For a mere twenty-five cents, you could take a tour of PT Barnum’s show containing his most memorable freaks.
Jo Jo the Dog Faced Boy
First, there was Jo Jo the Dog-Faced Boy. He was a Russian sideshow performer and, in 1884, Barnum brought him to the United States to perform for his show. Although Jo Jo was fluent in Russian, German, and English, Barnum told the crowds that he was raised in the wild and could not be civilized. For his act, he would growl and bark like a dog.
General Tom Thumb
Charles Stratton was better known as General Tom Thumb. Barnum took him under his wings when he was just a boy and taught him how to sing, dance, and do impersonations. He made his first tour of the United States when he was only five. By the time he was seven, the “Smallest Person That Ever Walked Alone,” was drinking wine and smoking cigars as part of his act.
The Feejee Mermaid
Not all of his curiosities were alive. Take, for instance, the infamous Feejee Mermaid, found near the Fiji Islands. As you all well know, it is nearly impossible to capture a living mermaid so he imported this beautiful, stuffed creature for your enjoyment. What he didn’t tell people was that the mermaid was made in Japan. It was part fish and part monkey.
The Bearded Lady
Annie Jones began working for Barnum when she was a mere nine months old. He paid her parents $150 a week so that the hairy baby could appear in his shows. By the time she was five years old, she had full mustache, sideburns, and a beard. She became The Bearded Girl and, when she reached adulthood, she was known around the world as the beautiful Bearded Lady.
The Living Skeleton
Known as The Living Skeleton, Isaac Sprague began losing weight at the age of twelve. Doctors were baffled by his condition. As a young man, he attempted to work as both a cobbler and then a grocer, but his energy levels were so low that he became extremely exhausted from just a short amount of physical exertion. He auditioned for Barnum in 1865 and he hired him as “The Living Skeleton” with a good salary of $80 a week.
The Four-Legged Girl
Myrtle Corbin was born with two sets of legs from two separate pelvises and two sets of sexual organs, internal and external. She joined Barnum’s freak show when she was thirteen-years-old and earned an amazing $450 a week. Myrtle married when she was nineteen years old and, over the years, went on to give birth to five children through both sets of legs.
Zip the Pinhead
Finally, we have one of Barnum’s most popular performers. William Henry Johnson came to work for Barnum in 1860. He was renamed Zip the Pinhead and had all his hair shaved off of his head except for one small tuft on top. Barnum then had him dress in a fur suit, placed him inside a large cage, and introduced him as “the missing link.” Zip would scream and grunt at the crowds. He’d shake the bars and act like a lunatic. Barnum paid Zip $1 a day to keep quiet about the act and also paid him an incredible $100 a week.
