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.
No comments:
Post a Comment