When Fanny Mills emigrated from England to Sandusky, Ohio in the 1860s, she was a petite teenager of only 115 pounds — but she carried most of that weight in her legs and feet. Mills was a victim of Milroy’s disease, which caused her lower legs and feet to swell with lymphatic fluid.
Her feet grew to a whopping 19 inches long, forcing her to wear shoes made of three goatskins and to use pillowcases for socks.
But by the 1880s, people with abnormalities like hers could often find work and even fame, as long as they were willing to debase themselves before paying audiences on the “freak show” circuit.
