Throughout his career , Charles Eisenmann photograph thousands of sideshow performing artist seeking portraits for their résumés to transport to carnival and genus Circus publicist . These pictures hover between amusing ( “ the educated horse ! ” ) and bittersweet ( there ’s something marvelously morbid about a human beings commercialize his massively distended Costa Rican colon ) . But when you had a bad font of hypertrichosis ( like Jojo The Dog - Faced Boy ) or Milroy ’s disease ( like giant - footed Fanny Mills , above ) , calling selection were n’t legion .
Eisenmann began shoot sideshow performing artist in New York City prior to 1870.Explains Syracuse Universityof his pattern :
A humiliated class area that was the hub of democratic amusement , the Bowery was make love for its cheap photographic galleries and dime museum . Here Eisenmann discovered his business . Dime museum were modeled on P.T. Barnum ’s American Museum on Broadway which exhibited various human “ oddment ” as well as many unusual and questionable “ scientific ” display . exchangeable in many respects to the genus Circus sideshows , these museum boast human “ lusus naturae ” who displayed their odd countenance and performed before gawking visitors . To help these performers commercialize themselves , Eisenmann and his heir Frank Wendt supplied them with small photographs that they could trade or distribute to publicizer .
you could see one C more of Eisenmann ’s sideshow photographs atSyracuse University Library ’s Ronald G. Becker Collection . Here ’s a selection of his promotional picture .
Jo Jo , The Dog - Faced Boy .
“ Human skeleton ” I.W. Sprague with his wife and minor .
“ The Wild Men of Borneo . ”
“ Eddie Masher , Skeleton Dude . ”
Lionel , The Lion - Faced Boy .
A 26 - month - sometime “ hairy baby . ”
Prince Randion .
“ Mahomet , the Educated Horse . ”
Anne Leek , the armless lady .
Felix Wehrle , “ The Elastic Man . ”
Four - legged Myrtle Corbin , who bore two children from her first vagina and three from her minute .
Francesco Lentini , the three - legged world .
And finally , “ a madam with five alligators . ”
[ ViaNaruyama Gallery ]
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