Wild Men of Borneo

The Wild Men of Borneo, Waino and Plutanor, were a pair of exceptionally strong dwarf brothers who were most famously associated with P. T. Barnum and his freak show exhibitions.

[2] They were each 40 inches (100 centimeters) tall and weighed about 45 pounds (20 kg), yet could perform feats of great strength, such as lifting heavy weights and wrestling with audience members on stage.

Discovered and promoted by a traveling showman known as Doctor Warner in 1852, Hiram and Barney were given new names, Waino and Plutanor, and a sensational backstory – they were said to be from the island of Borneo, where they had been captured after a great struggle with armed sailors.

[6] In June 1880 at the time of the federal census, they were touring with William C. Coup's circus and were enumerated under their assumed identities.

With Barnum's fabled promotional skill, the careers of the Wild Men of Borneo took off and over the course of the next 25 years, the pair earned approximately $200,000, which was an enormous sum in that era, equivalent to $6,000,000 today.