A booklet for “Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth” while touring Germany – so the official name is “Offizieller Führer – Das Buch der Wunder in Barnum & Bailey’s Grösster Schaustellung der Erde – mit vollen Beschreibungen der Menschlichen Kuriositäten und seltenen Thiere”. Published around 1900 it features several pages on human “oddities” and rare animals:
A postcard for “Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth” depicting several different acts from the freak-show:
Two oversized postcards of performers touring with the Barnum & Bailey circus in 1900: “Marie Spark the moss-haired girl” & : “The famous chinese Twins”:
These are some examples of people with microcephaly that were shown in freakshows as so-called “azteks” or “small heads” – such as Max (Maximo) & Bartola who toured through Europe between at leas 1904-1909:
Postcards:
Flyer:
Illustrations:
an example of a boy with an unusuable skin disorder who was shown as “leopard skin kaffir”:
siamese twins were also often made a living performing in side-shows or freak-shows: