Chilliwingi Pigmy Woman Handbill

Image Details

Australian performer from Cape Province. "The Pigmy woman from Africa. The world's smallest female 1929, Photolithograph on yellow sheet, 268 x 140 mm, Ephemera Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: Eph-B-CABOT-VARIETY-1929-01 Australian David Terence Meekin (1886-1966) was responsible for bringing Ubangi Chilliwingi as a touring performer in Australia and New Zealand. She was a pigmy woman from Cape Province, 28 inches tall at 27 years old when she performed in Wellington in 1929. She and Meekin formed a commercially successful association over a generation, engaging a pigmy troupe and returning with them each year to Africa when their visas expired. They then re-signed any available performers. When Meekin died a widower in 1966, his daughter persuaded the Department of Immigration to allow Ubangi to live with her on the Gold Coast, Queensland." (From http://www.goinwith.com/slideshows/view?query=Ephemera)

Date range:

1900-1919

Act Type:

Little People, Midgets, Dwarves, Wild Folk

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Chilliwingi Pigmy Woman Handbill

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