Hard To Find Vintage Freakshow Postcard Of Baby Flo

This is a hard to find vintage circus postcard from the 1950s of Flora Mae Johnson, aka "Baby Flo" - who performed as a "fat lady" for a Chicago carnival sideshow beginning in 1955. Postcard contains autograph on back and is in great condition with minor wear on corners and one small indent shown in second picture. What makes this image extra unique is that this would have been circulated during the final years of the circus sideshow- or freak shows as they were commonly called- because by the 1950s, the reputation of the freak show was held to be an unpleasant anachronism, degrading and morally wrong. Thus, the 1950s are the final chapter in a much longer history of the modern freak show, which is usually dated to the first part of the nineteenth century. Flora Mae Johnson, also known as Flora Mae King Jackson, was one of many African Americans who became involved in the circus sideshows - as they faced discrimination in the circus arena and were very rarely seen as a performing act outside of the sideshows. Flora weighed in at 796 lbs at the time of this postcard circulation which put her among the categories of "fat lady" or "world's largest" in the sideshow arena. Flora was born in 1930 in Sugar Lark, Mississippi and weighed 10 lbs at birth. It is said that she weighed 267 lbs at age 11 and that doctors had diagnosed her with some type of thyroid trouble. She weighed in at 621 lbs in 1955 when she went into carnival work in Chicago and was reportedly 840 lbs at the time of her death.

This postcard is hard to find and is a great addition to any vintage collection.