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ODDBALLS

Why ODDBALLS? Well, you could just as easily call them outsiders or eccentrics. These are the certain class of performers whose very act/performance consisted of courting the image of eccentricity. It was not necessary that they acted strange– or even that they had an act at all. There was a time in the distant past when the mere essence of these folks passing through your town elicited entertainment in the form of simple curiosity and wonder. And they got paid by selling souvenirs like the ones below. A-No.1 Champion Tramp Leatherman Osca The Snake Fiend Prof. H.A. Tipper

See also: Eccentrics

See also: Unusual Artists and Craftsmen

See also: Geeks

See also: Long-Distance Travelers

See also: True Crime

Performers in this category:

E.J. Perry

Barney Nelson

Nabor Feliz

Rattlesnake Pete

Sarah Beffin

Charles Francois Felu

The Unknown Performers

Lucky Shepardson

Copper Rex Allen

The Abernathy Boys

“A-No.1”

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THE LIFE OF DIRTY DICK

Added Jun 16 2025

Kid Canfield Pitchbook (54 Pages)

Added May 25 2025

E.J. Perry Silhouettist Silouette, 1909

Added Dec 28 2024

E.J. Perry Silhouettist Silouette

Added Dec 28 2024

Grand & Matchless Exhibition (Wax Show)

Added Dec 28 2024

Contact Sheet For Unidentified Carnival With Geek, Girl Show and Motordome

Added Aug 11 2024

Antoine Probst Pitchbook

Added Aug 4 2024

James Zaharee Souvenir Rice Card from Ripley’s Odditorium, San Diego

Added May 7 2023

Osca “The Snake Fiend”

Added Jan 15 2023

Unidentified Legless One-Armed Motorcycle Rider With His Dog

Added Oct 8 2022

Legless One-Armed Driver With Dog

Added Oct 8 2022

Rose “That Strange Creature”

Added Aug 14 2022

Wortley Royal Waxwork

Added Jan 10 2022

Rattlesnake Pete’s Museum Interior

Added Nov 7 2021

Rattlesnake Pete

Added Nov 7 2021

Rattlesnake Pete And His Parade Float

Added Nov 7 2021

Rattlesnake Pete And “The Largest Horse On Earth”

Added Nov 7 2021

Rattlesnake Pete And His Dogs

Added Nov 7 2021

Rattlesnake Pete’s Restaurant and Museum

Added Nov 7 2021

Nabor Felix “Lightning Sculptor”

Added Sep 27 2020

E.L. Blystone’s Ripley’s Odditorium Microscopy Writing for 1933

Added May 24 2020

Leon Cameron “Worlds’ Smallest Chauffeur”

Added May 17 2020

Blystone, Microscopy Writer Advert for Ripley’s Odditorium, 1933 Century of Progress

Added May 10 2020

Richard B. Coogan, 100,000 Mile Trip On Motorcycle

Added Jul 29 2019

James W. Zaharee Rice Writing Souvenir, 1935

Added Oct 6 2016

Homma Japanese Rice Writer Souvenir, 1934 Odditorium

Added Oct 6 2016

James W. Zaharee Souvenir Rice Writing From Ripley’s Odditorium, 1935

Added Oct 6 2016

James W. Zaharee Souvenir Rice Writing From Ripley’s Odditorium, 1935

Added Oct 6 2016

James W. Zaharee Souvenir Rice Writer Card, 1936

Added Oct 3 2016

Charles Felu, Armless Artist Painting A Self Portrait

Added May 29 2016

Barney Nelson, Armless Artist

Added Sep 8 2015

Cyclone Breese

Added Apr 5 2015

Juanita, Wild Girl/Snake Show

Added Oct 12 2014

Mr. John Fitzpatrick

Added Oct 3 2014

Professor K.F. Fitz Showcard Writer from Admiral Dot’s Autograph Book

Added Jul 12 2014

Frank McKeown “Armless Globe Trotter”

Added Jun 26 2014

Frank McKeown “Armless Wonder”

Added Jun 26 2014

OHIO ELECTRIC CHAIR Souvenir

Added Jun 26 2014

Capture of Bosco Geek Show

Added Apr 13 2014

Nabor Feliz Netzahualt “Clay Sculptor”

Added Apr 13 2014

Free Images

Dolly Dutton’s Sheet Music

Added May 31, 2025

Wonderland Circus Sideshow, Coney Island

Added December 31, 2024

1893 Newspaper Advertisement For The Tocci Brothers and Chevalier Cliquot

Added March 30, 2024

1893 Newspaper Advertisement For The Tocci Brothers and Chevalier Cliquot

Added March 30, 2024

HORROR STORIES Pulp Cover Two-Headed Girl (December 1940)

Added January 28, 2024

Baby Irene “Fat Lady” Cashes In On Laughs (1950)

Added December 26, 2023

1937 Philadelphia Store Show Facade

Added July 22, 2023

Mr. & Mrs. Chauncy Morlan at Huber’s 14th Street Museum

Added July 21, 2023

Hulett Pest Control Spokesmen, Dwarfs John and Greg Rice

Added January 31, 2023

Foy Large & Frank Morgner

Added October 24, 2021