Secret of the Sideshows

Joe Nickell

University of Kentucky Press 2008

To millions modem theme parks may seem like drastically improved versions of the itinerant shows and attractions of the past, featuring manicured thoroughfares, towering thrill rides, and plenty of marketing opportunities for big corporations. Yet, today's family-friendly yet bland getaways stand in stark contrast to the worn facilities and colorful atmosphere found at the carnivals, circuses, and sideshows that once lured hordes of visitors.

However, many would argue that today's sanitized amusement empires lack the character, uniqueness, ramshackle charm and sense of wonder that pervaded travelling shows during a bygone era. By removing the risk and the daring of the sideshow, the modern theme park has become a cliché with its insipid entertainment and “family friendly” focus.

In an age far less saturated with media, circuses and sideshows were the vanguard of popular entertainment, and they were a booming business. In his book, Secrets of the Sideshows Joe Nickell, once a carnival magician and pitchman, now an acclaimed author, historical document expert, and paranormal investigator and sceptic, chronicles the rise and fall of the sideshow.

Nickell examines the amazing tales and stories behind the sideshows' amazing sights and spectacles while analysing their cultural antecedents and the social forces that led to their massive popularity throughout most of the twentieth century. The author's insights are the result of years of research interviews, and first-hand experience. Ever the ambitious investigator, Nickell learned to eat fire, to walk on hot coals and to recline on a bed of nails during his journeys to carnival midways and other venues across the world.

The giants, midgets, sword swallowers fire eaters, bearded ladies, and alligator-skinned men are all here, and Secrets of the Sideshows presents their public and private lives in full, bizarre detail including rare illustrations and photographs. Nickell tells the long history of displaying human, animal, and other oddities-both authentic and bogus-by shrewd entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on the curiosity of paying customers. In the tradition of Harry Houdini and others devoted to debunking dubious feats and fraudulent claims, Nickell calls a fake a fake while still showing respect for the sideshow's legacy of mystery and illusion.

Secrets of the Sideshows neither romanticizes the past nor discounts the real pleasure that millions of people have gained from sideshows. Some of the real-life characters in the book are hucksters' others are saddled with maladies of the flesh and in need of both financial and emotional support. Nickell portrays the humanity of all participants in the once thriving culture of the sideshow.

Secrets of the Sideshows is beautifully written, filled with stories, reflections, tales and memories, it is both a historical study and a journey into memory. It is packed with rare photographs, ephemera and images (some 178 in all) and offers a fascinating glimpse into a sub culture which is now slowly fading from history.