Freaks and otherness are often contextualized by fairytales and oral histories.
Mystical stories of fantastic creatures could be seen as a coping tool for society trying to find a way of dealing with people who did not fit the common mold of normalcy.
Fascination with otherness has been part if the collective human consciousness presumably from the beginning of mankind. In 1642 naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi published “Monstrorum Historia (“A History of Monsters”) from which this illustration is drawn. We see a werewolf type female dressed in a full gown reminiscent of a royal court. This image, is very similar to many carte de vistes of sideshow freaks who would sell their image for extra money, using the clothing of the day to exacerbate their deformities, making it more fantastical than a regular portrait. This image predates the concept of circuses by centuries however it is curious that some of the same tools are used in the imagining a “otherness”.
Aldrovandi is hearlded as the father of natural histories study. However, he was also presecuted for hersey because of these sudies.
As freaks came more to the forefront of entertainment in the circus world we saw collections of stories spring up about legendary freaks. R.S. Kirby was a chronicler of fantastic stories of freaks who wrote compendiums of about the treasures of his museum's collection. He told the stories of giants, dwarves, and various deformities.
R.S. Kirby has since been defrauded as having largely fabricated these stories. However it is important to note that through a fantastical lense it is was more digestable for the public to learn about freaks as entities larger than a regular man, with a tale to tell.
