Ugliness eternal seal: the tragic fate of the "girl with big feet from Ohio"
The so-called "freak shows" were very popular in the USA at the end of the 19th century. People came in droves to look at disabled people with various disabilities. Fanny Mills from Ohio was one of the stars of such performances. She was born with Milroy's disease, in which the lower extremities swell and enlarge. The girl from Ohio earned her living by performing in public. Read about an unusual woman who gained fame, but never became happy, further in our material.
Fanny Mills had a rare congenital disease, which caused her feet to grow to enormous sizes. To make ends meet, she had to participate in the "freak show".
An unusual girl was born in England in 1860. Soon the family moved to Ohio. Parents noticed from the very beginning that something was wrong with their daughter. While Fanny's sisters were developing normally, she began to show symptoms of Milroy's disease. This syndrome, in which the lower extremities swell, is mainly observed in women.
Over time, the American woman's feet grew to 48 cm in length and 18 cm in width. It is said that she wore shoes made from three goat skins and socks made from pillowcases, because ordinary shoes did not fit her.
To capitalize on her unusual appearance, Fanny performed in a "freak show" in the 1880s. She traveled with other disabled people along the East Coast of the United States. "The girl with big legs from Ohio" has become a real celebrity. The audience specially came from afar to look at it. Thanks to this success, the American sometimes received up to $ 4,000 (about 330,000 rubles) a week.
Visiting the "freak show" at that time was one of the most popular entertainments among Americans. They came to see people who, like Fanny, suffered from congenital defects of appearance. Disabled people performed in front of the public in order to somehow earn a living.
Fanny was so famous that the owners of the "museum of freaks" used black PR to advertise her. They claimed that the girl's father paid her husband $ 5,000 (about 417,000 rubles) to marry her. But it was a lie. The British woman married William Brown, a friend of her own brother, in 1886.
Fanny did not live long. In 1887, she gave birth to a stillborn child. After that, her health began to deteriorate rapidly. In 1892, the woman stopped participating in the "freak show". Soon she and her husband returned to Ohio, where she died at the age of 39.
Joseph Merrick, like Fanny, was the star of the freak show. The "Elephant Man" had a frightening appearance, but was beautiful in soul.