Harper's Parlor Circus Songster

Songster. The Harper brothers each had one leg, and were photographed by EISENMANN-- see catalogue #2064. Tom Harper lost his leg after an injury in the Civil War, and started an act he called simply "One-Legged Song and Dance" in 1869. Tom's younger brother Will had his leg amputated at the age of 14 after suffering from Erysipelas-- a dangerous infectious disease before the age of antibiotics. After recovering from the loss of his leg he trained for three years to become an acrobat, and joined his brother in the act in 1878.