A Brief History of Freak Shows

Gaping at others for entertainment is a centuries-old pastime. Already in sixteenth-century Europe, ‘wonders of nature’ or ‘freaks of nature,’ a term used for humans as well as animals, were put on display at royal courts. Spectators saw a parade of people with physical deformities, exotic animals, and people from the lands that were being discovered and conquered by European explorers. The shows in Europe were often small-scale, with the audience paying a small fee to be allowed a peek behind the curtain at the ‘freak’ hiding there. In spring and summer, such ‘freak shows’ traveled to the numerous fairs and… read more >