Marion Post Wolcott

These two works point to another history connected to disability. In the lithograph at left, a circus troupe exits a train. Some of their embodiments include real conditions such as giantism, but others-like the aged fetus in a jar and the monkey with a man’s head-are entirely fictive. In the photograph by Marion Post Wolcott, banners advertise the performance of Dolly Dimples.

Both works point to the so-called freak show, which achieved its heyday in the US and Europe between 1840 and 1940. Freak shows, or sideshows, displayed human “curiosities” for profit and entertainment. There is great debate among scholars and historians about whether the freak show was a potentially positive career path or simply a dehumanizing spectacle. Individual experiences likely fell somewhere in between.