ANNIE JONES – The Esau Woman

Shortly after she was born in Virginia on July 14, 1865, the hirsute Annie Jones began her career in exhibition.
Purportedly born with a chin covered in fine hair, Annie’s average parents were originally horrified by her appearance. It wasn’t long, however, before the monetary benefits of their prodigious daughter dawn on the Jones family and word of her unique appearance came to the attention of elite showman P. T. Barnum.
When she was little more than a year in age, Annie was brought to New York City to be featured in Barnum’s museum as ‘The Infant Esau’. The name ‘Esau’ was often applied to hirsute wonders and was in reference to the biblical grandson of Abraham, brother of Jacob. Esau’s name in Hebrew means ‘hairy’, and, according to Genesis 25:25, it is a reference to his hairiness at birth.
After an initial short but highly successful run, Barnum offered Annie’s mother a three year contract, allotting Annie a weekly salary of $150 a week. Mrs. Jones accepted the offer, which was exorbitant for the era, and took up permanent residence with her daughter in New York. However, within the first year of the contract, a family emergency called Mrs. Jones back to Virginia and she left Annie in the care of a Barnum appointed Nanny. During this time, Annie was kidnapped by a local phrenologist who attempted to exhibit Anne privately. Luckily Annie was soon located in upstate New York, the kidnapper dealt with and Annie was quickly back in the custody of Mrs. Jones – who forevermore stayed in close proximity to her daughter during her career.
Annie’s career spanned thirty-six years.
During her long career Jones traveled not only with Barnum’s Greatest Show on Earth, but also worked numerous dime museums. Annie’s stage name changed to reflect her age during her career. She was known as the Esau Child and later the Esau Lady and visually not only did Annie sport a full and long beard, she also grew out the hair on her head to over six feet in length. Annie also expanded her talents as well, as she was not content to simply be stared at. She came to be known for her musical skills and gracious etiquette as much as her facial hair.
At sixteen, Jones married Richard Elliot – a professional sideshow bally talker. The marriage lasted fifteen years before the couple divorced. Jones then married another talker, William Donovan. Together, the newlyweds struck out on their own and toured Europe with Annie as an independent feature attraction and William as a vocal agent. Unfortunately the marriage was short as William died without warning. Annie, not knowing what else to do, quickly rejoined Barnum’s Greatest Show on Earth.
In 1902, Annie fell ill and while visiting her mother in Brooklyn and on October 22 she passed away at age thirty-seven.
Annie Jones was the most celebrated Bearded Lady of her era.

ROBERT HUDDLESTON – The Pony Boy

For many years the world only knew Robert Huddleston as The Pony Boy and by the astounding images depicting his unusual posture. Following his years of travel with carnivals as a human exhibit his true name and story were nearly lost to history and his story of personal triumph and perseverance has only recently resurfaced.
Like Ella Harper, The Camel Girl, Robert Huddleston was likely afflicted with a very advanced form of congenital genu recurvatum – also known as ‘back knee deformity’. By most accounts, Robert was unable to stand erect or use crutches and so he lived and trekked about exclusively on all fours.
Despite what appeared to be a crippling affliction Huddleston lived a remarkably active lifestyle and possesses a remarkable work ethic. Born around Excelsior Springs, Missouri in 1895 Robert Huddleston spent much of his childhood working chores on the family farm by milking cows, loading stock and harvesting crops. Huddleston spent his early adulthood employed as a logging teamster where he hauled trees and lumber some fifteen miles a day while affixed to a wagon. He protected his hands from rocks and bush debris by lashing small wooden blocks to his hands with leather and as a result of this heavy labour Huddleston’s arm and shoulder strength practically became legendary among his peers.  To punctuate his independence and mechanical inclination Huddleston was employed as a blacksmith and temporary as a carpenter during World War II.
To those who knew him, Robert was a kind hearted and hardworking man who ignored his perceived limitations. Most came to not even notice his physical condition as it was never an issue. Still, strangers stared and work became rather scarce following WWII and Huddleston soon considered exhibiting his physical appearance and extraordinary independence for profit.
Huddleston came to be known as The Pony Boy following the war while showcasing his physical uniqueness for the first time with a small carnival located in Texas. The brief stint proved incredibly successful, likely due in part to his exceptional work ethic, and led to more work with several larger organizations. Eventually Huddleston toured all of North American with the Tom Mix Circus. His act consisted primarily of displays of strength combined with unique flexibility. It’s been said that he was able to throw his right leg over his shoulder like a bale of wood.
All told, Huddleston spent 36 years displaying his exceptionality for profit.
Robert Huddleston eventually came to retire in Fremont where he continued his active lifestyle, restoring automobiles and raising rabbits. He passed away in 1970 after living his life to its fullest.

SAM ALEXANDER – The Man with Two Faces

Most marvels are simply born unique. Other marvels are self-made via years of perseverance, dedication and training. Some are created via events of misfortune and Sam Alexander turned his misfortune into a lucrative career as a unique attraction few would ever forget.

Sam Alexander was born a relatively average man. In his early 20’s he was actively pursuing a career in theatre and had been recently promoted at the Shubert Theatre in Chicago when personal disaster struck. Although the details are a little sketchy, Sam was ultimately involved in a huge gasoline explosion that was the result of his own carelessness. While he was able to instinctively save his eyes by raising his arm, he received deep burns around his lips and lower face. Even more unfortunate, his wounds festered and became severely infected. Doctors were forced to remove much of his lower face and lips, practically to the bone. As a result, Sam Alexander was left with a permanent and disturbing teeth-gnashing grimace and a gruesome visage.

Sam spent thirteen months physically recovering from his wounds in a Chicago hospital. His mental scars perhaps ran deeper than his physical ones as he was forced to endure the gasps of new nurses and the lack of eye contact from visiting loved ones. Following his recovery, Sam Alexander was placed in a halfway house, a facility for people with little or no hope of social recovery. However his fortunes changed slightly when a doctor referred him to a prosthetics master and a lifelike mask was cast and created in an effort to fake a normal appearance. In a certain light, the facade was somewhat convincing but extremely limiting and Sam Alexander was still despondent as his saw little chance to earn a livelihood in a society that was appearance driven.

Sam was a driven and ambitious man, which made his confinement all the more unbearable. One morning, as Sam read the paper, he saw an ad for the Pete Kortes Sideshow. The show was touring and was set up close to the halfway house. Same attended the show, introduced himself to Kortes and unmasked to show the ringmaster what he had to offer. Kortes was horrified and hired Sam on the spot. Sam began touring almost immediately and instantly caused a stir.

Billed as ‘The Man with Two Faces’, Sam’s exhibition consisted primarily of a stage monologue detailing his story. Sam was a soft-spoken man with a gentle manner and soothing voice. He so lulled the crowd with his tale of heartbreak that when he revealed his face in a surprising flourish, people screamed and women cried. His showcase was so disturbing that Kortes made Sam the Blow Off attraction, an extra attraction patrons had to pay a premium to see and he was sincerely billed as ‘not for the weak of heart’. At more than one venue, Sam Alexander was paid not to perform.

Sam Alexander was soon in demand. During his career he joined the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey show, the Clyde Beatty Circus and worked for venerable showman Ward Hall from 1960 to 1967. Sam Alexander eventually even created and ran his own sideshow and was ultimately responsible for rescuing the legendary Schlitzie the Pinhead from institutionalized life.

Despite it eventually becoming his livelihood, Sam Alexander endured seventy-two operations in his lifetime in the effort to restore his damaged face. While the operations were never quite completely successful, Sam eventually retired his mask regardless of the patchwork appearance his face bore. Sam was a man without a prejudice or bitter bone in his body and he was determined to live the last years of his life as himself – without hiding behind a mask.

Sam Alexander passed away in 1997 and today is remembered fondly by all who knew him as a man with a kind heart and a face to match.

SUSI -The Elephant Girl

Charlotte Linda Vogel was born in Charlottenburg, Berlin, February 26, 1908, the only person in her family with her peculiar skin condition. (Although she claimed at various times to be Austrian or Swiss, she was definitely German.) Hers was a different type of ichthyosis than that of her "alligator-skinned" contemporaries; Charlotte was not scaly, but rather covered all over in a thick, leathery, grey skin that formed deep creases at the joints. Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis (EHK) seems to be the most likely diagnosis. She could not sweat and stayed cool by rubbing herself with ice, and had to lubricate her skin with baby oil several times a day to prevent painful cracking. She also could not produce tears and could only close her eyelids by sliding them down with her fingers. Charlotte was able to maintain a normal appearance from the neck up by peeling the excess epidermis from her face every night, though in her pitch book she claimed to have rid her face of scales with a type of X-ray treatment.
Charlotte toured Europe before coming to the United States in 1927 with her German manager, Julius Kuehnel of the St. Leon Bros. Circus, and his performer wife Erna. At Coney Island's Dreamland Circus Sideshow, then under the management of Carl J. Lauther, Charlotte adopted the name "Susi, the Elephant Skin Girl". Scantily costumed in a bikini, or sometimes even just a strategically-draped veil, pretty Susi told her life story to a captivated crowd. Susi shared a New York apartment with the Kuehnels and worked as their housekeeper. She became a U.S. citizen in 1936 but continued to make frequent trips back to Germany throughout the '30s.
Susi left Coney Island in 1933 to be featured in the Ripley’s Believe it or Not?! exhibit at the Chicago World's Fair, where she gave no fewer than eighty performances to a million curious viewers. When these grind shows became too exhausting for Susi, she traveled to New York and took a low stress job with the Gorman Bros. circus as a member of the menagerie, performing for just an hour a day next to an elephant named Lou. Susi spoke beautiful English and Walt Hudson recalled she "was a very pleasant girl to converse with". Her favorite hobby was crossword puzzles, and she often asked people to save her the puzzles from their daily papers.
In the 1960s Susi opened her own show as "The Swamp Girl", an improbable cross between a woman and a "swamp lizard". This new setup was even less strenuous than the Gorman Bros. gig; Susi spent her days lying on a mattress in an air-conditioned trailer, while spectators filed past and peered in the window at her.
Suzi died in New York City on February 2, 1976, just short of her 68th birthday.

AL AND JEANIE TOMAINI – The Strangest Couple

True love knows no bounds.
Al (Aurelio) Tomaini was born in 1912 in New Jersey as one of seven children. By the age of twelve he towered over his father – a stout man who stood over six feet in height. Al had an overactive pituitary gland and he eventually stood over seven feet in height. To earn a career in sideshow, Al claimed a height of 8’4” and billed himself as ‘The Tallest Man in the World’. No one seemed to mind Al’s embellishment, due mostly to the fact that Al was an incredibly genuine and nice guy. He was shy, gentle and sweet inside and out – from the top of his towering head to the bottom of his size 27 shoes. During the Great Lakes Exposition in 1936, one special young lady took a particular interest in the gentle giant with the coy smile.
Her name was Jeanie (Berniece Evelyn Smith) and she was born on August 23^rd in 1916 in Blufton, Indiana with twisted arms and without legs. She ‘stood’ just over two feet in height but, in personality, Jeanie was a giant in her own right. Jeanie had been performing in exhibitions since the age of three and was known for her acrobatic dexterity and the nimble way she ran about on her mildly deformed hands. Originally exhibited by her biological mother, Jeanie had been under the abusive care of an adoptive mother since 1931. The pretty but resilient 19 year old endured the psychological abuse with little hope of escape but, when the sincere flames of romance sparked between her and Al Tomaini, she found a gargantuan protector who would forever lift her out of harm’s way.
The unusual couple eloped during a fair in Cleveland, Ohio on September 8^th of 1936 and were wed by a justice of the peace that same day. The pair honeymooned in Niagara Falls and continued touring together for many decades as the ‘World’s Strangest Married Couple’. In the off season they settled in Gibsonton, Florida. It was there that the two remarkable people built a home and a life together.
Gibsonton was known for its population of unusual people. Many circus folk retired or wintered there and many still do. Al and Jeanie purchased a piece of property there along the banks of the river and established a lodge and fishing camp known as ‘The Giant’s Camp’, marked by one of Al’s enormous cowboy boots nailed to the nearest road sign. In Gibsonton Al and Jeanine raised two adopted daughters. With their savings and camp earnings, the pair bought and donated an ambulance to their town. Al served as the world’s tallest fire chef and president of the Chamber of Commerce. Al even lent a hand in building the community hall. All the while, the pair were inseparable and deeply in love. Al was often spotted with his pretty half-girl wife Jeanie propped on his shoulder or carried at his side.
Fortified by that love, Al lived longer than most pituitary giants. He likely endured much physical pain but refused to show it. Eventually, however, his time came and he left his beloved Jeanie in 1962 at the age of 50.
Jeanie continued on without her giant husband. She never remarried and continued to run the camp until her own passing on August 10, 1999. She was buried on the anniversary of Al’s passing.
The Tomaini family still reside in Gibsonton. Their great-grandson, Alex Zander Marrow, carries on their circus sideshow legacy by performing amazing feats of physical endurance professionally as the Junior Torture King. He was formerly the youngest sword swallower in the world and his grandmother, the Tomaini’s adopted daughter Judy, built him his first bed of nails.

Chuy with Donny Vomit and the Black Scorpion at Sideshows by the Seashore

Jesús "Chuy" Aceves was born in Loreto, Zacatecas, Mexico and is the second person in his family born with a rare condition known as hypertrichosis. Chuy's face is covered with hair, making him resemble the legendary wolfman or, as some call him, a monkey man. Chuy is married and has two daughters, one of whom has the condition. His sister, Lili, was also born with hypertrichosis. She is married with one son, and works as a police officer in Mexico. Many in his family believe that they are descendants of Julia Pastrana, the "Monkey girl".
In 2005, Jesús, shaved for the first time for the documentary It's Not Easy Being a Wolf Boy for the BBC. He shaved in the hope of getting a "regular" job so he could work near his home, and not leave his family for long periods of time. Unfortunately, the pay of a regular job was not as good as that in a freak show or circus. Chuy is currently working backstage on Circus Vargas.
In 2007, Chuy was featured in the books Ripley's Believe It or Not!, and Guinness World Records.

Lazarus and Joannes Baptista Colloredo

Lazarus and his brother Joannes Baptista in a contemporary etching.

Lazarus Colloredo and Joannes Baptista Colloredo (1617 – after 1646) were Italian conjoined twins who toured in 17th century Europe. They were born in Genoa, Italy.
The upper body of Joannes Baptista (named after John the Baptist) and his left leg stuck out of his mobile brother. He did not speak and kept his eyes closed and mouth open all the time. According to a later account by Copenhagen anatomist Thomas Bartholinus, if someone pushed the breast of Joannes Baptista, he moved his hands, ears and lips.
To make a living, Lazarus toured around Europe and visited at least Basel, Switzerland and Copenhagen, Denmark before he arrived in Scotland in 1642 and later visited the court of Charles I of England.
They also visited Gdansk, Turkey and Denmark, and toured Germany and Italy in 1646.
Contemporary accounts described Lazarus as courteous and handsome but for his brother who just dangled before him. When Lazarus was not exhibiting himself, he covered his brother with his cloak to avoid unnecessary attention.
Later accounts claim that Lazarus married and sired several unmutated children. His engraved portrait depicts him in a costume of a courtier of the period of House of Stuart.
The brothers' exact date of death is unknown.