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Curtain up | Stars
and curiosities | Scene change
To be or not to be? | Moral
guardians
Back in the USA, tastes were changing and by the late Victorian era people became uncomfortable about the freak shows and started to regard them as 'improper'. Instead of being seen as interesting curiosities, the artistes were perceived as unfortunate or diseased beings.
One of the key events to turn the tide against the shows was the exhibition of John Merrick in 1884. Better known as the Elephant Man, he suffered from proteus syndrome, a rare condition that deformed his face, head and limbs and caused his skin to hang in thick folds. Merrick had no skill to offer visitors: they came merely to gaze in horror at his hideous deformity. He was quickly removed to the London hospital, which was considered a more appropriate place for him, although he simply became a medical, rather than a commercial, exhibit.
This triggered a cultural shift and shortly after that, physicians and the moral guardians of society insisted that the only right place for all people with disabilities was in hospitals. They also sowed the seeds for what later became something altogether more sinister.