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Further into Imperfecta Living Curiosities: Agency and Exploitation of the Teratological Body Curiosity draws us to the monstrous. But seeing is believing: whether in a book, a museum, or in a show, for centuries people have flocked to see “monsters” for themselves. In the 19th century, many people born with non-normative bodies performed as “freaks” in circus sideshows. Circuses became a sensation and they served as a forerunner to the modern entertainment industry. This exhibit explores the lives of the performers and showmen whose livelihoods depended on the public’s curiosity about seeing wondrous bodies for themselves. Seeing is Believing: Visualizing the Teratological Body When it comes to the wondrous, seeing is believing. From this page, you can explore some of the ways that “monsters” have been depicted over the centuries. Woodcuts in early modern texts, preservation in medical museums, and photography all have been used to display people. These technologies allowed one person’s image to travel across the world and allowed their subjects to “survive” beyond death. What Does It Mean to be "Other?" What does it mean to be a “monster?” What does it mean to be “normal?” These are not objective categories. They have changed meaning throughout history as people have become exposed to a wider diversity of nature, people, and ideas. From this path, you can explore some types of “Otherness” that have, throughout history, challenged apparently objective categories and shaped the direction of science.

Chang and Eng Bunker and their families, 1853

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Chang and Eng and Barnum Many of us associate the name “P.T. Barnum” with the circus. But before Barnum began the circus, he ran a museum. Barnum’s American Museum opened in New York City in 1841. The museum was home to many types of oddities, and many people with non-normative bodies found their way to the stage of the lecture hall in Barnum’s American Museum. Two of these performers might be familiar to you if you have visited the Mütter Museum: Chang and Eng Bunker. Many of us associate the name “P.T. Barnum” with the circus. But before Barnum began the circus, he ran a museum. Barnum’s American Museum opened in New York City in 1841. The museum was home to many types of oddities, and many people with non-normative bodies found their way to the stage of the lecture hall in Barnum’s American Museum. Two of these performers might be familiar to you if you have visited the Mütter Museum: Chang and Eng Bunker.

Chang and Eng Bunker were born in Siam (modern day Thailand) in 1811. In their late teens, Chang and Eng moved first to England and then to the United States to pursue a life of performance. At first, the twins worked under contract with a man who arranged their tours, but when the contract was up, Chang and Eng decided to go into business for themselves. They toured widely around the United States until 1838, by which time they had amassed a fortune of $60,000 (over $1,500,000 dollars in today’s money). Chang and Eng bought adjacent farms in North Carolina, they married two sisters, and had twenty-one children.

After losing most of their fortune during the American Civil War, Chang and Eng briefly returned to the stage to put on a series of shows at Barnum’s American Museum (by then the museum also had a wax statue of the twins). These shows led to a European tour in 1868, during which time the brothers met with various doctors who examined the possibility of separation. The Bunkers returned to the United States in 1870.

After their deaths in 1874, their bodies were autopsied at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, home of the Historical Medical Library and the Mütter Museum, where their death cast and conjoined liver remain on display.