[Faline]

The del Rio family midgets - Spain's answer to the German Doll family - came into the world as Paul, Inez and Trinidad Rodriguez, three of fifteen otherwise average-sized children. The trio abandoned the family name in favor of the catchier del Rio, with the two girls changing their names to Delores and Carmen. Paul claimed to be but 19" tall, and his sister Delores 21". Carmen, the third sister, claimed a height of 33". The singing, dancing siblings were brought to the United States by way of Mexico around 1935 and exhibited at the Midget Village at the California Pacific International Exhibition that year. They also played the Great Lakes Exposition in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1936, and while rehearsing a dance number there, Delores fell from a 4-foot stage and sustained serious injuries. She survived, and she later appeared with her brother and sister at Hamid's Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1938, and the New York World's Fair in 1939. They toured Canada in 1938-39 and, being devout Spanish Catholics, received their first communion in Montreal on May 29, 1938.
Although the tallest of the Del Rio midgets, Carmen forged an independent career as the World's Smallest Woman, using her birth name, Trinidad Rodriguez. In 1939 the siblings filed suit against their agent, claiming he had withheld $4,287 in wages from them. Carmen made all the papers when she testified against the agent and had to stand on the judge's bench to be sworn in.

By 1944 there was a fourth del Rio, Dorothy. It's unknown whether she was Paul's bride or simply an unrelated entertainer who changed her name to fit in with the troupe. Trinidad and Delores both married dwarfs: bandmates Joseph James Milano and "Idaho" Lewis Croft. Mr. and Mrs. Milano retired from showbusiness in Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked in a machine shop and she kept house. Their daughter Mary Ann was born by C-section on July 5, 1956.

Photo: Real photo postcard, ca. 1935. Handwritten on back, "Trinidad Del Rio, Paul, Dolores. 22 years old 33 inches tall 25 lb, 12 years old 19 inches tall 12 lb, 17 years old 21 inches tall 16 lb."

[NeckKnifeWarrior]

is it wrong if i find this funny

[Faline]

A Dwarf couple:

Major Noble George Washington Winner was born in LaMotte, Iowa, on July 12, 1869. He joined up with the Barnum & Bailey Circus at the age of 18 and performed with them at least until 1891. In 1896, while appearing with the John Robinson & Franklin Bros. Circus, he met Mary Jane Gongaware, who was born in Letonia, Ohio in 1878. Both Winners came from families of average-sized people and blamed their small size on childhood illnesses.
The dwarf couple were publicly married in Mason, Michigan, on February 3, 1896, Mrs. Winner's birthday. Wrote the Lima Times Democrat in 1902, "...this little man left the impression that he had profited in more ways than one through his travels, and mingling with people of all classes. He is a splendid judge of character and reads faces like an open book, but experience has taught him to pass by the frequent throughtless remarks which greet his ears as the crowds come and go. His reply to a fashionably dressed lady who aimed a remark at him in regard to what the Major smilingly terms his homeliness, would have done credit to a courtly wit, and the lady had enough good sense left to offer an abject apology.

"Mrs. Winner remarked that it was a long time before she got used to being gazed on as a curiosity, but she now rather enjoys meeting the people and seeing the sights which their travel permits."

Mrs. Winner suffered from chronic health problems; her appearance in photographs is consistent with tuberculosis. On November 9, 1925, she died while on a circus engagement in Seattle. Major Winner grew increasingly despondent after losing his companion of nearly thirty years. Three years later, he drowned himself in the bathtub of his San Francisco home.

Photo: Cabinet card by Frank Wendt, ca. 1890s, author's collection.

[Karma]

I know it's wrong, (in a 'politically incorrect sort of way) but I find them 'cute'. Can't help it, but when I see a dwarf or 'little person' I want to pick them up.

[Rachee]

Awwwww...they are so cute

[Sharon]

Cute and funny Like those lifelike really expensive dolls you can buy.

[K9Grip]

Originally Posted by Karma ↗

I know it's wrong, (in a 'politically incorrect sort of way) but I find them 'cute'. Can't help it, but when I see a dwarf or 'little person' I want to pick them up.

I feel the same way. Just pinch their cheeks and squeeze.

[Spiffyfable]

I must be drinking... I see little people

[GPZ]

On an semi-related note, how the hell does one drown himself in the bathtub?

[r0tten]

I would have loved to have gone to some of those old timey side shows. Everyone is too PC and sensitive now. I'm sure a lot of the people in the sideshows actually enjoyed it and had fun.