Freak

Show:
A Parliament of Monsters, a Consequence of Hormone Dysfunction
All moveables of wonder, from all parts,
Are here--Albinos, painted Indians, Dwarfs,
The Horse of knowledge, and the learned Pig,
The Stone-eater, the man that swallows fire,
Giants, Ventriloquists, the Invisible Girl,
The Bust that speaks and moves its goggling eyes,
The Wax-work, Clock-work, all the marvellous craft
Of modern Merlins, Wild Beasts, Puppet-shows,
All out-o'-the-way, far-fetched, perverted things,
All freaks of nature, all Promethean thoughts
Of man, his dulness, madness, and their feats
All jumbled up together, to compose
A Parliament of Monsters. Tents and Booths
Meanwhile, as if the whole were one vast mill,
Are vomiting, receiving on all sides,
Men, Women, three-years' Children, Babes in arms.

Wordsworth's description of Bartholomew Fair (from The Prelude, Book 7. 1805, lines 706 721)
http://www.westland.net/coneyisland/articles/freaks.htm

The living werewolf, worlds ugliest woman and the smallest or tallest man
were some of the main attractions during the Sideshow era from the mid-
1800s to mid-1900s. Onlookers would pay admission to view individuals
with deformities or conditions that rendered them more beast than man.
All classes of people, including Queen Victoria I itook in the traveling
spectacle of the sideshow.
Many sideshows boasted live werewolf specimens. Lionel, a famous
sideshow performer was covered with downy hair on his entire face so only
his eyes and lips were visibleii. Often fantastical stories were used to
explain the abhorrent medical condition of the afflicted werewolf. These
stories often further dehumanized the sideshow performer. Today Lionels
condition would be described as hypertrichosis literally meaning excess
hair. Hypertrichosis can be caused by genetic anomalies
as well as a thyroid disorder known as hypothyroidism.
Another spectacle included The Worlds Ugliest Woman, Mary Ann Bevan, whose face
and limbs were greatly enlarged. She was a fixture at Coney Island for thirteen years
before her death in 1933iii. It was not until Mary Ann was 35 years of age that she
started to exhibit some of the symptoms of acromegaly, a condition causing the
excessive growth of specific body parts due to imbalances in human growth
hormoneiii.

Coney Islands Dreamland exhibition also featured a midget brigade with the most famous performer,
General Tom Thumb, who, at the age of 11, stood only 25 inches tall and
weighed approximately 15lbsiv. Tom Thumb experienced very little growth in
his lifetime, reaching a maximum height of 3ft. in his adult yearsv. General
Tom Thumb was more a performer than a museum specimen and often wore
costumes and performed comedy actsv. His petite figure brought him great
wealth and far-reaching celebrity status. Tom Thumb was even an invited
guest to President Lincoln at the White Housevi. His exceptionally small stature
was thought to be caused by growth hormone deficiency in his early
developmental years.
Sideshow performers like Lionel, Tom Thumb and Mary Ann Bevan were once
dubbed monstrous spectacles. An increase in medical knowledge about
hormones reveals the sideshow performers visible afflictions were merely a
consequence of bad biochemistry.



i

Durbach, N. (2010). Spectacle of Deformity: Freakshows and Modern British Culture. London: University of California Press.

ii
Nickell, J. (2005). Secrets of the Sideshows. Lexington (KY): University Press of Kentucky.

iii
Allen, G., Carlson, E., Lombardo, P., Micklos, D. (1999) Mary Ann Bevan, the worlds ugliest woman. Retrieved February 22, 2011 from
Eugenics Archive. http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/image_header.pl?id=834&printable=1&detailed=

iv
Toulmin, V. (2007). Freak Shows. In National Fairground Archive. Retrieved February 22, 2010 from
http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/history/shows/freaks.html
v

Kriegel, L. (1969). Uncle Tom and Tiny Tim: Some Reflections on the Cripple as Negro. In American Scholar 38 (Summer 1969): 412-30,
http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/lib/docs/678card.htm, Disability History Museum, www.disabilitymuseum.org (November 1, 2001).
vi

Kimmel, S. (1967). Mr. Lincolns Washington. South Brunswick (NJ): Coward-McCann.

Photo references:
Mary Ann Bevan:
Allen, G., Carlson, E., Lombardo, P., Micklos, D. (1999) Mary Ann Bevan, the worlds ugliest woman. Retrieved February 22, 2011 from Eugenics
Archive. http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/image_header.pl?id=834&printable=1&detailed=

Tom Thumb:
Brady, M. (1920). Tom Thumb. In American Treasures of the Library of Congress. Retrieved February 22, 2011 from
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr137.html

Lionel:
Bettman, J. (1923). Lionel Bilrouki, the Lion-Faced Man. Retrieved February 22, 2011 from
http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/BE044696.html