SEEING DOUBLE Fascinating pictures show the lives of conjoined twins in Victorian times who were forced into human ‘freak’ shows

During the 19th century, people were fascinated by these unique families and many of them achieved fame and fortune.

11Ella and Elvira Salon, the conjoined twins who were billed as the two-headed woman act in the 1880sCredit: News Dog Media11Twins Chang and Eng Bunker, who went on display around the world in the 19th centuryCredit: News Dog Media11Chang and Eng pose with their wives, who were also sistersCredit: News Dog Media

And these black-and-white photos show some of twins who achieved celebrity, such as the long-haired albino sisters Florence and Mary Martin as well as conjoined twins Millie and Christine McKoy – known as the ‘The Two Headed Nightingale’ – who were beloved by Queen Victoria.

Exhibitions of unique siblings as live human curiosities can be traced back as far as the seventeenth century when Italian conjoined twins, Lazarus and Joannes Colloredo toured Europe – even visiting the court of Charles I of England.

The upper body and left leg of Joannes stuck out of his handsome brother Lazarus. Lazarus became renowned for his good looks and fathered several children during his travels across the continent.

While two-headed conjoined twins Giacomo and Giovanni Tocci were born in Italy in the 1870s.
Giacomo and Giovanni were born with two heads and just two legs between them – with each twin controlling their respective leg.

When their father first saw his sons’ unusual appearance, he suffered a mental breakdown and was sent into a lunatic asylum until he recovered a month later.

11Albino twins Maximo and Bartola, who were billed as the ‘Aztec Children’Credit: News Dog Media11The pair were later forced to ‘marry’ as part of a stunt to give them more publicityCredit: News Dog Media11British conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, who were joined at the hipCredit: Wellcome Images/News Dog Media11Despite their early success, the girls spent the end of their lives penniless and in obscurityCredit: Wellcome Images/News Dog Media

However, Giacomo’s and Giovanni’s father soon realised that his twin boys could enjoy a lucrative career with their condition and began exhibiting them in shows across the world.

Meanwhile Waino and Plutanor – who were billed as ‘The Wild Men of Borneo’ – were a pair of exceptionally strong dwarf brothers.

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They could perform feats of great strength such as lifting adult audience members and 300lb weights.
However other siblings pictured met more tragic fates such as Maximo and Bartola who were billed as “The Last of the Ancient Aztecs”.

11Radica and Doddica, known as the Orissa sisters, who were joined by a band of cartilage between their chestsCredit: News Dog Media11Two headed conjoined twins Giacomo and Giovanni Tocci, who were born in Italy in the 1870sCredit: News Dog Media11At the height of their fame, Giacomo and Giovanni earned $1,000 a week by being in circus showsCredit: News Dog Media

The brother and sister both suffered from microcephaly and cognitive developmental disability.

But circus promoters shamelessly endorsed them as being ancient children found in a temple of a lost Aztec city.

Maximo and Bartola enjoyed commercial success for some years and even visited Buckingham Palace in 1851.

However when their fame dwindled, the disabled brother and sister were forced to marry each other for a publicity stunt.

11Millie and Christine McKoy, who were American conjoined twins used in circus sideshows, pictured here in 1870sCredit: News Dog Media

Circus promoters cruelly alleged that their incestuous marriage was allowed by Aztec culture and they had an elaborate wedding in London in 1867.