William Hunt & Krao Farini
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Erwin Baer, Prescott, Arizona Unknown po0309p.jpg PO-0309 B&W 1700-0309-0000 po0309p Photo Card Print 5x7 Historic Photographs 1883 Reproduction requires permission. Digital images property of SHM Library & ArchivesDescription
William Leonard Hunt (June 10, 1838 – January 17, 1929), also known by the stage name The Great Farini, was a well-known 19th and early 20th-century entertainment promoter, tightrope walker and inventor. He is seen in this photo with Krao Farini (1876 – April 16, 1926) who was an American sideshow performer, born with hypertrichosis, also known as “werewolf syndrome.”
Krao took part in 19th-century exhibition tours in North America and Europe. She was adopted by Hunt, also known as Guillermo Antonio Farini, who exploited her appearance. Throughout her life she was falsely advertised as a primitive human and billed as the missing link between humans and apes.
In the past this photo was mislabeled as "The Missing Link" and the man was identified as Dr. Carl/Karl Vogt, who was a well-known German scientist who did research and published his theories on evolution. However after much research, it was discovered that it was a very common practice among photographers in the late 19th-century to order a variety of photos from photographic catalogs to sell them in their photo studio shops. One of Prescott's local photographers, Erwin Baer, appears to have been one of the Western photographers who subscribed to this practice and he brought in many photos from a various photo catalogs. This portrait could be one of the most unique ones he sold at his store in Prescott, Arizona.
Hypertrichosis is an abnormal amount of hair growth over the body. The two distinct types of hypertrichosis are generalized hypertrichosis, which occurs over the entire body, and localized hypertrichosis, which is restricted to a certain area. Hypertrichosis can be either congenital (present at birth) or acquired later in life. Several circus sideshow performers in the 19th and early 20th centuries had hypertrichosis and many of them worked as “freaks.”
Sources:
"Krao Farini". Monstropedia. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012.
"Krao, Missing Link of Circus Sideshow, Dies From 'Flu'". The Harrisburg Evening News. 17 April 1926. p. 18. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016
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