Harry Lewiston
He wrote his memoirs under his stage name, published posthumously in 1968 as Freak Show Man: the Autobiography of Harry Lewiston, as told to Jerry Holtman.
While the circus toured the United States, Lewiston worked as a pony groomer and led the animals in the parade, wearing what he called an "Arab costume" as part of that year's "East Meets West" theme.
After the war ended, he traveled to South Africa to see relatives, as well as Rhodesia, India, and Burma, and eventually shipped back to England.
After the circus season ended for the winter, he worked as a candy butcher for the Union News Company on their train the West Point Railroad, which traveled back and forth from Atlanta to Jacksonville.
Subsequently, he switched to Golden Brothers Circus, where he ran the hamburger stand, sold balloons and novelties, and also served as the substitute announcer.
In early 1927, he worked as a candy butcher and a fill-in performer for Pat Whale's Traveling Burlesque Show, and then briefly ran a brothel/speakeasy in Kansas City, Missouri before the police shut it down.
Lewiston managed the sideshow, and Rose was a fortune teller, but the show closed in late August from poor sales due to the Great Depression.
In 1932, he switched to the John T. Wortham Carnival, where he ran the privilege car and managed a fortune telling booth, while Rose returned to fortunetelling for the Al. G. Barnes Circus that season.
In late 1932, Lewiston was hired by sideshow impresario Duke Mills to organize a freak show for the upcoming "Century of Progress" World's Fair in Chicago, and to serve as the barker and managing director.
Harry Lewiston, formerly of the British army, also spoke of the blacks with genuine respect, adding, apropos of the Nigerians, "You know, those men have eyesight about 300 per cent better than ours.
In 1935, Lewiston started at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus opening at Madison Square Garden, where he directed the "Parade of the Freaks" from the center ring / hippodrome.
In late 1937, Lewiston and Rose left Ringling Bros. to form their own organization, and brought several circus freaks with them, including Grace McDaniels the "Mule-Faced Woman," tattooed girl Stella Grassman, Clico the African pygmy, "Human Balloon" Art Hubbell, Disco the magician, Lady Johanna the mentalist, sword swallowers John and Vivian Dunning, and Mel Burkhart the "Anatomical Wonder," who subsequently developed his "Human Blockhead" act while working in this show.
They initially paired up with the Conklin and Garret Shows and performed at venues throughout the United States and Canada, including the Canadian National Exhibition.
While traveling with Jones in Warren, Pennsylvania, during the summer of 1940, Lewiston's sword swallower Lady Vivian Dunning was profiled in the local paper.
[6] Lewiston also claims to have been the first showman to buy and repurpose the "headless girl" display, transforming it from a simple illusion act to fooling audiences by pretending she was real.
He rigged the exhibit with flowing liquids and medical equipment, and created the story of "Olga Hess," who had been decapitated on a train but was kept alive by a doctor.
[7] Throughout the early to mid-1940s, the museum continued to perform successfully, typically contracting with amusement parks and state fairs during the summers and touring during the winters.
He notes in his autobiography that due to the lewd nature of part of the show, he was sentenced to nine months jail in Eastern State Penitentiary, as were several hoochie coochie girls, though they were all released after six days.
[8] In 1944, while the museum was installed for a month in Pittsburgh, the two legal guardians of Bobo and Kiki, the show's "pinheads," arrived to take the pair back home to Texas.
[10] They co-ran the Monroe Theatre, and a new annex was added to the back of the arcade, where Lewiston managed a variety of attractions for several years, including an exhibit titled "Crime Does Not Pay," bazaars, and sideshow acts.
"[11] After two weeks of recuperation, including treatment with a stomach pump, milk of magnesia, and oatmeal, Marino continued performing with Lewiston's Museum.
In the early 1950s, Harry (now calling himself "Jaffe" again) and Rose retired from performance and management life, and moved to Florida, where they invested in several hotel properties.
