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

From time immemorial, man's love for the beautiful and aesthetic beauty has been firmly side by side with an inexplicable craving to stare at ugliness and imperfections. And of course, there were people who were ready to play on this property of human nature. For example, circuses began to flourish in the XIX century, in which anyone who paid for a ticket could see the so-called "freak show", where people with rare physical deformities and anomalies were put on public display.

These archival photographs of the XIX century just depict the very "stars" for the opportunity to look at which the public lined up. Among the participants of the show was a "Chinese dwarf", whose height was 71 centimeters. Another popular attraction was Lalu, who was born with a rare biological phenomenon — a parasite twin in his body.

(33 photos in total)

Source: Daily Mail

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

The boy has partial gigantism.

Some photos are definitely not for the faint of heart: stillborn children with anomalies.

Especially popular were children of abnormal sizes.

And also Siamese twins. In the photo — the Tocci brothers.

Members of the albino Lukasi family were famous artists in the XIX 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.

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

A rare biological phenomenon — a man was born with a parasite twin. That is, the embryo of one twin absorbs the less developed one. This happens in the early stages of embryonic development. Moreover, a parasite twin can exist in the body of the "host" for many years.

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

The boy probably has Burkitt's lymphoma.

A young man has hyperthyroidism.

These Siamese twins were once a popular live attraction.

Like this boy with a disability.

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 in the XX century.

A mother poses with her child for a portrait.

Eli Bowen from Ohio, also known as the "Legless Miracle", with his wife and a clearly dissatisfied child, 1875.

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

A girl without legs, 1880s.

Charles Lewis was born without legs and arms in 1885.

A child with dwarfism, 1870s.

A child with a deformity of the skull.

A man with elephantiasis, 1890s.

A man was 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 but "The King." The highlight of his performance was stuffing a soccer ball with his third foot.