was also displayed as a live attraction in shop windows. She earned so much on performances that at the age of 28 she could retire! She settled in Dallas and lived comfortably there until her death in 1933.

Alice Doherty suffered from hypertrichosis. In the photo with the family.

The star of the circus of peculiarities P.T. Barnum was, among others, the dwarf Charles Stratton, nicknamed Tom Thumb (Tom Thumb). He was 99 centimeters tall, cheerful and witty, and he entertained the audience with jokes. This made him very popular, and his performances were crowded. Barnum paid Stratton as much as $ 150 a week, which in today's value is over $ 4,000 . Thanks to this, Tomcio Paluch became a wealthy man. He lived in a good neighborhood in New York, wore the best clothes, and bought himself a yacht.

In turn, the black-skinned William Henry Johnson, suffering from microcephaly, received as much as $ 100 for the performance. He even showed up ten times a week, so he earned very well. In addition, Barnum bought him a luxury home in Connecticut.

Another star in Barnum's Cabinet of Curiosities (known as "Barnum's American Museum") was George Costentenus, a former pirate and gold miner. His body was covered with 388 color tattoos made in Burma, depicting geometric motifs, animals, flowers and figures. Tattoos even covered his ears and eyelids. He got as much as $ 1,000 a week for showing at the American Museum. With the money he earned, he bought expensive jewelry, which he liked to wear, and whose value was estimated at $ 3,000 in 1878.

In his office, Barnum also had The Man with the Dogs Face. It was the Russian Fyodor Jeftikiev, who was affected by the aforementioned hypertrichosis. His face and body were covered with long hair. First he performed as an attraction in Europe, then Barnum brought him to the US. He made up a dramatic story where a boy grew up among wolves in Siberia.

Captain Costentenus was famous for his tattoos.

In America, Jeftikhiev made a great career. He belonged to the group of the highest paid stars of freak shows . Reportedly was getting $ 500 a week, and when he retired, he had accumulated up to $ 300,000 in savings .

Twins with a business sense

Even more interesting was the case described in the book "Inseparable "Siamese brothers Chang and Eng Bunker. The boys were bridged over a distance of 15 centimeters. British merchant Robert Hunter, who in 1829 bought them from his mother and took them to the United States with Captain Coffin, became interested in them.

In Nowy Świat, young men were taken around the country and shown as attractions. They quickly learned to speak English as well as read and write. Their shows were crowds of people who left thousands of dollars at the box offices for admission tickets. In Philadelphia alone, Chang and Eng's weekly shows paid for $ 1,000 and it was quite a lot at the time.

Then Hunter and Coffin took the brothers on an tour around Great Britain. The twins covered 4,000 km there and performed in front of 300,000 viewers in many cities and towns. The former King of France, Charles X, visited them in Liverpool and presented them with a gold bar.

After returning to the States, in 1831, the Bunkers freed themselves from their owners and began an independent career. The audience had to pay - depending on the venue - between 25 and 50 cents for a ticket to their performance. And it happened that hundreds of people came to their shows. This was the case, for example, in the southern states. In Tennessee, Yunte Huang reports, the brothers made a whopping $ 500 in nine days!

In October 1831, a total of $ 1,104.50 in Tennessee and Alabama came into their cash registers. "They raised $ 985.75 in November and $ 1,447 in December," writes Huang in "The Inseparable" . These were very serious sums at that time. The brothers' biographer emphasizes that the interest in the performances was enormous:

In the small town of Demopolis, the brothers earned $ 61 during a one-day show. With a ticket price of 25 cents per person […], it can be assumed that some two hundred people have visited them. In such desolate areas, it is a real crowd.

But it wasn't going so well everywhere - in Ohio, the ticket income was barely enough to cover travel and other expenses. In July 1833, performing near Cleveland and Detroit, the Bunkers made $ 428.5, but spent almost the entire sum at once - they had $ 11.17 left ... And August lost almost $ 174 in general.

But Chang and Eng had a business sense. During the performances, they sold cigars, 500 of which they had previously bought in bulk, lithographs with their own images, and short biographical sketches about themselves. As Yunte Huang relates:

After ten years of hard work and a modest life, they have accumulated an impressive saving of 10,000 dollars. [...] The exaggerated press speculated that they had already set aside $ 40,000 to $ 60,000. The Times-Picayune of New Orleans even claimed that by the end of 1838 the brothers "had made over 100,000 purely from performances across the country."

The Bunker brothers made a real fortune at the shows.

With so much savings at their disposal, the brothers settled in North Carolina in 1839. They bought land there and started growing tobacco. With $ 10,000 set aside, they were among the wealthiest citizens of the county. They could afford to import luxury goods from New York:rugs, silverware, knives, ivory forks, copper candlesticks, glasses, tablecloths, silk handkerchiefs, woolen shirts, coffee, tea, brandy and spices. They paid as much as $ 467.72 for one of these orders in 1840.

In 1843, Chang and Eng married the sisters Adelaide and Sarah Yates. In the following years, they built houses for their families. Together they had 21 descendants.

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