Step Right Up! See the Freak!

Guess I had better just get used to people staring at me. These freaks made money being stared at

Lionel, the Lion-Faced Man

Stephan Bibrowsky was born in Poland in 1890 to normal parents. He suffered from hypertrichosis, a rare genetic disease that covers the entire bodies of the subjects with a thick coat of fur. Only about 50 cases of the disorder have been documented since the Middle Ages. In the case of Lionel, six-inch-long hair covered his body.

He was discovered by a German named Meyer when he was four years old and became famous throughout Europe where he gained the nickname of Lionel the Lion-Faced Man. He then traveled to America where he was a featured attraction with Barnum and Bailey.  He died in 1932 in Italy.

Johnny Eck

Johnny was born in 1911 without legs along with a normal twin brother, Rob. Despite the doctor's fears that he wouldn't survive the week, Johnny did live and was walking on his hands by his first birthday. He began making public appearances at age fourteen with traveling shows. He often appeared with his twin, and the two were famous for a trick in which Rob was sawed in half, producing a half-boy, Johnny.

Eck appeared in several movies, including TarzanFreaks. He made miniatures of the circus where he was exhibited.

Lucia Zarate, the Puppet-woman Lucia Zarate was the smallest woman ever recorded.At her birth in 1864 in Mexico, she  weighed only eight ounces and was seven  inches long. By adulthood she was less than 50 cm tall and weighed less than 2.26 kg,  less than a cat.Unlike dwarves, she was  normal in every other way, and was described as bright and animatedcompany. She first  came to the US at twelve years old and was one of the highest-paid midgets of all time.  She made twenty dollars an hour.Lucia tragically  died in 1890 at 26 from cold when the train she  was on became stalled in the Rocky Mountains  during a heavy snowstorm  Krao, the Darwin's Missing Link (1876-1926) Born in Laos and suffering from  hypertrichosia, she was first exhibited in 1880 in Europe when she was six  years old. During this time the Origin of  Species theory was a hot topic, and  Barney turned her into intermediate  creature that might prove Darwin's theories. She was well-read and spoke several languages. She toured with Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey and died in 1926 at the age of forty-nine.