19th Century Freak shows

   The 19th century was full of awe and wonder. With the rise of and development of entertainment and leisurely activities became a wonderful and amazing time period. The 19th century seemed to be the peak of people's curiosity. Men and women were looking for entertainment and children were looking for joy. Marvelous wonders were appearing everywhere and among all this glory arose the freak show. If you looked at a freak show today, you would see that the acts are somewhat unique but almost common. If you were to go see a Coney Island freak show today you would see performances such as sword swallowing or fire eating. These acts are somewhat recycled and common now, however, the 19th century's freak shows were more than just daring performances, they were spectacles of the unimaginable. They explored the realms of one's imagination and curiosity. In the 19th century every American was open to see some of the most genius advertisement techniques and marketing skill's that America has ever witnessed.
   In 1810, on July 5th, PT Barnum was born. At a young age PT became fascinated in advertisement and marketing. At the age of 12 he was already selling lottery tickets. As a young adult, PT purchased an elderly black woman as a slave. This woman claimed to be the nurse of George Washington. PT would display this woman as a 160 year old slave and every week he made about 1,500 dollars just from having people come and witness this elderly woman. Now eventually her true age was discovered later on (80 years old) but the fact that PT Barnum could achieve such success from this gimmick really reveals his true greatness when it comes to advertising. PT Barnum today is now considered the "Shakespeare of Advertising," and was also considered the world's greatest showman. PT Barnum's influence turned freak shows into marvelous displays of advertisement and helps accredit him as the pioneer of the freak show/circus industry.
   Many showmen used several techniques to entice an audience into their shows. Some of the biggest and most controversial techniques used were racial and gender masking. For example, freak shows took every aspect of society and used it to their advantage. In order to make money, shows would have special areas where men could pay extra to see exotic women dance for them. Little did the spectators know, the exotic dancers who were portrayed as exotic dancers from around the world were actually mostly American women trying to make money. Now, here's the part where gender masking comes in. There were several occasions were the men who payed extra to see a little eye candy would end up actually going to see men dance in dresses. Now this wasn't always the occasion, but it did happen. A lot of freak shows liked to entice men by having performers wear very little clothing. Also, spectators loved to here this exotic and savage women talk about eating flesh or public nudity. This is a way that showmen used their brilliant advertisement skills to their advantage. Now, not every performance was a racial masking. People within America were intrigued by the several cultures that the world had to supply. In some cases Native Americans would perform a ritual or dance in front of an audience. In other cases African tribes were displayed in freak shows and human zoos. People were fascinated by the tribes and their bodies. Men were attracted to the women's large behinds, therefore showmen would require the women of the tribe to wear tight cotton skirts. Everyone was interested in the African tribe's strange jewelry. Showmen used this to their advantage. Whenever a poster displayed a tribe, there would be subtitles that were exaggerated to lure in curious by passers. For example, in one tribe in specific, wooden loops were placed within the lips of a tribe member to enhance their beauty. The poster displaying this would say something along the lines of, "come see the African tribe with lips as large as an alligators mouth." The poster would also display a fake background that looked exotic, which brings me to my next point. Photography was a vital part to a showman's advertisement.
   In the 19th century a freak show would display posters everywhere for people to see the various sites they could admire. Now photos were a way to take some one's unique trait and exaggerate it even more. For example, Anna Swann was known as the Lady Giantess. Portraits of Anna Swann would display her next to a short man to emphasize her height. Also, when an exotic person such as "the monkey girl," was displayed, there would be a fake background of a jungle behind her to emphasize her appearance. Now, of course the was no such thing as a monkey girl.It was really just a girl with a genetic condition that caused an overgrowth of hair, such as JoJo the Dog Faced Boy On many occasions someone with a birth defect would be able to make stable money. All they needed to do was get an offensive and fake name and to be exploited by public. In one case a woman was born with a condition that caused her legs and feet to swell causing her feet to become huge, she then became Lady Bigfoot. In another case a woman was born with an underdeveloped Siamese twin attached to her lower abdomen. This girl, with the lifeless legs hanging from her lower abdomen became known as  the four legged girl. There were several photographs of these deformed people. At the the shows there would be little cards displaying these "freaks." Now this became an important phase in advertisement because families would collect cards of the "freaks" they got to see and put them in albums to brag about and show guests at their homes.
   Another big advertisement technique was to take the social norm and reverse it. In the 19th century most people were pretty skinny and small due to the lack of mass produced food. So, in this case, seeing an obese person would be amusing. It was so weird to see a fat person that they were displayed as attractions for freak shows. There was a girl named "The Ohio Fat Girl" became a popular site. As I mentioned before, people loved to explore other cultures. Now, in America the man was considered the bread winner, or in other words, the family's income. It was socially a problem when women were required to do hard labor, so showmen would uses this to their advantage by having exhibits displaying foreign women doing hard labor or work. They would also show children playing games native to their country. People were attracted to that kind of thing, seeing a family as a whole rather than just seeing one person. People such as the tattooed lady and JoJo the Dog Faced Boy were displayed with their so called families.
    Despite all the genius marketing and advertisement tricks, freak shows weren't popular forever. People began to become skeptical and poked holes in the logic of these performances. Outraged by the hysteria of the freak shows, people began attempting to rip off the beards of the "bearded ladies." People also began to find inhumane to exploit the deformities of others. It was starting to become a social problem to see these people exploited in public or displayed as a freak. Also, the Tattooed Lady was becoming less and less popular with tattoos becoming more and more common. Although some of the Freak Show industry has died off, some of its magic still lives today in the form of Ripley's Believe It Or Not or NYC's Coney Island which categorizes itself as a unique way of art to share with the world. The influence of PT Barnum and his brilliance lives on today.

Freak Show Sources

• This poster displays one of the many tattooed ladies displayed in freak shows
  
  This is a portrait of Anna Swan (The Lady Giantess)
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  A Portrait of JoJo The Dog Faced Boy 
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  Thia photo displays one of the modern Coney Island acts 
• A Portrait of PT Barnum also know as "The Shakespeare of Advertisement" 
• • PBS I used this source to give me a reliable idea about PT Barnum's reputation as business man and an advertisement phenomenon. This website gave me a clear insight on Barnum's marketing techniques and ruthless approach to marketing.  
  • The Circus Age: Culture and Society under the American Big Topic by Janet M. Davis This book gave me a great deal of knowledge related to circuses and freak shows. The book covered pretty much everything you could imagine. This book really gave me all the general knowledge I needed to know to start my research. 
  • Ringling Bros.  This website gave me information about PT Barnum's life and success throughout the circus industry. It showed the success and achievements that PT Barnum accomplished throughout his career and was a biography that was very helpful in my research process.  
  • Coney Island USA This source was a reliable source that gave useful information in the mission provided by Coney Island itself. The website gives a unique view of their performance in the fact that they view their performances as an art form. Also the site shows how the evolution of freak shows has changed to this day. 
  • American History: A Survey, with Primary Source Investigator and Powerweb by Alan Brinkley This book gave me knowledge about the setting in which the freak shows took place. The growth of consumer culture became a vital part of freak shows and circuses in America and the development and growth of America's culture is shown within this book. 

Carnegie 

By looking at Andrew Carnegie's universities, you can tell that he values education, ethics and innovation. It is also clear that he wants his valued innovation to be widespread. Carnegie wants to enrich society by making people more successful through his influence in their education, which is developed through his money. He wants everyone to be put in a good situation and educational environment. However, one could argue that his "helping hand" is taking away from the work ethic and self determination that it takes for someone to advance successfully in society.

Native American Drums 

  Drums played a key role in Native American Culture. To many people it may just be an instrument, but to Native Americans it is the heart of their Culture. The drum was a sacred instrument, so much so that a drum master was appointed to watch over them. Drums have such a huge rule in this culture that it could not thrive without them.
  As a class we know that Native Americans are very in touch with nature. Drums were made from the gifts that mother nature had provided. Even making the drums was a sacred process. One theory i came across was that drums were made in a circle to represent earth and life. The drums consisted of a hollow wooden frame with animal skin stretched over it. It was believed that the tree and animal that the drum was made out of lived within the drum. Every drum was hand crafted and hand decorated. Even the drums that are made today by Native Americans are each hand crafted.
  Dances and ceremonies have a huge part in Native American culture. Drums were able to provide a back beat for these dances. Whenever there were any special dances or ceremonies you can count on drums being there too. The powwow is the biggest social gathering that Native Americans had. It was so important that it took months, even up to a year to plan them. I searched the role of drums in powwows and discovered that there were special drums made specifically for these major events. Within the powwow there was a huge circle called the dance arena. People would crowd around to see these arenas, and right smack in the middle were the powwow drums. This shows the importance of these drums. These drums were the music of the party. The trained dancers would not have much to dance to if the drums weren't there.
  Not only did drums provide music for the tribe, but they were a way for Native Americans to communicate. It was believed that they could use drums to communicate with their forefathers. Drums were a way to reach the deceased. They acted as a portal to the other side. It was also believed that the Great Spirit could be contacted through the power of drums. Therefore, drums helped with their religious beliefs and rituals. They acted as a connection to the Great Spirit, like how prayer connects Christians to God. Drums also were used in communication in battle and warfare.
  Drums had a role in medical procedures too. It was believed that when the drum was beaten, evil spirits were driven out of the body and the sweet tones of the drum replaced them with good spirits. I myself, being a drummer, can see how the smooth tones of a drum can help someone relax. As a matter of fact, I found that today there is drum therapy for Native Americans today. This therapy is called DARTNA (drum assisted recovery therapy for Native Americans). This therapy was made to help Native Americans with substance abuse disorders. When i researched this procedure i found the official website for this practice and one evaluating it. It found the optimism when i read " A research study conducted by a team of pschiotrists in La, California concluded that drumming is beneficial for Indian Americans with substance abuse disorders."
  Drums have proved to be an important part of this culture. They act as instruments, a communicator, a healer, and a religious tool for Native Americans. It is not only the back beat to this culture, but the back bone.

 Native American Drums

 Passion

 

Drum Therapy 

Sources 

• Drum Therapy  

When researching this project I wanted to look at all aspects of the use of these drums (communication, music, healing etc.). This source gave me a legitimate source to see how the drum healing has prevailed today.

• Powwow  

I already knew that powwows were of great importance to the Native Americans, but i wanted to find the role of drums in this great event. However, I needed to find the importance and history of powwows and this site helped me do just that.

• Native American Drums  

This site gave me a very brief description  of Native American drums and their importance. Although it was brief, it gave me a sense of the pride involving Native American Drums.

• Drum culture   

This site gave me a distant view of the culture involving Native American drums.

• Drum History 

This book gave me a factual history of Native American drums. Also this book gave me information on the materials involved and the techniques used.

Cowboys  

       In the west the cowboy became the figure of a great American hero, when in reality he was the great American zero. The cowboy was portrayed as a rugged, hard working, honorable, chick magnet, however this is not the case. In reality they were low paid young men who weren't very good with the ladies. Well, most if them were young, some of them were just strange old men who wanted to be around cows all day. To be honest, cowboys were looked down upon. I find it interesting that they were so heavily romanticized. It would be like if we took garbage men and turned them into pop culture icons. Its pretty funny to think about. 
      Due to the fact of the over idolization, there have been several realities of western life that have been overlooked. For example, someone with such a low status as the cowboy would not have a gun at their disposal all the time. A gun would most likely be out of a cowboy's budget.  Even if a cowboy did have a gun, it would definitely not be for fighting Indians. Society has gotten so wrapped up in cowboys that the other situations in the west have been overlooked. The real fight was not between Indians and cowboys, but between Whites and Asians. That's where the real violence and action was. Also, the Mexicans were fighting for a political voice and women were starting to vote. All these aspects have been "swept under the rug" because of the obsession with cowboys. However, its easy to get lost in all the hype with cowboys when there is so much influence coming from art and entertainment. 
       The influence of artwork had caused people to romanticize the west as a great beautiful landscape and people began to think of cowboys as the heroic men who roamed these vast areas with great authority. Also, books were a huge factor. People all across the United States read about cowboys and they believed what they read and had no reason not to due to their lack of knowledge of cowboys. Movies also had a great impact because they allowed people to see cowboys in action. When the Virginian became a movie, people go to see a cowboy in an action packed adventure. This was perfect because it was appealing to men and women. Women were given a tough, honorable, attractive man to dream of and men were given a rugged, tough, violent action hero. The western shows, ran by Buffalo Bill, gave the same opportunities to the audience except they were live action! These shows spread the great image of the cowboy all around America.

            Coming into history class I had not retained a lot of historical knowledge, especially when it applies to US history. Therefore, i knew very little about the Post-Civil War South. Basically all i knew about post civil war was that segregation was a major issue. I also knew that the north and south were not very strongly unified.
What's interesting about this course is how interested i have been in this class. History was never my favorite subject, yet the things we have gone over is interesting to me. Now, because I knew very little about The Civil War and the event that came after it, my knowledge has grown greatly on this subject. I now understand the tension that existed between the South and the Federal Government. I now understand that the South was too stubborn to understand that their actions were wrong. I've always been interested in how people fight for what they believe in and now that I understand the stubbornness and harsh approach that the South had, I can now appreciate the great achievements made by the North and blacks to fight for equality.
          I think it is important for people to know about the history of where they live because it gives them a greater appreciation of what they have. Also its interesting just to have the knowledge of the past and how it affected our lives today. Its crazy to think about how things that happened many years ago affects us everyday. I find it fascinating that the actions of people so long ago can have such a great affect on the world today.