Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/coney-island

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

World Circus Sideshow

The World Circus Side Show was a sideshow owned and operated by "Professor" Samuel Wagner from 1922 to 1941 on Surf Avenue, Coney Island, New York.

Known as "The Godfather" of the Coney Island Freak Show, Wagner was a contemporary of other sideshow and circus legends, such as the Ringling Brothers and P.T. Barnum. He endured a legal fight against the famed Robert Moses. Moses, believing the age of sideshow entertainment was over, banned "Balyhoo and Outside Lecturers", which eventually and effectively put the sideshows out of business.

Notable acts

  • Pip and Zip, pinheads
  • Prince Randian, a human torso
  • Lady Olga, bearded lady
  • Harry Bulson, The Spider Boy
  • Baby Doll, "Pulchritude Queen of the Avoirdupois," beautiful fat lady
  • Forrest Layman, an armless wonder
  • Flo Lambert, a contortionist
  • Myrtle Corbin
  • Warren Travis, "World's Strongest Man"
  • Bonita Barlowe, "Snake Enchantress"
  • Mr. X, "Electric Chair Dynamo"
  • Gibbs Sisters, conjoined twins
  • 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 and Father, famous dwarves
  • Princess Marie, chimpanzee
  • Sealo, the seal boy
  • Lady Gladys, ventriloquist and expose of the headless girl illusion
  • Kukla, "The Bird Girl"
  • Ramona, "Europe's Miracle Sex Girl"

A few acts were featured in the 1932 film, Freaks.

References

References

  1. [http://www.westland.net/coneyisland/articles/freaks.htm Coney - Freaks]
  2. 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.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

coney-island sideshows
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about World Circus Sideshow — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report