Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit by Bogdan Robert

Author:Bogdan, Robert [Bogdan, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2014-12-10T05:00:00+00:00

FIG. 48. “San Antonio’s Siamese Twins.” A publicity pamphlet with this cover was sold in the mid 1920s promoting the Hilton Sisters, who were then in their teens. (Hertzberg Coll., San Antonio Public Library.)

In a publicity pamphlet sold at their appearances (Fig. 48), the life attributed to the twins is startlingly different from the one they lived. Rather than being born out of wedlock and unwanted, the “Life Story and Facts” booklet states that they were “the daughters of an English Army Officer. Their mother died a year after their birth. Their father was killed in Belgium in 1914. They were adopted by their uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Myer Myers, who devote their entire time to the girls and their activities” (Life Story and Facts of the San Antonio Siamese Twins 1926). The same pamphlet informs us of their interest and activities in the kitchen, how they love to sew, get meals, cook, sing, practice the piano, romp, raise pets, play tennis, golf, handball, go to the theater and the movies, read good books, and converse with “cultured people” (Fig. 49).

Their minds are supplied with those things that stimulate the mind and body with high ideals and healthful thoughts. If a young unfortunate jazz-crazed girl kills her mother there is every effort made to keep this sordid story from lodging in the minds of these little innocent girls. But instead of rehearsing all these tales of woe that make such fat fodder for mental morons, these girls have their ideals stimulated by higher ideals and nobler aspirations.

The propaganda went on to quote a recent interview with the girls and their guardians:

Aunt Lou, as Mrs. Myers is affectionately called, said, “We have tried to show the girls every care and devotion and have been paid back with every ounce of love their little bodies hold.” Then with a sort of hushed tone she said, “That in itself is enough.” The girls radiate happiness for they say, “We have all the good things in life that other girls enjoy, so what more could we ask.”

One thing they could ask for was freedom. Their tours brought a fortune to the Meyerses, but the twins met only with unhappiness. Although they lived in a mansion in San Antonio, Texas, they were miserable. Confined, held in bondage, and completely controlled by the Meyerses, they were isolated from the rest of the world and longed for normal life. Although the publicity photos showed them smiling while dancing with handsome beaux, beautifully dressed, and deeply involved with the joys of music, they were actually slaves.

One day they chanced to be alone with a lawyer and took the opportunity to confide in him. Their servitude was quickly brought before the 94th District Court in San Antonio in a trial that won them their freedom. Thus, in 1931 at the age of twenty-three, they found themselves free, wealthy, and still in demand for stage appearances (“Siamese Twins ‘Bondage’ Trial” 1969). They played in vaudeville and films and attempted to live the life of glamorous, high-status show personalities.

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