One night in 1927, while seated at the back of a venue the Muse brothers came out to sing. Even though Black people weren’t allowed at the circus, she would attend whenever one was in town.
Their mother Harriett continued looking for them for years. This talent along with ailing health and a lack of education resulted in them being exploited even further, but their knack for music would present them with an opportunity at a family reunion. He was also the promoter who came up with their wildman gimmick. Known as a better promoter, he would rent them out to other circuses in the U.S and beyond and would rake in close to $440,000 in today’s money throughout the 1910s and 1920s. Their talent and appearance contributed to Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus’ flourishing in the 1920s.Īt this time, the Muse brothers were promoted by Candy Shelton who got them from Stokes. Outside of that, their childhood was spent in dirty lodgings and working several shows a day. When they became older, it was found out that the Muse brothers had a talent for music into their 20’s. They would speak jibberish and act as expected of a wildman/cannibal gimmick. INTO THE CIRCUSĭepending on who promoted them they were either the Sheep-Headed Cannibals or the Ambassadors from Mars among other names. They were told their mother Harriett had died and all that was left for them was a miserable existence in the freak show as Iko and Eko. Given the combination of there being many traveling circuses at different sizes in the U.S at the time and the police not caring, George and Willie Muse wouldn’t see their mother for several years. Robert Stokes managed to lure the boys from their home and put them to work in his traveling sideshow.
This was a practice that happened all around the nation. While working the tobacco fields on one such day they would be kidnapped and forced into the circus circuit. In 1899, the two brothers-younger than ten-had to wear unseasonable clothing to protect them from the summer sun. ORIGIN OF THE MUSE BROTHERSĪlbino brothers George and Willie Muse were two such acts. Often on the show program was the “freak show.” At the time, freak shows displayed of people with either something physical or mental, a unique talent, or some combination. Throughout the late 19th century and early 20th century, circus goers could see their share of acrobats, animals doing tricks, and clowns attempting to make the crowd laugh.
0 kommentar(er)
