Surly Punk mans the Ball Toss at the Carnival Vernacular Photograph collection Jim Linderman

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Undated photograph (Ball Toss) Collection Jim Linderman

Dad Drops a Quarter The Sideshow Bottle Stand Trick 1966

Dad may be good at "knockin' them back" but he isn't going to stand this one up. Can it be done? Yes, and you will often see signs at the booth reading "one win per person per season" to keep that BMX mini-bike hanging on the wall in back. But will YOU do it? Nope. Dad has the wrong thing going here, and I don't just mean his white socks. The pole should be as vertical as possible, not horizontal, and you must "push" the bottle up, not pull it. Complicated? Yes. It will take you a solid afternoon to work it out at home. How many of those who come upon it have done their homework? None. Especially not Dad.

Original Vernacular Photograph, Dated August 1966 Collection Jim Linderman
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Sideshow Herpetology From the Past (Antique Dames with Snakes) Summer "Retread Reread"

Howdy, I'm still taking a short break to "work" on other projects, so this post slithers back from the past. Browse OTHER things a while, or read any of the books linked at right!

This post from my Wondrous World of Wendt Blog.

Snake Women! Frank Wendt, Photographer of the Sideshow 1890 As you can see, women with snakes were not entirely uncommon around 1890, but then if the circus came to your town once year, they must have been quite noteworthy. All these cabinet card photographs were taken by one man and each became a pitch card for the performer to sell to admirers or anyone with a dime to spare. Frank Wendt has always been unfairly placed in the shadow of Sideshow Freak photographer Charles Eisenmann, his mentor. Wendt took over the Eisenmann studio on the Bowery in 1893 and ran it for five years before moving it to New Jersey. He continued making pictures there for a number of years, some quite extraordinary. In 1979, just as interest in collecting circus freak photos was rising (in part as interest in Diane Arbus was rising as well) a book on Eisenmann was published which dismissed Wendt's work as "perfunctory" and that the production of those years has all but been "obliterated." Au contraire!

As we are just learning, MANY exceptional images remain. The photos here are certainly not obliterated, though he did have a somewhat poorly realized sense of contrast at times. Wendt specialized in the unusual, but he shot all manner of performers, not just the strange. In fact, some of his most beautiful work is normal looking actors and child performers, who would use his cabinet card photographs as trade cards, mementos and such. Often the performers autographed the cards on the reverse, personalizing them to fans and the freaked. In the case of the carnival performers, vital statistics were often provided though frequently exaggerated. In fact, Wendt would take his pictures to emphasize the particular trait or deformity being marketed. As traveling shows passed through New York and New Jersey, they would stop to replenish their stock. Sometimes Wendt would republish Eisenmann's work on his own cards, but frequently a new photo was taken, and the same performers often appear in later pictures, with different imprints or logos on the cards.


Group of Frank Wendt Photographs circa 1890 Collection Jim Linderman

Stretched Out

There are a few ways to elongate a photograph. One is to expose the image on paper while holding the plate on an angle...the other is to aim your camera right into a fun house mirror. This is the later.

Anonymous Fun House Mirror Snapshot, circa 1940. Collection Jim Linderman

Skydancers Betty and Benny Stunt

Betty and Benny Fox in the Death Taking Sky Dance. 18 inch Disc Dancing.
Group of Three snapshots, (with details) circa 1935 collection Jim Linderman

Crowd Pleasers Photographs by Reno Bush

Four Daredevil Photographs from Reno Bush, Photographer (Souvenir, Air Views, Cameras, Film, Photofinishing) Bloomsburg, PA Circa 1930 Collection Jim Linderman

Spend Saturday Night Encased in Ice with Rella

Girl number six was Rella Finney, who I can not tell you won, but she did emerge to sign this card. My understanding is that the trick here is no trick...you hope the ice preserves your body heat, but then I haven't taken the time to research it. Sometimes mystery is fine. Real Photo Postcard, c. 1940? Collection Jim Linderman

Stunt

Daredevil Real Photo Postcard circa 1910 Collection Jim Linderman
(NOTE: Browse above for similar, no less dramatic stunt!)

At the Circus in Black and White Dull Tool Dim Bulb #14 of a Series

Circus Performers Anonymous Snapshot circa 1960 Jim Linderman Collection

Carny in a Pork Pie Hat At the Circus in Black and White (in color)

What is cooler than a slim strutting carny in a pork pie hat? One in COLOR! An exceptional exception to my "at the circus in black and white" posts. This a snapshot pasted on a page of circus scrapbook. Circa 1950? A tall drink of water, our slim striding sideshow side hand!
As a further aside, if you like sideshow folk, my Wondrous World of Frank Wendt site has some splendid examples, as does the Fringepop site.

Carnival sideshow Photograph, anonymous. Circa 1950. Collection Jim Linderman

Wendts upon Wendts! Composite Cabinet Card of a Tiny Contortionist

Frank Wendt, who I have devoted an entire site to HERE composed this cabinet card photograph made up of eight earlier photos he took of the same wiggly boy, Albert Powell Jr. A contortionist quality photo! And just when I thought I had collected them all, I now have 8 more to look for.


Albert Powell Jr. Cabinet Card by Frank Wendt, c. 1890 Collection Jim Linderman

Carny Culture (Rules for the Fun Business)

When I was a kid, I certainly never wanted to run away and join the carnival! To me, carny workers were the scariest folks i'd ever seen. Greasers with tattoos and wallets chained to their belts, slack-skin women with loose dirty print dresses, and a sweaty fat guy who was obviously the boss wandering around making sure they didn't slip any coins into their dirty pockets. Even then, I saw through their tricks and scams, and I figured anyone who would cheat a kid out of a dime would certainly not mind giving you a shiv in the parking lot if you stayed around after closing. Every time I saw a child gypped out of a coin, I resented the local cops wandering around oblivious. They seemed much more interested in "preserving order" than in protecting allowances.

Who would guess carnies could even read, much less pay attention to rules other than "don't trip over the wires, dude." Well, they could, at least some of them, and the others could "see picturs." So here are selected pieces from "Employee's Manual for Amusement Parks" no date.

Carny Rule book, c. 1960 Collection Jim Linderman

Arnold Ziffel, Porcine Pneumonia and the Educated Pig

Be it an educated pig as shown here (taking a slider face first to serve some point) or the famous "learned pig" national treasure Ricky Jay has written about, the swine has long been man's smart friend in the animal world. Anyone who doubts this need only watch an episode of Green Acres featuring Arnold "The Pig" Ziffel. In one episode I remember, not long after the series went to color, he even BLUSHED himself RED. In another episode, Arnold became a painter and adopted the name "Porky Picasso" until his masterpiece "Nude at a Filling Station" was banned. At any rate, the Porcine Pneumonia seems to be subsiding, thanks be to God. I had the flu for six months once, and I do NOT want it again.

Original Photograph "The Educated Pig" circa 1930. Collection Jim Linderman

Dog and Pony Show 1958 Style

Literally, a Dog and Pony show. The expression once referred to acts held outside a carnival or sideshow. It now means to confuse a someone into thinking a product is necessary or improved, to bamboozle the client. There are more advertising executives than carnival acts these days, but both promise more for your money. (Though this young woman probably took more pride in her work than the folks on Madison Avenue) By the way, the term "dog trainer" (as any trainer will tell you) is a complete misnomer. Dog Trainers train dog OWNERS. Dogs are pretty much born knowing what to do.

"Dog Act and Trainer" Original snapshot c. 1958 Collection Jim Linderman

Frank Wendt Serpent Queens Snake Women Sideshow Carnival Freak Photographs Frank Wendt

Harlot Herpetologists of the Victorian era. I can not explain the popularity of snake women other than a mixture of revulsion tinged with eroticism. It started with Eve, I suppose, but carnival performers in the earliest days were nearly always male, a fake snake charmer "from the East" who would perform with a basket, a cobra and a flute. When promoters learned it would be easier to squeeze coins out of the local townsfolk if a dame was involved...presto, the Serpent Queen! Snakes were easy to transport, a small box did it, and there was certainly no shortage of mice for food. Any female member of the crew could put on a wig and lure rubes into the tent where a usually harmless snake would curl seductively around the performer's waist. Always popular, I am sure there are still plenty of strippers out there working with a snake. (Text overlay to prevent folks from swiping the images and selling them on Ebay, a more up-to-date and just as effective technique of separating coins from rubes)

See THE WONDROUS WORLD OF FRANK WENDT for more Photographs by this artist.

Original Cabinet Card Photographs, circa 1880-1900 Collection Jim Linderman