Walter K. Sibley

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Walter K. Sibley was born in 1874 in Boston, and is widely credited as being the originator of the 10-in-1 sideshow.

His first taste of show business came when he left grade school to be an usher for B.F. Keith, who was then opening a theatre in Sibley's hometown. Later he worked in pyrotechnics, managing fireworks spectaculars, or "specs" as they were called, with names like The Fall of London, and The Fall of Babylon. In his early years in the business, he also occasionally played bit parts in the legitimate theatre, including the part of a page in Hamlet.