Medicine:Alligator boy
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Short description: Sideshow performer with ichthyosis
An alligator boy (or girl, man, woman, as appropriate) was a common freak show and dime museum exhibit. While the act was traditionally performed by people with ichthyosis, sideshows sometimes substituted workers whose skin was covered in cracked glue,[1] optionally supplemented with food dye and sand.[2] As another alternative, taxidermist Julius S. Hansen advertised stuffed alligator boys for sale in 1887.[3]
Like other freakshow performers, alligator boys were often depicted in banners and advertisements as half-human, half-animal hybrids. Their acts sometimes featured interactions with actual reptiles.[2]
Alligator-skinned performers included:
References
- ↑ Stencell, A. W. (2010). Circus and carnival ballyhoo: sideshow freaks, jaggers and blade box queens. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 185. ISBN 9781550228809.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Nickell, Joe (9 September 2005) (in en). Secrets of the Sideshows. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 141-144, 197-198. ISBN 978-0-8131-2358-5. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Secrets_of_the_Sideshows/sACcmMWM6t4C. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ↑ Stencell, A. W. (2002). Seeing Is Believing: America's Side Shows. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 37. ISBN 1550225294.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hartzman, Marc (2006). American Sideshow. East Rutherford: Penguin Publishing Group. pp. 122–123. ISBN 1585425303.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Mannix, Daniel P. (1990). Freaks: we who are not as others. San Francisco, CA: Re/Search Publications. pp. 13,152,155. ISBN 0940642204.
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