Girl to Gorilla Banner by Fred Johnson. Circa 1940s. Hideaway Antiques, Toronto
The Girl to Gorilla Illusion was one of the top-grossing grind shows on the carnival midway. Sadly, there are few if any working today. If you know of one, let us know! The last G2G that we saw was Jack Constantine’s and it was quite a few years ago. This vintage Girl to Gorilla banner signed by master banner painter Fred Johnson is being offered for sale by Toronto’s Hideaway Antiques. It gives an impressionistic idea of what to expect on the inside.
As the talker on the vintage clip shown below says, “You’re going to see a beautiful girl change before your eyes very slowly into an ugly male gorilla…From the top of her head to the tips of her toes you’ll see the hair grow. The Ape Girl. The Ape Girl. The Ape Girl. Anything can happen…” The illusion is done with mirrors but when the “gorilla” breaks out of the steel cage, the screaming audience runs out of the tent, attracting a crowd for the next show.
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I remember the ape girl show in Coney Island- it was there for a short time, such a low tech illusion ,
But really wild fun!
The show in the video cost only 75 cents!
Great photo by Bruce Gilden taken in ’60s of ticketbooth in Coney Island. “See Her Change from Beauty to Beast” in first row of photos on his webpage
https://www.brucegilden.com/portfolio/coney-island/
I saw the same type of act around 1970 when the James Strates shows Carnival came to Delaware on its yearly visit.
When the girl turned into a Gorilla and ran into the audience, everybody screamed and ran out of the tent. It was one of the best tricks I’ve ever seen at a carnival.
Those were the good old days.
When I was just young lad of 19 I toured with the “Gabora the Gorilla Girl” show, run by Tim Deremer and Fred Haydn. It was a blast! I played the gorilla, and I tell people my job was to induce riots of small groups of people.
I also worked for Fred Haydn in the early to mid 80′s but back then I was know as Princess Serena the Gorillagirl! I had more fun with that job! lol