The World Circus Side Show was a

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 seq ...

owned and operated by "Professor" Samuel Wagner from 1922 to 1941 on Surf Avenue,

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Known as "The Godfather" of the Coney Island

Freak Show A freak show, also known as a creep show, is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with ...

, Wagner was a contemporary of other sideshow and

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 unicyclist ...

legends, such as the

Ringling Brothers The Ringling brothers (originally Rüngling) were seven American siblings who transformed their small touring company of performers into one of the largest circuses in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Four brothers ...

and

P.T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...

. He endured a legal fight against the famed

Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...

. Moses, believing the age of sideshow entertainment was over, banned "Balyhoo and Outside Lecturers", which eventually and effectively put the sideshows out of business.Coney - Freaks
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Notable acts

*Pip and Zip, pinheads *

Prince Randian Prince Randian (sometimes misspelled Rardion or Randion; October 12, 1871 – December 19, 1934), also nicknamed Pillow Man, The Snake Man, The Human Torso, The Human Caterpillar and a variety of other names, was a Guyanese-born American per ...

, a human torso * Lady Olga,

bearded lady A bearded lady (or bearded woman) is a female with a naturally occurring beard normally due to the condition known as hirsutism or hypertrichosis. Hypertrichosis causes people of either sex to develop excess hair over their entire body (including ...

*Harry Bulson, The Spider Boy *Baby Doll, "Pulchritude Queen of the

Avoirdupois The avoirdupois system (; abbreviated avdp.) is a measurement system of weights that uses pounds and ounces as units. It was first commonly used in the 13th century AD and was updated in 1959. In 1959, by international agreement, the definiti ...

," beautiful fat lady *Forrest Layman, an

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 ...

*Flo Lambert, a

contortionist Contortion (sometimes contortionism) is a performance art in which performers called contortionists showcase their skills of extreme physical flexibility. Contortion acts often accompany acrobatics, circus acts, street performers and other liv ...

Myrtle Corbin Josephine Myrtle Corbin (May 12, 1868conjoined twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence ...

* Major Mite, World's Smallest Individual" *Edna Price, neon tube swallower *Lady Voltese, "Electric Dynamo" *Stella, "Homeliest Woman in the World" *Chief Woo Do and his strange people, "Pseudo-primitive Tribe" *Uncle Charlie Parcansas, "Oldest man on Earth" *

General Tom Thumb Charles Sherwood Stratton (January 4, 1838 – July 15, 1883), better known by his stage name "General Tom Thumb", was an American dwarf who achieved great fame as a performer under circus pioneer P. T. Barnum. Childhood and early life Bo ...

and Father, famous dwarves *Princess Marie,

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

*Sealo, the

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

boy *Lady Gladys,

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...

and expose of the headless girl illusion *Kukla, "The Bird Girl" *Ramona, "Europe's Miracle Sex Girl"This list has been compiled by Samuel Wagner's great grandchildren and is subject to additions and removals. All the listed acts have been confirmed by the living grandchildren of Samuel Wagner, the children of Wagner's daughter Adelaide Wagner Weiser: Howard Weiser, Virginia Einhorn, Joseph Weiser, and Stanley Weiser. A few acts were featured in the 1932 film, ''

Freaks Freak has several meanings: a person who is physically deformed or suffers from an extraordinary disease and condition, a genetic mutation in a plant or animal, etc. Freak, freaks or The Freak may also refer to: Fictional characters * Freak (Ima ...

''.

References

Coney Island Sideshows