Going to a freak show in old-time Phoenix

One of my followers on my history adventuring podcast casually used the expression "freak show" yesterday, and I knew exactly what he meant, in spite of never having seen a real freak show. I really didn't give it much thought until this morning when I was out pedaling around, and thought that it would be fun to time-travel back to old-time Phoenix and actually go to a freak show.

I tried searching the keywords "freak show" at the Library of Congress site where I look at old Phoenix newspapers, and was surprised to find that it turned up nothing. But I know that freak shows were part of the circus, so I just found this ad from 1912.

It must have been amazing to see. From what I've read, you could see all kinds of unusual things, including animals like giraffes, and elephants. And in addition to seeing what usually springs to mind at a circus, watching the acrobats, or clowns, you could go see unusual people. I don't see the word "freaks" in this ad, so it must have already been a pejorative term.

The freaks (or whatever they called them) would have been in a separate tent. It would have included the bearded lady (of course!) and people who were very tall, or very short, or very fat, or very thin. I can't imagine that I would have been brave enough to go into any of those tents, as I've always been a shy and timid kid, and prone to nightmares. Someone could explain to me that the half man/half wolf wasn't anything to be afraid of, just a very hairy man with some makeup and fake teeth to make him look more canine, but it would still scare me too much. Scares me now to think of it, and I'm a full-grown man!

All we need is 25 cents admission! No, I don't have that, either. Maybe we can sneak in under the tent when no one's looking. What's that? You're saying that I could just walk into the freak show tent and show them my face? How would you like a knuckle sandwich?

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