ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It was in Paris were the twins began their career in professional exhibition. Depending what story you believe, until that point their mother was either adamantly against displaying her daughters for profit or limited their publicity to local fairs. But the twins themselves saw Paris as an opportunity to get out of their tiny village. They found a manager, learned to sing and play the xylophone, and began drawing crowds.

Like many conjoined performers, much was made of their differences in personality and tastes. Rosa was considered the sharper of the two. She was witty and talkative while Josepha was introverted. Physically Rosa was the more dominant of the two sisters. Josepha was slightly more deformed than her sister, with her left leg being substantially shorter than her right. In matters of promotion the pair was heavily sexualized and posters for their appearance at the Theatre Imperial de la Gaiete featured with bared midriffs and tight corsets. As a result the public conjectured on their sexual activity and the complications their physical condition posed.

The Blažek sisters were famous in the 1890’s as they toured Europe. They eventually become quite skilled on the violin and stunned crowds with their enthusiastic duets. But, by the turn of the twentieth century, their popularity quickly evaporated due to poor management and overexposure.

Their obscurity was shattered in 1909 when Rosa claimed to be pregnant. Controversy spread like wildfire and rekindled their celebrity.

To the public, the idea of such a liaison was bewildering. Although the twins had separate vaginae, their physical proximity seemingly made any tryst a ménage à trois. The newspapers filled with rumour laced articles. Some believed the twins were sex crazed harlots; others depicted Josepha as an unwilling victim. Rosa claimed she had only had intercourse once and she refused to name the father. There was much speculation that their manager was the father and legend has it he gave the girls 95,000 marks for three years to keep the duo quiet. Regardless of the paternity, on April 16 1910 ‘Little Franz’ entered the picture.

As Franz grew, he joined the twins' travelling show as ‘The Son of Two Mothers’ and with their newfound celebrity the three of them left Europe and appeared in the united states, previously only visiting America during the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The twins set their sights on vaudeville and established a base in Chicago but their dream of the American stage was cut short when Rosa fell ill with influenza. As Rosa recovered, Josepha became sick and her illness soon overcame her. Doctors were uncertain of the diagnosis and shortly after being admitted into Chicago’s West End Hospital on March 22, 1922, Rosa fell into a coma.

A brother, Frank, appeared out of nowhere and once Rosa also succumbed to a coma Frank spoke for the sisters. Newspapers disagree on the final days of the Blažek twins. Some claim Frank would not allow any attempt at surgical separation and others claimed Rosa was adamant about remaining joined or just as adamant about being separated. All newspapers agreed that Frank was a gold digger who only had his eye on their fortune.

Josepha Blažek died on March 30, 1922. Rosa followed her twelve minutes later. With their death, another media frenzy began around who was entitled to their fortune. Soon after they were laid to rest, the matter was a moot point. It was discovered that the pair only had a savings of $400 between them.

Postscript

Even today, much controversy exists regarding the origins of Franz. Many historians and authors believe that the boy was nothing more than a well timed publicity stunt. While an autopsy confirmed that the two had separate uteri, it fails to mention any evidence of pregnancy. In fact, any evidence points to the contrary.

In addition, stories of the paternity of Franz changed during the time the boy toured. At one point it was claimed that the baby boy was named after his father, a soldier named Franz Dvorak. It was claimed that Rosa married the soldier shortly before his death in 1917. But there is no record of the marriage, nor did the man ever appear publicly with his family. It was likely a story engineered to evoke sympathy and further attendance.

It is known that Franz did spend time in an orphanage, and some believe that is where the boy originated from in the first place.

The fate of Franz is currently unknown as he disappeared into history following the death of the Blažek twins.

He was born Friederich Wilhelm Mueller in Königsberg, Prussia in 1867, in what is today Kaliningrad, Russia. By the time he was 19, Sandow was already performing strongman stunts in various sideshows. He was initially known for his impressive barbell routines and for breaking a chain locked around his chest. However audiences quickly became far more fascinated by Eugen Sandow's bulging muscles than by the amount of weight he was able to hoist. As a result, Sandow developed and performed poses. He dubbed these displays ‘muscle display performances’ and the routine was a precursor to the bodybuilding competition posses we see today. His routines and physique quickly made Sandow a sensation and a highly sought after carnival attraction.

Sandow was compared to a Roman god. His resemblance to the physiques of classic Greek and Roman sculpture was no accident. Sandow had visited Italy as a child and it was there, after gazing and admiring the bulging physiques of the ancient gods, that his passion for sculpting his body took root. In training, Sandow actually measured the marble artworks in museums. He viewed them as ‘The Grecian Ideal’ and as a formula for the ‘perfect physique’. Sandow eventually built his physique to the exact proportions of Greek and Roman Sculpture and, in the process, became one of the first athletes to intentionally develop his musculature to pre-determined dimensions. Today he is considered by many to be ‘The Father of Bodybuilding’.

Sandow performed all over Europe, and went to America to perform at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. There he could be seen in a black velvet-lined box with his body covered in white powder to appear even more like a marble statue come to life. His popularity grew, due to his cultured appearance, high intelligence, and well-mannered disposition. He also dressed very well and had a charming European accent, coupled with deep blue eyes and hearty laugh. He was befriended by the likes of King George V of the United Kingdom, Thomas Edison and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He eventually married to a Blanche Brooks Sandow and had two daughters. But he was constantly in the company of other women who actually paid money to feel his flexed muscles after his stage performances. Sandow also had a close relationship to a male musician and composer he hired to accompany him during his shows. The degree of their relationship has never been determined, but they lived together in New York for a time. It is clear Blanche was jealous of his relationships.

Sandow was also a very astute businessman. He authored five books, owned a mail-order physical instruction and exercise equipment business and was the inventor of a unique spring-loaded dumbbell and a weighted rubber band resistance training system. Sandow’s fame was instrumental in popularising home training equipment. Sandow also produced and promoted Sandow Cigars, Sandow's Health & Strength Cocoa and Sandow, a magazine devoted to physical culture. He opened a Physical Culture Studio in London, one of the first health clubs to contrast starkly with the 'sweaty' gymnasiums that had already existed, and he made exercise fashionable for all classes. Sandow organized the first ever bodybuilding contest on September 14, 1901 called the ‘Great Competition’ and held it in the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK. The event was judged by himself, Sir Charles Lawes, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the contest was a huge success and was a sell-out with hundreds of fans turned away.

At the time of his death in 1925, a cover story was released stating Sandow died prematurely at age 58 of a stroke shortly after pushing his car out of the mud. The actual cause of death was more likely due to complications from syphilis. Sandow was buried in an unmarked grave at the request of his wife, Blanche (who never divorced him) at Putney Vale Cemetery near London. In 2002, a gravestone and black marble plaque was added by Sandow admirer and author Thomas Manly. The gold-lettered inscription reads Eugen Sandow, 1867-1925 the Father of Bodybuilding.

Since 1977 , as recognition of his contribution to the sport of bodybuilding, a bronze statue of Sandow has been presented to Mr Olympia winners. The statue is simply known as ‘The Sandow’.

VIDEO: In 1894, Sandow featured in a short film by the Edison Studios. The film was of only part of the show and features him flexing his muscles rather than performing any feats of physical strength.

You may View the video here.

Maximo and Bartola were born microcephalic and were originally from the village of Decora in St. Salvador. The pair were quite intellectually slow and required special care. Their mother, Marina Espina, was conned into handing her unique children over to a Spanish trader named Ramon Selva. Ramon promised to take the pinheaded children to America, where he assured Maria they would be cured of their condition. Instead, Ramon sold Maximo and Bartola to an American promoter named Morris.

Morris concocted an incredible story to introduce the children to the American public.

At the time, America was frothing around the display of 'ethnological curiosities'. Interest in the Mayan civilization was peaking due to recent explorations and publications. Morris sold a forty-eight page booklet in conjunction with his exhibiting of Maximo and Bartola to capitalize on the recent appetite of the public. Life of the Living Aztec Children told the elaborate 'true story' surrounding the discovery of Maximo and Bartola in an Aztec temple in a lost city.

The booklet alleged that Maximo and Bartola were found squatting on alters and that they were members of a sacred race once worshipped by the city's inhabitants. To further this claim Morris dressed the pair in Aztec-looking garb. Both wore costumes featuring Aztec suns sewn onto the front and their hair was allowed to grow bushy. This combined with their diminutive stature and proportionately small heads did give them a highly unusual appearance. But would the public believe they were members of a lost race?

Rather than scoff at these wild claims, the public actually believed the pitch. To those who viewed them, Maximo and Bartola were the last remnants of an ancient civilization.

Not only did the public show a great amount of interest, the scientific community clamoured for a chance to examine the Aztec Children. Numerous papers were published on the topic of Maximo and Bartola including the American Journal of Medical Sciences. Soon Maximo and Bartola were the darlings of the general public and high society. Eventually, they visited the White House as guests of President Fillmore.

In 1853 Morris took Maximo and Bartola to England. There they were exhibited before the Ethnological Society and summoned to Buckingham Palace. During their public exhibition in London, they attracted three thousand people in just two days. Anatomist Prof. Richard Owen visited Maximo and Bartola and soon he and the rest of the European scientific community were debating exactly what the Aztec Children were and these debates further fueled their popularity. During their subsequent tour of Europe they appeared before Napoleon and his imperial family, the emperor of Russia, the emperor of Austria as well as the kings and queens of Bavaria, Holland and Belgium. Everywhere Maximo and Bartola went, controversy and conjecture followed. To many, they were indeed examples of an unknown race of people; they were the last of the Aztec Children.

Maximo and Bartola eventually returned to the United States, this time for exhibition at Barnum's American Museum. Barnum renamed the duo as 'The Aztec Wonders' and many of the photos that exist of Maximo and Bartola are from this era of their career. Eventually interest in the pair died down as reporters and the scientific community moved on to other more legitimate discoveries. In an attempt to rekindle public interest, they resurfaced on January 7, 1867 in London and appeared to marry each other. They were married under the names of Senior Maximo Valdez Nunez and Senora Bartola Velasquez and, despite being brother and sister, it was alleged that by 'Aztec Culture' such a marriage was allowed.

The publicity attempt was a complete failure and nary was an eyebrow raised.

It is alleged that Maximo and Bartola continued to be exhibited until 1901 under the care of several different managers; the details of their eventual end are unknown.

Maximo and Bartola were the first of The Aztec Children. For decades after that, most pinheads, even the famous Schlitzie the Pinhead, were advertised as members of a long and formerly forgotten race.

Ralph Albert Krooner was born in Montpelier, Vermont in 1888 and he owed much of his fictitious and show-worthy back story to the long-discredited medical theory of maternal impression.

The theory of maternal impression was once a popular phenomenon that attempted to explain the existence of birth defects and congenital disorders. The theory stated that an emotional stimulus experienced by a pregnant woman could influence the development of the fetus. According to Ralph, his pregnant mother was traumatized by a stampeding group of elephants. The rampaging circus elephants allegedly killed five men, and injured twenty-one. Ralph's mother purportedly witnessed the carnage and was so affected by the episode that, four month later, her son was born into the world with an elephantine hide rather than supple skin.

The entire story is, of course, a complete fabrication and taken almost verbatim from the promotions associated with Joseph Merrick. When Ralph was born, Merrick was already living in London hospital and had left his career as an exhibit far behind. Sir Frederick Treves, physician and friend to Merrick, published his book The Elephant Man and other Reminiscences in 1923, which is around the time Ralph began his 30 year career exhibiting himself in carnival sideshows.

Ralph's condition was unique during his time and was certainly not the ichthyosis (alligator skin) that many other strange-skinned performers had. Until fairly recently his condition was a complete mystery but recent events, like this one in Eastern Europe, have shed some possible light on his affliction.

Most recently an Indonesian fisherman named Dede has come to public attention. He has, what appears to be, a much more serious version of Ralph’s condition likely made much worse by decades of medical neglect.

The cause of Dede’s tree-like appearance was discovered by Dr Gaspari of the University of Maryland. Medically he has little more than the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a fairly common infection that usually causes small warts to develop on sufferers. However Dede also has a rare genetic fault that impedes his immune system, meaning his body is unable to contain the warts.

It is quite possible that Ralph possessed a similar genetic impediment, but was able to keep his condition in check with routine soakings, filings and treatment.

The eventual fate of Ralph is currently unknown however a Ralph Albert Krooner passed away in Tampa, Florida in 1952.

image: courtesy of Quasi-Modo.net
video courtesy of Telegraph

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