Violet and Daisy: The Story of Vaudeville's Famous Conjoined Twins
New York: Schwartz & Wade, 2021. First edition. Hardcover. First printing. Fine, fresh unused copy (rem. dot bottom edge) in equally fine dust jacket. Hardcover. 310 pp. with index. illustrated. "They were as sweet and pretty as their names would suggest, the pair of them as alike as two flower buds on a single stem. They were also joined, back to back, at the base of their spine...". Violet and Daisy Skinner were born on February 5, 1908. During a difficult delivery, the midwife assumed that she was seeing a pair of twins emerging; that was not untrue but their mother Kate began screaming when it turned out that the otherwise normal set of baby girls were conjoined at the base of the spine. Back them, such birth anomalies were considered, freaks and monsters. The horrified mother abandoned the babies to the care of the midwife who almost immediately put them on display in the back room of her pub. Thus began a course of blatant exploitation that would range from the Brighton seashore to Australian amusement parks, American sideshows and eventually to phenomenal success in vaudeville. Fine / fine. Item #E31430
ISBN: 9780593119723
Price: $12.95