Wild Man Circus Fakery May 9, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern , trackback
The wild man was a staple of nineteenth-century circuses and penny shows. This personality was typically black, mostly undressed and the possessor of a cannibal’s grin. He (and it was invariably a male who took on the role) would stomp back and forth in his cage every so often lunging at some unwary child, allowing his ‘keeper’ to say to the horrified mother ‘I warned you he was dangerous, ma’am’. Where did the wild man come from? Just possibly the occasional wild man was from the marches of the European Empires or some undiscovered Pacific island. However, that will have been rare. In many cases the wild man demonstrably came from closer to home. For instance, the famous ‘Wild Men of Borneo’ were, when not working, white and had been born in Ohio (see picture above). There were many such cases:
In 1837 some children visiting the circus at Bristol managed to get close enough to a wild man to spear him at which point the furious ‘beast’ replied in Irish brogue: ‘Begorrah, if ye do it agen I’ll come out and ate the whole blasted lot of ye’ (West Da Pr 8 Sept 1937)
In 1865 one of the wild men went unpaid and applied to a local court in excellent English: while in the show they had spoken what sounded to one well-read visitor as a mix of Spanish and Sanskrit! It appears that he (and his fellows?) had been hired out of the Asiatic Home in London to impersonate savages.
In 1897 two West Indians with excellent English ended up in front of a British court. When the judge asked them to state their profession they explained that one had been the wild man and one the keeper in a local show. They had come to court because unfortunately they had not made enough money. (IPN 8 May 1897)
In 1897 one show in Canning Town (in London) announced not the Wild Man, but ‘the Missing Link so long looked for by Mr Darwin’. Some local toughs dragged the missing link out into the street and stripped him of feathers, beard and mane (!?) and discovered a terrified local underneath. West Gaz 20 Aug 1897
In the Canning Town show the proprietor had tried the trick of warning the crowds back because of the Missing Link’s dangerous habits. This was a common ruse. Frank Buckland, whose father was once seen here licking bat’s urine from the pavement, gave an account:
The showman suddenly appeared before the door of the show with a carter’s huge whip, threw his arms about as if to prevent something or somebody coming out of the show. ‘Keep him back! Don’t let him come out!’ he cried, as he stood with his shoulders to the door, while strange yells, and the usual penny-show cry of wild men issued from inside. According to the showman’s account, the wild man had tried to make his escape, and [the showman] announced that, after [the wildman] had again been properly secured, the public would be admitted to examine him. 337
The best ever twist on this theme comes from a British newspaper from 1909. Enjoy.
Much excitement was created at Grimsby [Yorkshire] Tuesday night by the behaviour of wild man who escaped from a penny show. Clad only in a loin-cloth and feathered headdress, ‘the wild man’ dashed through the street brandishing a knife and spear. Pedestrians fled from his path in terror, and a big crowd followed the showmen, who were hot in pursuit of their star attraction. Twice the showmen stopped the runaway, but he kicked and fought and slashed with his spear until they relaxed their grip and off he went again at full speed, ejaculating weird cries. There was, however, some method in his madness, for he made tracks for a butcher’s shop. The shopman, his wife, and daughter, fled from the place, and with the stock to himself the black selected a leg of mutton, and, snatching it from a hook, ran back to the show, the butcher, showmen, and a crowd giving chase. The wild man was secured in the building, while the angry butcher, after vain argument with the exhibition people, went off to complain to the police. Nor Mer 31 Dec 1909
Beach guesses the circus had to pay for the meat but had already doubled their takings for the evening.
Other wild man fakery: drbeachcombing AT yahoo DOT com
31 May 2015: Chris from Haunted Ohio Books with some more fakes.
There are some persons who are naturally superstitious, and Syracuse is not entirely free from that class of individuals. About the year 1866, Thomas Grady and John Duffy were employed in hauling timber for the Syracuse Coal and Salt Company, and while in the forest, a strange apparition made its appearance, in the form of a man about as tall as a giant. He was clothed in the skin of some wild animal, and would utter a loud and piercing shriek. On beholding this giant, Grady and Duffy with one accord unhitched their horses from their respective wagons, mounted the horses, rode to town in great haste and raised an alarm. They reported that this strange being was about eight feet tall, and was clothed in the skin of some wild animal, and that his steps were long strides, four or five feet in length. On learning this a large number of men repaired to the spot where the strange monster had been seen. Diligent search was made, but he could not be found. They succeeded, however, in finding his tracks, which were different from those of any other animal, making a round hole in the ground. The excitement lasted several days, and this strange being took the name of the “Wild Man ” of Syracuse.
In the course of my narrative, I have several times mentioned Jacob Henry, and he was among those who went to investigate the matter, and was very active in searching for the monster. This, however, was wholly unnecessary on the pari of Mr. Henry, for he himself was the “wild man.” He had made a pair of stilts to add to his height, and this accounts for the holes in the ground. He had clothed himself in some show bills on which were engraved the pictures of animals, and he no doubt presented an ugly appearance. As soon as he saw the teamsters unhitching their horses, he made his way rapidly back to town, and reached there before they did. He was then prepared to assist in searching for the wild man. Grady and Duffy were terribly frightened. About two months afterwards Mr. Henry told the joke. [Autobiography of Dr. Thomas H. Barton, 1890]
Mob Chased the Wild Man.
Hamilton, O., Oct. 2 George Willis, a local character, was hired by a fakir to act as “the Wild Man from Borneo” at $15 per during fair week. He was put in a 10-foot pit, fitted out with walrus teeth and a breech clout and a wig of horse hair adorned his head. Willis grew tired of the job and quit. Clad in his grotesque costume he gathered a crowd. More than 200 people chased him six miles from the fair grounds, where he fell from sheer exhaustion.
The Newark [OH] Advocate 2 October 1907
I’ve got in my future posts file the story of “the wild woman of the Wachita Mountain,” a woman exhibited by one Capt. Northcote at various venues. His patter claimed that he had hunted her down and lassoed her out west. However, she was seen laughing and talking in English to the show’s ticket taker. In 1856, at Cincinnati, she was the subject of an inquiry by the Probate Court as to her sanity. Alienists differed as to whether she was insane or shamming. When Capt. Northcote was called as a witness, it was found that he had hastily left the city.
