“The genuine double bodied girl with four legs. Alive! Not in a bottle. Not a trick.” Appended to her torso was a parasitic twin consisting of two legs, an arm with three fingers, and a second arm which was only a single digit. (Photos available online.) She earned enough to buy her parents a farm and send all eleven of her siblings to college, but she died in 1955 at age 23 of a severe asthma attack. She would have been only nine years old at the time of this photograph.

Seriously what the heck is going on with that?

the announcer would yell, "Watch for pickpockets," and everyone would reach for their wallets indicating the exact location of their wallets to the pickpockets.

As a kid, full of wonder, I wasn't allowed to see this attraction at the local fairs. It wasn't until the '80s, in Saratoga, NY, that I got to see my first. Appearing then was a guy nicknamed Popeye because he could pop his eyes out of their sockets, an alligator skinned woman, a "pretzel boy," so named because his limbs were twisted and malformed, and a "two-faced" man who had one side of his face swollen almost beyond recognition.

I felt bad at the time, thinking what kind of person finds entertainment at looking at those so horribly afflicted? What was I doing? I had to reason with myself that at least these folks were able to earn a living. The pretzel boy himself stated as much onstage. He sold little Bibles afterward to make some more money. I know not what they had to endure each and every stop. I'm sure there weren't many like me. But they were performing and interacting with society. That's something.

Remember when the tattooed lady was part of the freak show? Now it's free viewing when out in public.

For me it was disgusting, but those were different times.

Things people would pay to see in 1941 are proudly displayed for free today.

The name for the condition of Zip and Pip, otherwise called, less kindly, pinheads. The condition usually includes a smaller than average head, facial malformations, intellectual disability, and impaired speech.

It looks like Elvira Snow on stage. She and her sister Jenny appeared in the film "Freaks" as "Zip and Pip," but generally performed professionally as "Pip and Flip."