True Tales Of The Bearded Lady And The Dog-Faced Boy

In the off-beat world of the sideshow there are few faces more recognizable than Annie Jones the bearded lady and Jo-Jo the Dog Faced Boy.

Their unique physical characteristics made them superstars in a time when that actually meant something, and their work in the sideshow gave other folks with unusual features hope for the future.

She may not have been the first, but Annie Jones is typically considered the original Bearded Lady because she traveled with P.T. Barnum's exhibition and was photographed so often everyone knew her face.

Annie was with the sideshow for most of her life, but as a child she was kidnapped by a phrenologist who then claimed she was his daughter, until a trial revealed the truth and she was returned to her mother.

Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy was actually Fedor Jeftichew from St. Petersburg, Russia, born with a genetic disorder called hypertrichosis which was passed down from his father.

Fedor became Jo-Jo when he joined Barnum's troupe as a teenager in 1884 but he was no stranger to the circus, since he'd been touring in French circuses with his father for most of his life.

Although his wolfman look added to Barnum's made up backstory that Jo-Jo was a savage child found in a cave, Fedor was actually fluent in three languages and loved to read while not going barking mad for audiences.

-Via Dangerous Minds