Research Catalog

Title

Canadian carnival freaks and the extraordinary body, 1900-1970s / Jane Nicholas.

Author

Nicholas, Jane, 1977-

Publication

• Toronto ; Buffalo ; London : University of Toronto Press, [2018]
• ©2018

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xiii, 300 pages : illustrations, maps; 24 cm

Summary

"In 1973, a five year old girl known as Pookie was exhibited as "The Monkey Girl" at the Canadian National Exhibition. Pookie was the last of a number of children exhibited as 'freaks' in twentieth-century Canada. Jane Nicholas takes us on a search for answers about how and why the freak show persisted into the 1970s. In Canadian Carnival Freaks and the Extraordinary Body, 1900-1970s, Nicholas offers a sophisticated analysis of the place of the freak show in twentieth-century culture. Freak shows survived and thrived because of their flexible business model, government support, and by mobilizing cultural and medical ideas of the body and normalcy. This book is the first full length study of the freak show in Canada and is a significant contribution to our understanding of the history of Canadian popular culture, attitudes toward children, and the social construction of able-bodiness. Based on an impressive research foundation, the book will be of particular interest to anyone interested in the history of disability, the history of childhood, and the history of consumer culture."--

Subjects

• Sideshows
• Freak shows
• Entertainers
• Sideshows > Canada > History > 20th century
• Freak shows > Canada > History > 20th century
• Sideshows > Social aspects > Canada > History > 20th century
• Carnivals > Social aspects > Canada > History > 20th century
• Canada
• Entertainers > Canada > History > 20th century
• Carnivals > Canada > History > 20th century
• History
• 1900-1999
• Freak shows > Social aspects > Canada > History > 20th century
• Entertainers > Canada > Social conditions > 20th century

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-282) and index.

Call Number

MWFB 18-3079

ISBN

• 9781487502652
• 1487502656
• 9781487522087
• 1487522088

OCLC

1035216901

Author

Nicholas, Jane, 1977- author.

Title

Canadian carnival freaks and the extraordinary body, 1900-1970s / Jane Nicholas.

Publisher

Toronto ; Buffalo ; London : University of Toronto Press, [2018]

Copyright Date

©2018

Type of Content

text

still image

cartographic image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-282) and index.

Chronological Term

1900-1999

Research Call Number

MWFB 18-3079