The harsh 19th century: a collection of archival photographs of people with deformities

From time immemorial, man's love for beauty and aesthetic beauty has firmly coexisted with an inexplicable craving to gaze at ugliness and imperfections. And of course, there were people ready to play on this property of human nature. For example, in the 19th century, circuses began to flourish, in which anyone, having paid for a ticket, could see the so-called “freak show”, where people with rare physical deformations and anomalies were put on public display.

These archival photographs of the 19th century depict precisely the same “stars” that the public lined up for the opportunity to see. Among the participants in the show was the “Chinese Dwarf,” whose height was 71 centimeters. Another popular attraction was Lelu, who was born with a rare biological phenomenon - a parasitic twin in his body.

The girl in the photo suffered from an overgrowth of the thyroid gland.

The boy has partial gigantism.

Some of the photos are definitely not for the faint of heart: stillborn babies with abnormalities.

Children of abnormal sizes were especially popular.

And also Siamese twins. Pictured are the Tocci brothers.

Members of the albino Lucazi family were famous artists in the 19th century.

Isaac Sprague, nicknamed the Living Skeleton, weighed only 21 kg with a height of 166 cm.

The man, known as the Chinese Dwarf, was 71 cm tall and weighed 18 kg.

Apparently the girl has Apert syndrome. The photograph was taken in the 1870s, but the disease was first described only in 1906.

A rare biological phenomenon - a man was born with a parasitic twin. That is, the embryo of one twin absorbs the less developed one. This occurs in the early stages of embryonic development. Moreover, the parasitic twin can exist in the “host” body for many years.

Dudley Foster weighed only 2 kg at the age of 5 years.

The boy probably has Burkitt's lymphoma.

A young man has hyperfunction of the thyroid gland.

These Siamese twins were a popular live attraction back in the day.

Just like this boy with the injury.

This man was nicknamed "The Dwarf Hunter" in the 1890s.

Guadalupe and Josephine Hinojosa were known as the Cuban Twins. The photo was taken in 1914: “freak shows” in the circus flourished into the 20th century.

A mother poses with her child for a portrait.

Eli Bowen of Ohio, also known as the "Legless Wonder", with his wife and clearly disgruntled child, 1875.

Fred Melbourne got into the "freak show" in 1887 thanks to his tattoos.

Girl without legs, 1880s.

Charles Lewis was born without legs or arms in 1885.

Child with dwarfism, 1870s.

Child with skull deformation.

Man with elephantiasis, 1890s.

Man born with deformed hands, 1900s.

A woman with a thyroid tumor.

Bertha Hillier was a popular snake charmer.

Frank Lentini, who was born with three legs, became famous in the USA. He was called nothing less than “The King”. The highlight of his performance was kicking a soccer ball with his third leg.