Grim & Mild Presents

Circus trains: they were cities on wheels, integral to the sideshow circuit and home to all performers. Today, they’re a relic of a bygone time…but there’s one train that has solidified its place in the history books due to unthinkable tragedy. 

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As humans, we are drawn to beauty. We decorate ourselves. We primp, we preen, and sometimes...we poke. 

Join us as we dive into the colorful world of tattooing—and the mark it left on the sideshow.

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Among the bearded ladies of the Sideshow, Julia Pastrana’s story is the longest: it spans her short life and long death, revealing the lengths some will go to make a buck.

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Lavinia Warren was able to travel the world and charm audiences wherever she went. But what set Lavinia apart from many of her peers were the choices she was able to make along the way. 

Be sure to check out the Bridgeport Public Library’s Barnum collection, if you’re in the neighborhood – if not, take a look at the incredible digitization holdings here.

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Joice Heth never wanted to be in show business. It wasn’t the world that she came from. But when she met P.T. Barnum, the course of her life took a turn she never saw coming.

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The story of Saartjie Baartman is not an easy one to hear, but it certainly gives us an intimate look into how the early traveling sideshow once operated, and how some human bodies were treated in the process.

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Every story has a beginning, and the tale of the American sideshow—in many ways—begins in the aftermath of one man’s personal tragedy. Learn how it all began, and what the early days were like, on the inaugural episode of Grim & Mild Presents: Sideshow.

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Welcome to Grim & Mild Presents. Each 13-episode season (published every other week, ongoing, for a non-stop, ongoing experience) will dive into the strange, the unusual, and the fascinating. History has never been this intriguing.

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