Victorian Freak Shows: When Human Difference Became Entertainment

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, "freak shows" were among the most popular forms of entertainment in America and Europe. Traveling circuses, dime museums, and dedicated exhibitions displayed people with physical differences, unusual conditions, or extraordinary abilities to paying crowds. P.T. Barnum built an entertainment empire on exhibiting "human curiosities" - from General Tom Thumb (a man with dwarfism who became internationally famous and wealthy) to conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker to the "Fiji Mermaid" (a obvious fake that still drew massive crowds). The industry was exploitative, dehumanizing, and wildly profitable - for the impresarios and sometimes for the performers themselves.

The moral complexity is what makes freak shows so fasc ...