Secrets of the Sideshows

( 1 )

Overview

The carnival sideshows of the past have left behind a fascinating legacy of mystery and intrigue. The secrets behind such daring feats as fire-eating and sword swallowing and bizarre exhibitions of human oddities as "Alligator Boys" and "Gorilla Girls" still remain, only grudgingly if ever given up by performers and carnival professionals. Working alongside the performers, Joe Nickell blows the lid off these mysteries of the midway. The author reveals the structure of the shows, specific methods behind the ...
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Secrets of the Sideshows

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More About This Book

Overview

The carnival sideshows of the past have left behind a fascinating legacy of mystery and intrigue. The secrets behind such daring feats as fire-eating and sword swallowing and bizarre exhibitions of human oddities as "Alligator Boys" and "Gorilla Girls" still remain, only grudgingly if ever given up by performers and carnival professionals. Working alongside the performers, Joe Nickell blows the lid off these mysteries of the midway. The author reveals the structure of the shows, specific methods behind the performances, and the showmen's tactics for recruiting performers and attracting crowds. He also traces the history of such spectacles, from ancient Egyptian magic and street fairs to the golden age of P.T. Barnum's sideshows. With revealing insight into the personal lives of the men and women billed as freaks, Nickell unfolds the captivating story of the midway show.
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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Simultaneously provides an insider's glimpse of that world on the skirts of the main event and an excursion into a vanishing feature of North American life." -- PsycCritiques

"An enjoyable read.... Nickell has encyclopedic knowledge of sideshow history" -- Roanoke (VA) Times

"Nickell takes us inside the world of fire-eaters, sword-swallowers, jugglers, snake-handlers, and magicians to explain the illusions and oddities we may have puzzled over but never fully understood." -- Robert A. Baker, author of They Call It Hypnosis

"To be sure, he gives plenty of secrets away here, most of them open secrets, but the book works best as a tribute to the imagination of the performers and organizers of the exhibits which were meant to provoke and satisfy that admirable old human characteristic, curiosity.... If you want the lowdown on sideshows, step right up, ladies and gentlemen, Joe Nickell presents the best show on the midway." -- Times of Acadiana

"An exciting experience of the mostly American phenomenon of carnys, sideshows, freaks, and carnivals." -- UFO Aktuellt

"For an entertaining book on a rapidly fading culture that was once a thriving part of old America, be sure and pick up "The Secret of the Sideshows."" -- Jarrid Deaton, The Floyd County Times

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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780813123585
  • Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
  • Publication date: 9/9/2005
  • Edition description: Illustrate
  • Pages: 424
  • Product dimensions: 1.06 (w) x 6.00 (h) x 9.00 (d)

Table of Contents

1 Origins of the sideshow 1
2 On the midway 25
3 The ten-in-one 52
4 Human oddities : large and small 80
5 Human oddities : between a half and two 120
6 Other human oddities 141
7 Anatomical wonders 165
8 Created oddities 178
9 Working acts 209
10 Illusions 260
11 Animal shows 299
12 Curios 322
13 The egress 345
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