In those long-ago days before the advent of television and computers, traveling sideshows made their way from hamlet to hamlet. Sideshows had several components. There was always a fortune teller. Sometimes there were animal acts. Sideshows were not circuses as such, but they did have some of the same elements. There was one big difference though, between circuses and sideshows.
The main feature of sideshows was people who were misshapen or deformed or just odd in some way — freaks. There was almost always a "fat lady," a "bearded lady" and a "strong man." But other humans (and sometimes animals, as well) who were born grotesquely deformed or developed some deformity also were the main attractions of a traveling sideshow. And there were some very famous ones!
Joseph Merrick, born in 1862, was known as The Elephant Man. When he was about five years old, he developed a physical disorder that caused his arms and legs to grow very large and his head to become misshapen. He could find no other way to earn a living, so he joined a sideshow attraction in 1884. He was treated well, and he was paid well according to the standards of the day. At one performance of the sideshow, a doctor saw him there and immediately made arrangements for him to live a better life. Merrick actually suffered from Proteus Syndrome and not elephantiasis, as is commonly believed. Merrick died in his sleep at age 27.
Hazel and Jackie Morris were billed as The World's Smallest Mother and Daughter. They had no competition. Hazel stood 18 INCHES tall and her daughter, Jackie was only 15 inches tall. Both mother and daughter had deformed arms and legs, and neither could walk. The mother and daughter traveled together with different sideshows. They traveled with the World of Today Show and the Cristiani Brothers Circus in the 1940s and '50s. Hazel died in 1959, but Jackie continued to travel with sideshows.
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