the human chimaera & myriad carnival dreams

got some rad books (and pamphlet) on etsy during the year on performers. the history of this lifestyle is one of my favorite subjects mostly because of the recurring stories of these performers finding some form of acceptance and happiness. mind you not all stories end that way, but the ones that do really comfort me more than some bs hallmark flick or half assed “it’ll get better” remark everyone hands out.

The Willow Bunch Giant. Joseph Edouard Beaupré, born January 9, 1881, in Willow Bunch , Saskatchewan. Around 21 years old, when he choose the life of the circus, he measured 7’ 11" and weighed 365 pounds. His neck measured 21 inches in circumference, and his hands 12 and a half inches from the wrist to finger tips. His thorax (chest) measured 56 inches and his shoes, a size 22, always had to be made special order. He was a very gentle man who wanted to be a rancher. Edouard Beaupré died  of tuberculosis on July 3, 1904, around 1:15 a.m. at the Emergency Hospital on the World’s Fair Ground in St. Louis.   https://www.etsy.com/listing/191347388

From the NYC Quarantine Series, 4 x 3″ each, enamel paint on foam core

Coney Island Congress of the World’s Greatest Living Curiosities

Frieda was born without arms or legs in Conemaugh, Pennsylvania. Her condition was said to be the result of a botched appendectomy on her pregnant mother. In 1933, at he age of nine she appeared at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium at the Chicago World’s fair as the “Armless Legless Girl Wonder”. She performed in 1939 at the New York World’s fair and also with Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey’s sideshow from 1943 to 1955. She died from bladder cancer at the age of seventy-seven in Costa Mesa, California.

Guy Bourdin

Dark

http://www.blurb.co.uk/user/andypaciorek

Shokyokusai Tenkatsu, a Japanese magician, with her assistant.

For J’s birthday, we were supposed to have a lake getaway, but due to some scheduling conflicts we had to stay in Austin. We decided to hit up the Museum of the Weird. It was absolutely a blast, they had so many fun exhibits and info. Pictured above are mummies, the Fiji Mermaid, and info on Texas Bigfoot. They also had the famous Minnesota Iceman exhibit!!!! Unfortunately no pictures were allowed there, but it was awesome to see such an important piece of sideshow history. If you’re in Austin, we definitely recommend checking it out.

Dark

Gabor the Gorilla Girl

• Acrobatic flying corset. Date: 1861-1871 Medium: Cotton, leather, steel.