Siamese Twins c. 1911 Circus Freaks Josefa & Rosa w/ Baby Franz Antique PostCard

Description

Siamese Twins -- Authentic circa early 1910's:  Josefa & Rosa and Baby
Josefa and Rosa Blažek, with their Baby "Little Franz"  (Franz was born April 16, 1910)
Antique Entertainment, Circus, Theater, Music, Vaudeville, Comedy and Stage -type Souvenir PostCard
HISTORICAL NOTE
:
Rosa and Josepha Blažek    (1878 – 1922 ... died in Chicago.)
The The conjoined sisters Rosa and Josepha Blažek were born in Skrejšov, Bohemia on January 20, 1878.
The two were pygopagus – joined at the posterior. They shared tissue and cartilage but were also joined at a thoracic vertebra.
It was a delicate fusion
; when their mother took them to Paris at the age of thirteen
, doctors confirmed there was no possibility of separation.
It was in Paris were the twins began their career in professional exhibition.
Depending what story you believe, until that point their mother was either adamantly against displaying her daughters for profit or
limited their publicity to local fairs. But the twins themselves saw Paris as an opportunity to get out of their tiny village.
They found a manager, learned to sing and play the xylophone, and began drawing crowds.
Like many conjoined performers, much was made of their differences in personality and tastes.
Rosa was considered the sharper of the two. She was witty and talkative while Josepha was introverted.
Physically Rosa was the more dominant of the two sisters.
Josepha was slightly more deformed than her sister, with her left leg being substantially shorter than her right.
In matters of promotion the pair was heavily sexualized and posters for their appearance at the Theatre Imperial de la Gaiete
featured with bared midriffs and tight corsets.
As a result the public conjectured on their sexual activity and the complications their physical condition posed.
The Blažek sisters were famous in the 1890’s as they toured Europe.
They eventually become quite skilled on the violin and stunned crowds with their enthusiastic duets.
But, by the turn of the twentieth century, their popularity quickly evaporated due to poor management and overexposure.
Their obscurity was shattered in 1909 when Rosa claimed to be pregnant.
Controversy spread like wildfire and rekindled their celebrity.
To the public, the idea of such a liaison was bewildering. Although the twins had separate vaginae,
their physical proximity seemingly made any tryst a ménage à trois.
The newspapers filled with rumour laced articles. Some believed the twins were sex crazed harlots;
others depicted Josepha as an unwilling victim.
Rosa claimed she had only had intercourse once and she refused to name the father.
There was much speculation that their manager was the father and legend has it
he gave the girls 95,000 marks for three years to keep the duo quiet.
Regardless of the paternity, on April 16 1910 ‘Little Franz’ entered the picture.
The baby boy was named Franz, after his alleged father, a soldier named Franz Dvorak,
but was known by the diminutive Franzl or "Little Franz".
Both twins produced milk and were able to nurse the child, although a wet nurse was employed for the sake of convenience.
As Franz grew, he joined the twins’ travelling show as ‘The Son of Two Mothers’
and with their newfound celebrity the three of them left Europe and appeared in the united states,
previously only visiting America during the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
The twins set their sights on vaudeville and established a base in Chicago
but their dream of the American stage was cut short when Rosa fell ill with influenza.
As Rosa recovered, Josepha became sick and her illness soon overcame her.
Doctors were uncertain of the diagnosis and shortly after being admitted into Chicago’s West End Hospital
on March 22, 1922, Rosa fell into a coma.
Josepha Blažek died on March 30, 1922. Rosa followed her twelve minutes later.
With their death, another media frenzy began around who was entitled to their fortune.
Soon after they were laid to rest, the matter was a moot point.
It was discovered that the pair only had a savings of 0 between them.   (From: www The Human Marvels)
To See More 19th Century
Circus & Entertainment
Click Here:
(( MORE CIRCUS CARDS ))
To See More
Famous People
Cards Click Here:
(( MORE CELEBRITIES CARDS ))
======================================================================================
======================================================================================
* MORE
GREAT
pre-1900
Freak / Circus / Theater / Vaudeville
= use "Search my store"
or
Visit my store:
Click
this Hot Link:
Dave Cheadle Card Store
======================================================================================
======================================================================================
Condition:
- Displays with evidence of aging, flaws and wear, as seen in  HUGE  scans far above.
Please ... SEE  the above   HUGE   SCANS to note any and all FLAWS!
Size:
--   see ruler in the
scans.
All of the Dave Cheadle Card Store cards are Authentic Antiques = 100% Guaranteed Original
After over 40 years of collecting
, I'm thinning my archives of thousands and thousands of pre-1900 cards.
My inventory includes items ranging from common and affordable to one-of-a-kind rarities that I have used to illustrate
my over 150 articles that I have published, along with numerous books I've published, including
My  ... now out-of-print 1996 classic book that helped
define the hobby of Victorian Trade Card collecting:
VICTORIAN TRADE CARDS
HISTORICAL REFERENCE & VALUE GUIDE,
by  Dave Cheadle
.
Be sure to subscribe to my STORE NEWSLETTER and to add me to your favorites list!
As a life-long collector and social historian, and
as the founding editor of the Trade Card Collectors Association's journal, "The Trade Card Quarterly,"
I can certify that all items offered are authentic and fully guaranteed-- full refunds without question if not as represented.
FREE Shipping
with
TRACKING
and professional packaging
within United States:  -  YES!
International Global Shipping now handled with charges determined via the ebay Global Shipping Program.
More
GREAT ADVERTISING TRADE CARDS, ephemera, vintage Colorado History Postcards
Historical Paper Americana, 19th Century and antique cards etc. like this
right now for  ~  Immediate Purchase  ~   in my store
as --
BUY IT NOW
= Visit the Dave Cheadle Card Store:
Click this Hot Link:
Dave Cheadle Card Store
=======================================================================
MORE!    Pre-1900   ~  GREAT CARDS !
= Visit the Dave Cheadle Card Store:
Click this Hot Link:
Dave Cheadle Card Store
=======================================================================