 After a beautiful English woman named Mary and Bevan developed acromegaly, she was forced to perform in sideshows and circuses to support her family in the early 20th century. The story doesn't involve the circus or show per se, but it does speak to the bizarre obsession in the 19th century to treat people with anatomical or medical conditions as public performers subject to gawking. After mailing the agent of photo taken especially for the occasion, Bevan was invited to join the sideshow at Coney Island's Dreamland Amusement Park, then one of the biggest locations in the world for sideshow performers. Send a recent photograph the ad had been placed by a British agent for Barnum and Bailey Circus who found that she had, what may sound like a paradox, the face of an ugly woman that was not unpleasant. McDaniels was known as the ugliest woman in the world and the mule-faced woman with CT scans showing the brain of a 20 month. This is the story of how Mary and Bevan became the ugliest woman in the world, one of the most tragic figures in the once thriving sideshow business to support. Born then on the outskirts of London in the late 19th century, she looked much the same as any other young woman of the time and was even considered attractive. In the case of McDaniels, over time her condition worsened and left her deformed face with a fold of excess skin that hung about four inches below her chin. It didn't take much besides a medical condition to present people for gawking, so this just scrapes in under the umbrella of a sideshow as we'll see who loses. Now do keep in mind that while Pinyin's two heads were fake, there really is a medical condition called craniopagus parasiticus where a person is born with a parasitic twin head. However, under the limitations of early 20th century medicine, Bevan had no way of treating or preventing the condition and she soon found her features changing beyond recognition. Grace McDaniels, who probably had a condition called Sturge Weber syndrome which caused a facial birthmark in tumors also was endowed with the term around the same time period. Her victory brought her to the attention of sideshow owners and since her doctor assured her that her condition would only grow worse, she decided to capitalize on it for the sake of her children. She was later able to talk promoters into changing her nickname to the mule-faced woman, which is what she is known for today. Although she was not afraid to show her face to the world, she didn't like having her photo taken. For years, Marianne Bevan remained an obscure memory known only to aficionados of sideshow history. The facial birthmark can cover the whole face or just one side of the face. Edward Mordrake was born in the 19th century according to Wikipedia and he had a face at the back of his head. In 1935, she won the Udliest Woman contest which led her to a lucrative career with the Harry Lewiston's Traveling Circus. Disabilities are physical manifestations of medical conditions that did not elicit the kind of awe and interest that later inspired sideshows. Reading wanted the Udliest Woman, nothing repulsive, maimed or disfigured, good pay guaranteed, and long engagement for a successful applicant. The rare condition left her permanently disfigured years later at a former fairground. McDaniels didn't like her first billing as the Udliest Woman in the world. In the early years and personal life McDaniels was born in 1888 on a farm near a small town in Iowa. Taking the farmer's words to heart, Bevan soon entered the Homeliest Woman contest and handily beat 250 competitors to earn the dubious title. We mentioned this not to pat ourselves on the back for how far we've come when it comes to medical diagnosis and treatment, but to point out that for a long time we traded one kind of othering for another. They put a wax mask on the tumor so it resembled a frankly super fake looking face and basically had pinging sit quietly as strangers gawked. She even agreed to undergo a makeover at a New York beauty parlor where beauticians gave her a manicure and massage, straightened her hair, and applied makeup to her face. Was a French sideshow performer who made his name in the late 19th century? The claim of the world's Udliest, sometimes the Homeliest Woman was, it turns out, contested even back in the day. Author Laura Grant argues that Hulu's story is an example of how the sideshow anesthetic made its way into the general populace using freakery to facilitate conversation about disability while also maintaining it as an abhorrence. In any case, we'll take a look at some of the strangest sideshows that have cropped up through history, some of which are still popular in the much more empowering sideshows. More shocking is he but medical conditions were only interesting sideshows if they were shocking, of course. A promoter saw him one day and like any reasonable person thought, I should absolutely pretend that that's a second head and put him in a traveling show. Pascal Pinyin, also known as the two-headed Mexican, is a kind of in-between sideshow performer, although spoiler he didn't really have too. This next sideshow performer figured out how to cash in on his ability to lay tomein, real name Joseph Poehl. The worker claimed that it was a farmer for whom she was working, who told Bevin that all she was fit for was the ugly woman competition. As the years passed, Mary and Bevin continued to draw crowds and even performed with the famed Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey showing she succeeded in her goal of providing for her children as well. Bevin also had friends in and out of the sideshow crowd and found time for love. Curious sideshows also allowed us to separate the freaks and will not be using that term, although it has been reclaimed by some disability activists from normal people. But upon the back of his head was another face, that of a beautiful girl, lovely as a dream, hideous as a devil, the female. While Bevin was forced to perform in sideshows to support her four children after widowhood and accepted the title, McDaniels was apparently so ashamed of the nasty. Bevin continued to work at Coney Island for her remaining years, until finally she died at the age of 59 on December 26, 1933. In the news today, I saw an article about elephants having tumor frightening genes, which reminded me of the tumors that caused the elephant man's deformities. Simply put, it should be seen as patently bizarre that medical conditions were ever considered entertainment. In 1935, McDaniels participated in the Ugliest Woman Contest and won. We're putting it up for scrutiny because conditions like dwarfism were presented as sideshows. The Ugliest Woman in the World. Dreamland visitors were invited to gawk at the 154 pounds she carried on her five foot seven frames, as well as her size 11 feet and size 25 hands. Inner beauty takes time to see, so standing by someone with lost beauty is easier than creating the initial attraction. Grace McDaniels March 14, 1888 to March 17, 1958 had an extremely severe deformity that gave her grotesque facial features. Understandably, she wanted to search for ways to help hide the many imperfections on her face. Winning the Ugliest Woman Contest helped McDaniels get discovered. If you look at the photo below, you will notice that McDaniels appears to be hiding behind other sideshow stars. I'm curious how many people would choose gene therapy if it extended their life, but created a deformity. The moniker that she talked to promoters into calling her the mule-faced woman instead. This woman suffered like her. If you think there's just one fake sideshow on the list, I have some magic beans to sell you. Although Tom was only five years old when he started performing, Barnum told him to tell the audience he was loving. In just two years of performing in New York, she earned 20,000 pounds, roughly the equivalent of $1.6 million in 2022. She not only traveled around the country, but also in some parts of Canada as a sideshow performer. Grace McDaniel and her normal-looking son are on the left. Joseph Merrick is on the right, and we know his mother was considered attractive. Ads he did have a medical condition that gave him his start. And let's not pretend that a showman like P.T. Barnum was ever satisfied with simply presenting his performers as is. Take Tom Thumb's real name, Charles Stratton the Dwarf, who became a widely popular performer in the mid-19th century. For a lot of history, people with atypical presentations were seen as harbingers of evil spirits or bad omens. She was born with a horse face. According to many sources on the web, McDaniel's likely suffered from a rare congenital disorder called Sturge-Weber Syndrome. McDaniel's had a successful and long career for over 20 years. Her changing looks made it difficult to find and keep work, and she resorted to odd jobs to provide for her family. With his flatus, he was widely popular in France, where he eventually began performing at the famous Moulin Rouge, although we're all probably wondering what exactly how he could do this. The Ubliest Woman Contest. Not long after the loss of her husband, she began to show signs of achromegaly, a disorder marked by the overproduction of growth hormones in the pituitary glands. According to Mordrake, the face only laugh or cry, so he begged several doctors to remove it. Further reports showed that the duplicate face couldn't see, but will sneer when Mordrake was laughing and would smile when Drake was crying. Symmetry plays a large part in what we consider attractive, and we use symmetry to gauge health and odds of having well-formed babies. Poho's family denied a medical school request to examine his after his death in 1945. Symptoms of Sturge-Weber Syndrome are a port wine stain located on the forehead, upper eyelid, or scalp near the surface of the skin is an overabundance. The attraction was the brainchild of Senator William H. Reynolds and promoter Samuel W. Gumperts, one of the most prolific figures in show history and who later worked with Harry Houdini. But let's start with a side show that illustrated that. As a young child, her condition made it difficult to speak. She used makeup, and as the size of the port wine stain increased, she eventually wore a veil to help cover as much as possible. I'm 99% sure many women and slightly fewer men will choose to have tails if gene therapy makes that option available. Her features, hands, and feet were distorted beyond all recognition, and with no other recourse, Bevin made use of her looks to earn a living. Mary and Webster was born on December 20, 1874, to a large family on the eastern edge of London. Hulu, a Chinese laborer, had come to London in 1831 in the hopes that surgeons could relieve him of the 58-pound, 26.3-ton tumor that covered his lower abdomen to his knees. Side shows have historically been rife with hoaxes, and in some ways, they're even more fun than the real acts. Pinyin was actually a rail worker in Texas with a large tumor growing from his head. Sadly, Thomas died suddenly in 1914, leaving Mary with four children to support her small income. If that doesn't sound great, you clearly aren't a nine-year-old, nor have you taken care to think the possibilities through. His figure was remarkable for his grace and his face. In the past, there are other people like her, but this time it was supposedly under the guise of interest and not necessarily derision or fear, a premise that could be much argued. It took years for McDaniels to learn how to speak fluently. That all changed when, well into adulthood and a mother several times over, a rare, disfiguring disease began to manifest in her. That is to say, his natural face was that of Antonus. And like a few other acts we've seen lays potato veins. He was a young man of fine attainments, a profound scholar, and a musician of rare ability. Attraction is difficult to imagine how much inner beauty is needed to surpass outer preference. Throughout her childhood, she was no different than her siblings, and she eventually qualified as a nurse in 1894 before marrying Thomas Bevan, a farmer from the county of Kent in 1903. She was returned to her homeland for her funeral and buried in Southeast London's Broccoli and Ladywell Cemetery for years. Was it good enough for the two-foot-tall thumb to merely exist as a performer? Said to have been heir to one of the noblest peerages in England, he never claimed the title, however, and committed suicide in his 23rd year. Joe's ex-include Lionel, the lion-faced man, zipped the pinhead, and Jean Carroll, the tattooed lady. Comely smiling mechanically, she offered picture postcards of herself for sale, thus securing sufficient money for herself and for her children's education. He could take up great masses of water or air into his mouth and then spout them out with great control. So let's take a look at one show that might have a modern audience ready to call an ambulance and not buy a ticket. While performing at Madison Square Garden in 1929, she struck up a romance with a giraffe keeper known only as Andrew. He claimed to hear the voice whispering horrific things to him before committing suicide at age 23. In the 1930s, McDaniels was married for a short time, after just a few short years.