r/SideshowPerformer

I was really surprised to read about her legal troubles, as she was doing very well financially and seems to have had a very good life (as she herself remarked in multiple interviews.) I will say, she was very beautiful and did have fantastic fashion taste.

Some facts about her:

-she was born in Basel, Switzerland.

-her family moved to Austria when she was still a young girl.

-recalling her childhood, she said that she hadn’t really considered how her physical difference would affect how she would play with other girls her age. It was only then that she realized that people would treat her differently.

-she learned to walk on her hands, and became very adept at it.

-she started her career at the Paris Universal Exposition in 1900.

-she immigrated to the United States in the early 1910s, and arranged to rent her own apartment.

-when asked if she ever felt upset at having no legs, she answered with:

“No. Please don't sympathize with me, a woman really does not need legs. I never had any and yet I can do almost anything that other people can do, and get along perfectly well without any legs. I get about my home perfectly well. I can move around about as fast as anybody else. I enjoy life just as much as others and in just about the same way.”

-she worked at the Dreamland Sideshow in Coney Island, New York where she found a good amount of success.

-she decided to go into vaudeville in 1912 and had a short career run at the Hammerstein Theater in NYC.

-at some point during her vaudeville career she was brought to court by her booking agent after walking out on her contract.

-after a four year long battle in court she was required to pay a $2000 fine (equivalent of around $59,445 adjusted for inflation).

-by 1920, she was working for Ringling Brothers Circus at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

-she was always wearing the latest fashions and as you can see from the pictures, was very dedicated to wearing corsets. She was also happy that she was saving money by not buying shoes or stockings.

-she wanted the press to know that she was born without any semblance of legs or feet, that her body stopped at the bottom of her torso/pelvis and she didn’t have any leg stumps.

-while at home she preferred sitting in rocking chairs.

-she became very wealthy through performing and spent a lot of money on her wardrobe. She enjoyed living an opulent lifestyle.

-she considered herself to be standing when she was fully upright and considered herself to be sitting when leaning against the back of a chair.

-she was known to be very charming and graceful and received numerous marriage proposals throughout the documented portion of her life.

-she met a businessman named John DeFuller in mid June of 1924, while she was working as a sideshow performer in New York. The two began a relationship and got married in early April of 1925 in Los Angeles, California.

-she and her husband decided to settle down in Venice, California near the Venice Beach pier.

-surprisingly, she left her husband and skipped town with $2,000 worth of jewelry and $100 in mid September of 1930. She disappeared from the public eye after this and I haven’t been able to find any information as to when she passed away.

I wish I knew more about the situation with her husband and what caused her to skip town, I’m sure there was more to it than what the newspapers I found said. Because there is so much unknown, it’s hard to know whose word to trust and what opinion to think. Either way, I think the circumstances are definitely interesting.

He was very handsome, and I really like the show costumes he wore, the style of velvet shirts with lace trims are very striking!

It’s so sweet that he and his wife had such a strong bond. I hope they had many happy years together. I also think the notes about him being such a skilled barber are very sweet, it’s clear that he was appreciated by the majority of people in his life, and that no one judged him for his physical difference.

Some facts about him:

-he was born in Copenhagen, New York.

-he had eight siblings.

-his family moved to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, when he was a young boy.

-he first found out how elastic his skin was in 1873 while he was working at a cotton mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. After discovering this about himself, he began stretching it as a funny gag for his friends at the cotton mill.

-he joined the Rhode Island Home Guards, Company A, in 1883. While a part of the Guards, he would demonstrate his skin elasticity for the other men there.

-he agreed to a contract with a showman named J.E. Sackett, who helped arrange venues for Thomas to perform at all over the United States and Europe in the mid 1880s.

-a couple years later (late 1880s) he was contacted by showman, Frank P. Stone, to work at Austin & Stone’s Dime Museum.

-he joined Barnum & Bailey circus in 1891, and while many performers would have joint performances together it was said that James preferred to sit alone a bit off to the side for his performances.

-he allowed audience members to pull at his skin to prove that it was real.

-at one point while on tour in Edinburgh, Scotland, he appeared at a medical lecture hosted by a Professor Jamieson. He quickly regretted his decision to let all 100 students stretch his skin, and near the end of the demonstration some of the students felt so badly for him (because he was clearly in pain) that they decided not to stretch his skin.

-he was accused and arrested for burglary in Williamsport, Virginia, but was soon released from custody when he was able to prove his innocence.

-his career in sideshows lasted over 25 years.

-during his time working for Barnum and Bailey Circus, he was tragically run over by a horse drawn carriage, which left him severely injured. It took him quite a while to recover.

-he was described as being very nonchalant while performing and stretching his skin.

-he was known as a very friendly and genial person who enjoyed making people laugh.

-he had a side gig as a barber to bring in extra money while working for Barnum and Bailey Circus, and had his own small tent set up to act as a barber shop. He was so skilled that he shaved and cut the hair of most of the men working in the circus, including James Anthony Bailey, as in the man who had partnered with P.T. Barnum.

-he attended a famous conference hosted by the sideshow performers working for Barnum & Bailey in 1899 while the circus was touring England. The performers present, including James, campaigned to get the term “Freak” removed from advertising and for them to be referred to as prodigies instead.

-it was during that same 1899 English tour that he met and and fell in love with a woman named Edith Clifford. The two of them got married in mid February of 1899.

-Edith took up sword swallowing so that she and Thomas could both perform in sideshows together.

-he and his wife’s career efforts paid off and they made a substantial amount of money.

-after the 1899 tour, he and his wife traveled to the United States, where they settled down and purchased a house in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where Thomas had grown up.

-he and his wife had two daughters together. One of his daughters inherited his Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and it appears that she had a short lived career as a sideshow performer as well.

-it was described that he could stretch his skin anywhere between 8 and 12 inches, although this was most likely exaggerated a little bit.

-there are several variations of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, all of which are connective tissue disorders. Currently there are 13 different diagnosable types. The two symptoms most commonly associated with the condition are skin elasticity and joint hyper mobility (although these symptoms are not present in all of the variations). The type that Thomas had causes extreme skin elasticity and extreme bruising.

-his performances typically consisted of him pulling the skin of his neck or chin and stretching it over his face.

-at the same conference as above, James had had a discussion with Sol Stone, a performer known for his extremely quick mental math skills, about whether or not performers with no visible physical differences should be able to have a say in the discussion, and James Morris explained how he felt that all should be welcome to have a say since other performers may have neurological differences that wouldn’t be apparent physically.

-he was often described as being the best “Elastic Skin Man” in show business and was very popular with audiences.

-he became very ill in September of 1909 and had to be transferred to Carney Hospital (now permanently closed) in Boston, Massachusetts for treatment.

-he passed away at the hospital in mid February of 1910. His death was listed as chronic nephritis.

-he was given a respectful funeral, which was held at his sister’s house in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. A large number of his friends and co-workers attended the mass that was held for him at St. Mary’s Church. He was buried in Mt. St. Mary’s Cemetery.

-it appears Edith, his wife, continued her career as a sword swallower up through the 1920s.

It’s tragic that he passed away relatively young, and with a loving family and two young children at that. Though it’s nice that he at least lived a very full life and seems to have had a good sense of humor. I’m also glad that with the money he and his wife saved up, his family was most likely able to live a financially stable life even after his death.