sideshow | Amusing the Zillion

Archive for the ‘sideshow’ Category

Rare & Vintage: Girl to Gorilla Sideshow Banner

Posted in art, Artifacts, sideshow, tagged carnival, Fred Johnson, Girl to Goriilla Show, grind show, illusion, sidesnow banner on February 4, 2013 | 6 Comments »

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.

Photo of the Day: Coney Island Winter Celebration

Posted in Photo of the Day, Photography, sideshow, tagged Adam RealMan, Alliance for Coney Island, Fire Eater, Gargiulo's, Jim McDonnell, Kyrssy Kocktail on December 16, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Fire Eating at Coney Island Winter Celebration, Gargiulo’s Restaurant. December 13, 2012. Photo © Jim McDonnell

In this photo by Jim McDonnell, fire eaters Adam RealMan and Kryssy Kocktail of the Coney Island Sideshow liven up the cocktail hour at Thursday’s Coney Island Winter Celebration at Gargiulo’s Restaurant. The Alliance for Coney Island-sponsored dinner raised more than $40,000 for Sandy relief and recovery efforts in the neighborhood.

Art of the Day: World’s Smallest Woman Arrives in Coney Island

Posted in art, sideshow, tagged Jack Constantine, San Gennaro, Single-O, World's Smallest Woman on September 2, 2012 | 2 Comments »

On Saturday, the World’s Smallest Woman arrived for her annual run in Coney Island prior to playing the September 13-23rd Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy. The single-O attraction is set up in Cha Cha’s Steeplechase Park near the West 12th Street entrance. ATZ learned that this particular “World’s Smallest Woman” is named Elizabeth and hails from Haiti. She is one of sideshow impresario Jack Constantine’s five “World’s Smallest Women” who travel the U.S. carnival and fair circuit. We’ve seen this ever-popular attraction at the New York State Fair, Florida State Fair and State Fair Meadowlands, among others. Four of the ladies are Haitian and one is Jamaican.

In past years the show has charged as little as 50 cents admission. Whatever the price–it’s the front of the show that gets the dough! When the trailer-mounted showfront was unfolded, the fanciful, time-tested advertisement for the World’s Smallest Woman was revealed- “29 Tiny Inches – Hands 2 In. Wide. Size 2 Shoe – 10,000 Reward If Not Real and Alive. As Seen in LIFE – You Talk to Her – She Will Talk to You.”