Freak show
Exhibition of biological rarities for public entertainment.
A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as 'freaks of nature'. Typical features include physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with extraordinary diseases and conditions, and others with performances expected to be shocking to viewers. Heavily tattooed or pierced people have sometimes been seen in freak shows, as have attention-getting physical performers such as fire-eating and sword-swallowing acts. Since at latest the medieval period, people with deformities have often been treated as objects of interest and entertainment, and crowds have flocked to see them exhibited. It was in the 19th century, both in the United States and Europe, where freak shows finally reached maturity as successful commercially run enterprises. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, freak shows were at their height of popularity; the period 1840s through to the 1940s saw the organized for-profit exhibition of people with physical, mental, or behavioral rarities.
- field
- Entertainment, Sideshow
- known_for
- Exhibition of biological rarities and human curiosities for profit
- peak_period
- 1840s–1940s
- notable_promoter
- P. T. Barnum
Lore & Background
A famous early modern example was the exhibition at the court of King Charles I of Lazarus and Joannes Baptista Colloredo, two conjoined brothers born in Genoa, Italy. While Lazarus appeared to be otherwise ordinary, the underdeveloped body of his brother dangled from his chest. When Lazarus was not exhibiting himself, he covered his brother with his cloak to avoid unnecessary attention. As well as exhibitions, freak shows were popular in the taverns and fairgrounds, where the freaks were often combined with talent displays. For example, in the 18th century, Matthias Buchinger, born without arms or lower legs, entertained crowds with astonishing displays of magic and musical ability, both in England and later, Ireland.
Reader's Guide
Freak shows were at their height of popularity from the 1840s through the 1940s, commonly seen at amusement parks, circuses, dime museums and vaudeville. The showmen and promoters exhibited all types of freaks, including people who appeared or were non-white or who had a disability, often exhibited as unknown races and cultures. There were four ways freak shows were produced and marketed: the oral spiel or lecture, printed advertisement, costuming and performance, and collectable drawings or photographs. Exhibits were authenticated by doctors who used medical terms that many could not comprehend. Freak show culture normalized a specific way of thinking about gender, race, sexual aberrance, ethnicity, and disability. During the first decade of the 20th century, the popularity of the freak show was starting to dwindle, and by 1940 they were starting to lose their audience. The term 'freak show' has changed in connotation along with the change in attitudes as the public shifted from acceptance of performer exploitation to more concern and desire to understand them. In the 19th century, science supported and legitimized the growth of freak shows, but by the 20th century, the medicalization of human abnormalities contributed to the end of the exhibits' mystery and appeal.
Did You Know?
- Charles Sherwood Stratton, billed as 'General Tom Thumb', was taught to imitate people from Hercules to Napoleon and by age 7 was smoking cigars for the public's amusement.
- Barnum introduced William Henry Johnson, a microcephalic Black dwarf who spoke a mysterious language created by Barnum and was known as Zip the Pinhead.
- In the 18th century, Matthias Buchinger, born without arms or lower legs, entertained crowds with magic and musical ability.
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