Hoaxes, Humbugs and Spectacles, by Mark Sloan

Hoaxes, Humbugs and Spectacles, by Mark Sloan. 1990 first edition hardcover. 162 pages, very nice condition.

Astonishing Photographs of Smelt Wrestlers, Human Projectiles, Giant Hailstones, Contortionists, Elephant Impersonators, and Much, Much More! Featuring more than 150 black-and-white photographs, this is a vintage collection of bizarre, unusual, and humorous pictures that explore the universal human interest in spectacle. For four years Mark Sloan traveled across America unearthing everything from tiny tin-types sold in the nineteenth century as souvenirs to previously unprinted promotional pictures of circus performers (found hidden in a box beneath somebody's bed) to a bundle of news photos rescued from the Denver Post's dumpster. These pictures, which date from the 1840s to the 1950s are like the treasures in a time capsule-years later they have the same power to amuse, amaze, and entertain.