Famous freaks and prodigies

Grace McDaniels, the Mule-Faced  Woman Her face was monstrous enough to quickly earn popularity on the sideshow only by appearing on stage called the ugliest woman in the world. Despite her bizarre appearance, Grace was considered a warm and generous person and had a surprising number of suitors. She was married and had a physically … Read more

Quasimodo is a fictional character in the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster. His name “Quasimodo” translates to “partially formed.” Due to accusations of rape, and his resulting life of seclusion, he  appears scary and mysterious … Read more

   Johnny Eck, born John Eckhardt, Jr. was born in 1911 without legs along with a normal twin brother, Rob. Despite the doctor’s fears that he wouldn’t survive the week, Johnny did live and was walking on his hands by his first birthday. He began making public appearances at age fourteen with traveling shows. He … Read more

  They were perhaps the most famous of all congenital freaks to be displayed in America. Born in Siam in May 1811, discovered by Robert Hunter in 1824 and described scientifically by Prof. J.C. Warren at Harvard University in 1829, they were both natural and non-Western freaks, which made them particularly freakish in the eyes … Read more

Sara Baartman, the Hottentot Venus Baartman, born near the Great Fish River in 1789, was 21 when she left Cape Town for London in the company of an English ship’s surgeon. She was displayed in public shows throughout England, and became somewhat of a celebrity. Her genitalia, which, according to one authority, “were assumed to … Read more

The Scottish Brothers (1460–1488) were conjoined twins with trunks fused in a single lower extremity who shared common sensations (dicephalus type). They attended the Court of King James III and were skilled in music and foreign languages. They spoke and read several different languages. They were renowned for their singing grand duets – one would … Read more

Krao, the Darwin’s Missing Link (1876-1926) Born in Laos and suffering from hypertrichosia, she was first exhibited in 1880 in Europe when she was six years old. During this time the Origin of Species theory was a hot topic, and Barney  turned her into intermediate creature that might prove Darwin’s theories. She was well-read and … Read more

  General Tom Thumb Aka: Charles Sherwood Stratton, the midget Charles Sherwood Stratton was born Jan. 4, 1838, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Sherwood Edward Stratton, a carpenter, and his wife, Cynthia, "normal" sized adults. In 1842, P. T. Barnum discovered Charles, who measured 25 inches and weighed 15 pounds, only six pounds more than his … Read more