Inside Johnny Fox’s Freakatorium. Photo by Liz Steger-Hartzman.
I first ventured down to New York City’s Lower East Side to visit The Freakatorium in 1999, shortly after it opened. I stood in the presence of bearded ladies, little people, giants, half-men and half-women, and other human oddities immortalized on ornately framed cabinet cards and posters. A two-headed calf stared back at me from the wall, and a mummified cat lay at my feet at the bottom of one of many cabinets. Items carved by Charles Tripp, an armless man, were neatly preserved in a display case. And Tom Thumb’s diminutive but elegant vest and shoes sat neatly on a shelf.
These were just a few of pieces of sideshow memorabilia that filled the walls and coated the ceiling of the tiny museum.
The owner of this magnificent collection was Johnny Fox. We got to talking, and before long he was swallowing a sword and pounding a nail into his nose. Johnny was the King of Swords—a world-renowned sword swallower, sideshow performer, magician, and throughout his decades-long career, a collector. Though he performed all over the country and on television, he was a fixture at the Maryland Renaissance Festival for more than thirty years.
But when he wasn’t performing, he was at The Freakatorium sharing stories about the unique performers surrounding him. To Johnny, it wasn’t just a place to display his collection—it was an education center.
This Snap Wyatt banner, circa 1947, is among the many banners from Johnny Fox’s collection. Photo courtesy of Potter & Potter Auctions.
“New York needs a place where people can come see the history of freakdom,” he told me. “People that were born with deformities were still amazing and sensitive people and they allowed themselves to be viewed and exhibited. They made a good living off doing that. Those people were to be commended for their courageousness and bravery for standing in front of people.”
As we discussed his treasures, he made a point to say that he didn’t own any of them. Rather, he was simply honored to be their current caretaker.
The Freakatorium remained open until 2005. The collection then moved into Fox’s home in Connecticut and remained in storage as he continued traveling and performing.
Sadly, Johnny Fox passed away last December after a “dance” with liver cancer, as he called it.
Earlier in the year, Fox had been given two weeks to live. Never one to give up, and always a believer in the power of the mind, Fox decided the only place he was going was away from the hospice. So he left Connecticut with a small group of old friends who drove him to a clinic called The Oasis of Healing in Mesa, Arizona, for alternative treatments. There, he regained enough health to return to the Maryland Renaissance Festival for one last summer. Though he did not swallow swords, he shared his inspirational story and performed magic as deftly as ever.
On November 10, his collection will be auctioned off through Potter & Potter Auctions in Chicago, dealers of many unusual items.
Jo-Jo the Dog-Face Man pitch book, circa 1882. Photo courtesy of Potter & Potter Auctions.
In addition to the items mentioned above, the nearly 700 pieces available include vintage circus posters, souvenir rings sold by giants, a Fiji mermaid, a unicorn skull, shrunken heads, wax heads of notable historical figures, dime museum broadsides, a four-pronged cannibal fork, a decorated Tibetan sacred monkey skull, and numerous sideshow banners displaying beautifully painted images of the Human Volcano, the King of Swords, the Three-Legged Man, and the Headless Girl, to name a few.
CDV of Chang and Eng Bunker, the original Siamese Twins, circa 1860s. Photo courtesy of Potter & Potter Auctions.
“This is not one of our typical sales – even for us, the people who sell Houdini stuff and regularly sell magic tricks all the time,” Gabe Fajuri told Weird Historian. “It’s a pretty remarkable collection.”
When Fajuri was a teenager he met Fox at a magic convention. Over the years, they became friends, always connecting at annual magic events. They spoke just one week before his passing.
“Make sure you handle this for me,” Fox told Fajuri.
The Sacred Hairy Family of Burma, circa 1880s. Photo courtesy of Potter & Potter Auctions.
And so he did. Fajuri drove out to Fox’s house in Connecticut and filled a 26-foot truck with the collection, then spent nearly four months going through it all and sorting out the pieces. Among his personal favorites are the Snap Wyatt banner featuring “Freaks Past & Present”, a boudoir photo of the Burmese Hairy Family, the Kelty circus photos, and the furry lake trout.
“It’s a pretty weird situation to be in when you’re the guy selling all the stuff of your friends, especially when they’re not around,” Fajuri noted. “It’s a bittersweet kind of thing.”
Life-size plaster cast of Lobster Boy’s right hand (Grady Stiles). Circa 1950s. Photo courtesy of Potter & Potter Auctions.
The auction has attracted more attention than usual and will find bidders online, on the phone, and of course in Chicago where the items will all be beautifully displayed.
So how are starting prices determined for a life-size plaster cast of the Lobster Boy’s hand? Potter & Potter looks to its own sales history in selling oddities, and explores the going prices at other auctions, the rarity of each item, and who the customers might be. Or as Fajuri sums it up, “Market research combined with gut instinct from years of experience.”
As for the market, he expects it to run the gamut. “Everyone from gallery owners and outsider art collectors to people who have worked on sideshows, people who worked for Johnny, people who love magic tricks, people who just like weird things, to dealers and museums,” Fajuri said. “I imagine it’ll be all over the board.”
Fox once told me that he wanted his collection to “bring happiness, or wonder, or awe, or disgust to people. Whatever it stirs up.”
As long as his new group of caretakers agree, I think he’d be happy.
Broadsides featuring: Living Curiosities; Prof. H.B. Reynolds. The World Renowned Sorcerer, Necromancer, and Magician; and Three Mammoths Entertainment. Photo courtesy of Potter & Potter Auctions.
