The World Circus Side Show was a

sideshow In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, traveling carnival, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. They historically featured human oddity exhibits (so-called “Freak show, freak shows”), pr ...

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

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

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

. Known as "The Godfather" of the Coney Island

Freak Show A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "Freak, freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual Human#Anatomy and physiology, humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, t ...

, 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 unicy ...

legends, such as the Ringling 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 with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He w ...

. 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. Moses is regarded as one of the most powerful and influentia ...

. 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 woman 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 Avoirdupois (; 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 definitions of the p ...

," beautiful fat lady *Forrest Layman, an armless wonder *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 *Warren Travis, "World's Strongest Man" *Bonita Barlowe, "Snake Enchantress" *Mr. X, "Electric Chair Dynamo" *Gibbs Sisters,

conjoined twins Conjoined twins, popularly referred to as Siamese twins, are twins joined '' in utero''. It is a very rare phenomenon, estimated to occur in anywhere between one in 50,000 births to one in 200,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in south ...

* 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 with dwarfism who achieved great fame as a performer under circus pioneer P. T. Barnum. Childhood and early ...

and Father, famous dwarves *Princess Marie,

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

*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, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

boy *Lady Gladys,

ventriloquist Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

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''.

References

Coney Island Sideshows