<sod >This young girl on the left is suffering from a goiter - a swelling of the thyroid gland, while the boy has local gigantism  Some of the more disturbing images in the archive feature babies who were stillborn but still included in the shows   Abnormally sized children, left, were always popular as were Siamese twins such as the Tocci Brothers, pictured right  The Lucasie family, who were all albino, were well-known sideshow performers during the 19th century , while Issac W. Sprague, known as 'The Living Skeleton', was 5ft 5in and weighed just 46 pounds According to the British Library, freak shows featuring 'live human curiosities' began touring the country since the 1600s.  Especially popular were tall people, branded as giants, or dwarves. Also extremes such as incredibly fat or skinny people would draw crowds, as would conjoined twins. In the earlier years, people from strange countries or cultures could also make a living touring the country in a show. However, many of the people weren't as shocking as described, so the show owners created a background story to go with each performer. In America, the freak show was popularized by PT Barnham who described his offering as the 'Greatest show on Earth'.  The Thanatos Archive features images form the mid 1800s through to the 1930s, although the popularity of the freak show peaked befure the turn of the century.< eod>< sod > Handwritten on the back of the left picture says it was born in Effingham, Illinois, 1939, complete with a tail, no eyes, no nostrils and enlarged ears, weighting 30 lbs at birth  Abnormally sized children, left, were always popular as were Siamese twins such as the Tocci Brothers, pictured right  The Lucasie family, who were all albino, were well-known sideshow performers during the 19th century , while Issac W. Sprague, known as 'The Living Skeleton', was 5ft 5in and weighed just 46 pounds According to the British Library, freak shows featuring 'live human curiosities' began touring the UK in the 1600s. Especially popular were tall people, branded as giants, or dwarves. Also extremes such as incredibly fat or skinny people would draw crowds, as would conjoined twins. In the earlier years, people from strange countries or cultures could also make a living touring the country in a show. However, many of the people weren't as shocking as described, so the show owners created a background story to go with each performer. In America, the freak show was popularized by PT Barnham who described his offering as the 'Greatest show on Earth'.  The Thanatos Archive features images form the mid 1800s through to the 1930s, although the popularity of the freak show peaked befure the turn of the century.< eod>