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Armless Wonder
An armless wonder was a person without arms who was exhibited, usually at a circus sideshow. Typically (but not exclusively) a woman, she would perform various tricks using her feet and toes, such as smoking a cigarette or writing. Frequently, she would have a supply of visiting cards which, for an extra charge, she would sign with her feet and give to onlookers. Role in sideshow The armless wonder was often one of the most highly paid people of the sideshow. In times when the exposure of even a female ankle was considered risqué, a pretty young woman who performed feats of dexterity with her bare feet and toes would inevitably attract a great deal of prurient Ian Dominick Fernow is an American experimental musician, poet and multimedia artist. He is best known for extreme music released under the stage name Prurient, as well as numerous other aliases including Vatican Shadow and Rainforest Spiritual ... interest. Performers Examples of armless wonders of the early 20th cent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term ''circus'' also describes the performance which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus. In 1768, Astley, a skilled equestrian, began performing exhibitions of trick horse riding in an open field called Ha'Penny Hatch on the south side of the Thames River, England. In 1770, he hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and a clown to fill in the pauses between the equestrian demonstrations and thus chanced on the format which was later named a "circus". Performances developed significantly over the next fifty years, with large-scale theat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sideshow
In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. Types There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions: *The Ten-in-One offers a program of ten sequential acts under one tent for a single admission price. The ten-in-one might be partly a freak show exhibiting "human oddities" (including "born freaks" such as midgets, giants or persons with other deformities, or "made freaks" like tattooed people, fat people or "human skeletons"- extremely thin men often "married" to the fat lady, like Isaac W. Sprague). However, for variety's sake, the acts in a ten-in-one would also include "working acts" who would perform magic tricks or daredevil stunts. In addition, the freak show performers might also perform acts or stunts, and would often sell souvenirs like "giant's rings" or "pitch cards" with their photos and life stories. The ten-in-one would often end in a "blowoff" or "ding," an extra act ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Visiting Card
A visiting card, also known as a calling card, is a small card used for social purposes. Before the 18th century, visitors making social calls left handwritten notes at the home of friends who were not at home. By the 1760s, the upper classes in France and Italy were leaving printed visiting cards decorated with images on one side and a blank space for hand-writing a note on the other. The style quickly spread across Europe and to the United States. As printing technology improved, elaborate color designs became increasingly popular. However, by the late 1800s, simpler styles became more common. By the 19th century, men and women needed personalized calling or visiting cards to maintain their social status or to move up in society. These small cards, about the size of a modern-day business card, usually featured the name of the owner, and sometimes an address. Calling cards were left at homes, sent to individuals, or exchanged in person for various social purposes. Knowing and fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prurient
Ian Dominick Fernow is an American experimental musician, poet and multimedia artist. He is best known for extreme music released under the stage name Prurient, as well as numerous other aliases including Vatican Shadow and Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement. His first releases date back to 1998, the same year in which he founded the record label Hospital Productions. Life Fernow was born into a Roman Catholic household, and was raised in Madison, Wisconsin. He recounts his entrance into public school and his exposure to death metal and tape trading as early sources of musical interest. In particular, Fernow cites the death metal band Deicide's album ''Once upon the Cross'' as, "frightening ... A huge record for me, still to this day." Fernow has resided in Providence, New York City, Los Angeles, and Berlin, and runs the labels Hospital Productions and Bed of Nails. Career In his early work as Prurient, Fernow worked primarily with a microphone and amplifier, and sometimes dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frances O'Connor (performer)
Frances O'Connor (September 8, 1914 – January 30, 1982) was an American entertainer. Born without arms, she made her living appearing in circus sideshows billed as the armless wonder or the living Venus de Milo. She would perform normal actions such as eating, drinking, writing and smoking a cigarette, using her feet. She also did knitting and sewing with her feet as a hobby. She worked firstly with AI G Circus and then from the mid-1920s to the mid-1940s with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey travelling circuses. O'Connor appeared in the 1932 pre-code cult film classic ''Freaks'', opposite Martha Morris (1902-1937), (who was also born without arms, and shortened legs), directed and produced by Tod Browning. The film revolves around a group of individuals with physical deformities, predominantly played by real life freak show performers. In the film she would demonstrate how she used her feet to perform everyday activities, with an almost ballerina style grace. Personal l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martha Morris
Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to Jesus resurrecting her brother, Lazarus. Etymology of the name The name ''Martha'' is a Latin transliteration of the Koine Greek Μάρθα, itself a translation of the Aramaic מָרְתָא ''Mârtâ,'' "the mistress" or "the lady", from מרה "mistress," feminine of מר "master." The Aramaic form occurs in a Nabatean inscription found at Puteoli, and now in the Naples Museum; it is dated AD 5 (Corpus Inscr. Semit., 158); also in a Palmyrene inscription, where the Greek translation has the form ''Marthein.'' Pope, Hugh"St. Martha" The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1919. Biblical references In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus visits the home of two sisters named Mary and Martha. The two sisters are co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freaks (1932 Film)
''Freaks'' (also re-released as ''The Monster Story'', ''Forbidden Love'', and ''Nature's Mistakes'') is a 1932 American pre-Code horror film produced and directed by Tod Browning, starring Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, and Roscoe Ates. ''Freaks'', originally intended as a vehicle for Lon Chaney, is set amongst the backdrop of a travelling French circus and follows a conniving trapeze artist who joins a group of carnival sideshow performers with a plan to seduce and murder a dwarf in the troupe to gain his inheritance. However, her plot proves to have dangerous consequences. The film is based on elements from the short story " Spurs" by Tod Robbins, first published in ''Munsey's Magazine'' in February 1923, with the rights being purchased by the studio, responsible by MGM art department chief Cedric Gibbons. Filmed in Los Angeles in the fall of 1931, some employees at MGM were discomfited by the presence of the actors portraying the "freaks" on set, and, other tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ann E
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the Netherlands, particularly in the Frisian speaking part (for example, author Anne de Vries). In this incarnation, it is related to Germanic arn-names and means 'eagle'.See entry on "Anne" in th''Behind the Name'' databaseand th"Anne"an"Ane"entries (in Dutch) in the Nederlandse Voornamenbank (Dutch First Names Database) of the Meertens Instituut (23 October 2018). It has also been used for males in France (Anne de Montmorency) and Scotland (Lord Anne Hamilton). Anne is a common name and the following lists represent a small selection. For a comprehensive list, see instead: . As a feminine name Anne * Saint Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary * Anne, Queen of Great Britain (1665–1714), Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1702–07) and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Herman Unthan
Carl Herrmann Unthan (5 April 1848 – 1929) was a Prussian-born violinist who was born without arms. Biography He was born on 5 April 1848 in Germany. Unthan's father was a teacher who insisted he not be "coddled". Whether this was the reason or not, Carl reportedly could feed himself at two and around the age of ten is said to have taught himself to play the violin by strapping it on to a stool. He was sent to a music conservatory at 16 and graduated a couple of years later. By the age of twenty Unthan was performing to full concert halls. He would go on to perform notably in Vienna with classical orchestras. He began with personal concerts and later added additional tricks to his repertoire. During his maiden performance he broke a string; he replaced it and tuned the new string using only his toes. After this it is said he would deliberately weaken one string before each performance so that it would snap during his recital, giving him an opportunity to repeat his dexterity. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles B
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "free man". The Old English descendant of this word was '' Ċearl'' or ''Ċeorl'', as the name of King Cearl of Mercia, that disappeared after the Norman conquest of England. The name was notably borne by Charlemagne (Charles the Great), and was at the time Latinized as ''Karolus'' (as in ''Vita Karoli Magni''), later also as '' Carolus''. Some Germanic languages, for example Dutch and German, have retained the word in two separate senses. In the particular case of Dutch, ''Karel'' refers to the given name, whereas the noun ''kerel'' means "a bloke, fellow, man". Etymology The name's etymology is a Common Germanic noun ''*karilaz'' meaning "free man", which survives in English as churl (< Old English ''ċeorl''), which developed its depr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
People Without Hands
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, or legal responsibility. The defining features of personhood and, consequently, what makes a person count as a person, differ widely among cultures and contexts. In addition to the question of personhood, of what makes a being count as a person to begin with, there are further questions about personal identity and self: both about what makes any particular person that particular person instead of another, and about what makes a person at one time the same person as they were or will be at another time despite any intervening changes. The plural form "people" is often used to refer to an entire nation or ethnic group (as in "a people"), and this was the original meaning of the word; it subsequently acquired its use as a plural form of per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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