"Ah, monster, how could I give birth to such a monster, this must be the punishment of the devil for me." This is the scream of a 21-year-old British woman after giving birth.
On 5 February 1908, a young woman named Kate Skinner gave birth to a pair of conjoined twin daughters in a makeshift delivery room in the town of Brighton, East Sussex, England. In that era of lack of scientific knowledge, people could not explain the reason for the appearance of Siamese babies, so Siamese babies were regarded as a punishment for the devil, a symbol of misfortune, and even people in ancient times would do cruel things to those lovely Siamese babies.
Daisy and Violet
But Kate's conjoined twin daughters were lucky, at least at the time, when people were only judged as outliers, not as demons. They even became popular for a while, surpassing Hollywood superstars in popularity, and eventually lived to the age of 60, reaching the normal life expectancy of ordinary people at that time. But their lives are not happy, full of countless ups and downs.
So, why did the conjoined twins become popular for a while, surpassing Hollywood superstars? What kind of story did they go through?
Bleak love life
In 1933, Kate's conjoined twin daughters successfully grew up to be adults and settled in the United States, one named Daisy and the other Violet. But because they are Siamese reasons, their emotional lives eventually end in desolation.
Daisy and Violet
At that time, Violet first found his crush, the other party named Maurice Lambert, a musician. Although he knew that Violet and Daisy could not be separated, Morris did not care at all, quickly fell in love with Violet, and even ran to 21 states in the United States in order to marry Violet. Morris once said affectionately to Violet: "No matter how tortuous the road ahead is, and no matter what others say, my feelings for you are like the sun in the sky, always hot and unchanging." ”
But good love often fails to live up to reality, when laws in any U.S. state could not determine how a conjoined sister should marry a man, and they thought that the relationship in that situation was "immoral and indecent" and should not be legitimized.
Daisy and Violet
As a result, Morris hit a wall one after another and was ridiculed by many people. But Morris was convinced that his love would blossom and bear fruit, so he and Violet lived together, waiting for that day. However, when the passion of love is exhausted, Morris cannot accept a fruitless relationship, chooses to break his vows and leaves Violet completely.
Devastated, Violet decides that he will never believe in love again, that he will live for himself, and that he will live well with his sisters who cannot be separated. Unexpectedly, Violet announced his marriage in 1936. The groom was also a very famous actor at that time, named James.
Daisy and Violet
But this relationship is very twisted in the eyes of outsiders, because James is a gay man, and their marriage has been a false name from beginning to end. But Violet didn't care, because the conjoined twins were already in financial trouble and needed to rely on other things to increase their popularity to get a chance to make a comeback, and they valued the film market.
In fact, as early as 1932, Daisy and Violet had filmed the movie "Freaks", hoping to make a name for themselves in the film industry by their true colors. However, contrary to expectations, the two sisters have no experience as actors at all, and they have no fame in the film industry, so the box office of this "Freak" is very dismal, and there is no wave at all.
Daisy and Violet
But the conjoined twins did not give up their acting dreams, and after continuous efforts, in 1951, Daisy and Violet filmed their second film, Life in Chains. During this time, Daisy made the same choice as Violet to marry Harold Estepp, a famous dancer who did not like women. However, Daisy's marriage lasted less than ten days, more like a temporary husband and wife relationship to promote her own movie.
Although Daisy and Violet have made a lot of efforts for their second film, and even deliberately went to the film screening site to interact with the audience, this "Life in Chains" still did not make much waves, and the income was unbearable, and it was impossible to maintain their lives.
Daisy and Violet
However, this also made Daisy and Violet recognize the reality and began to do ordinary work to support themselves, rather than relying on their strange bodies to sensationalize, and Violet also completely ended the "fake" marriage with James for ten years. Violet often thinks of his childhood and asks Daisy sadly, "Are we really the punishment of the devil?" Otherwise, why do unfortunate things keep happening to us? ”
Tragic past
In fact, the birth of Daisy and Violet was completely the product of "accidents". Their mother, Kate, was not yet married at the time, and Daisy and Violet were conceived by Kate when she was a maid at the manor, and it was a very disgusting act at the time. Therefore, Kate would cry out when she gave birth to a conjoined baby: "Monster, how can I give birth to such a monster, this must be the punishment of the devil for me." Even doctors at the time thought the conjoined twins would not live more than a month.
Daisy and Violet
However, reality is often more legendary than film and television, and Daisy and Violet not only safely passed the most dangerous infancy of conjoined babies, but also grew up healthy without any medical assistance.
However, as a mother, Kate can not face the "devil" in her heart, and the more Daisy and Violet grow up, the more restless her heart becomes, and even often whispers: "Monsters, monsters, they are all monsters that demons use to punish me." ”
Eventually, Kate, who could no longer bear it, sold the conjoined twins to Mary Hilton, a bar hostess. Kate used to work as a waitress at her bar, and even when Kate was in labor, Mary came over to help. It can be said that Mary watched the conjoined twins be born, so when Kate wanted to abandon the conjoined twins, Mary bought them.
Daisy and Violet
However, Mary is not out of any good intentions, this kind of person is supreme, and he sees business opportunities before he shoots. The reason why she bought the Siamese sisters was to rely on their strange bodies to do business for her own bar. On the other hand, it is also thought that when the Siamese sisters are slightly older, they can always work for themselves without pay, which is simply not too cost-effective.
In this way, Daisy and Violet were forced to start their acting careers, but because of Siamese reasons, even some simple acting actions still made them suffer. In order to achieve a better soliciting effect, Mary carefully dressed up Daisy and Violet and placed them in the most conspicuous place on the second floor of the bar.
Daisy and Violet
However, this Siamese sister's gimmick really attracted a lot of people. Mary's bar began to pop into the market, and everyone wanted to see the strange bodies of the conjoined twins. Some alcoholics, in order to verify whether they are really one-piece, will use their dirty hands to lift Daisy and Violet's skirts to see if their bodies are really connected. This dark day had an indelible impact on the young minds of Siamese sisters, and even became their earliest memories in life.
Time passed slowly, and Daisy and Violet grew up mocked and touched by those customers. The two sisters, who had begun to understand the matter, once asked each other in a childish voice, "Are we really punished by the devil?" Is being treated in this way a way atone for sin? However, no one gave them an answer, and all they could do was hold each other's hands together in the silent darkness.
Daisy and Violet
At the same time, the bar lady Mary gradually realized that the conjoined twins she owned were of greater value, and it was a waste to just put them in the bar two to attract customers. She thought of all the famous circuses in the world, and there were many kinds of deformed people in it, and if she opened such a circus, she would definitely earn more than she does now.
After some planning, Mary's circus opened, and Daisy and Violet naturally became the top cards in the finale. In 1911, Mary's circus made its first tour of England under the gimmick of conjoined twin sister flowers, causing a huge sensation.
Daisy and Violet in the circus
After all, in that era of slow information circulation and lack of entertainment, many people did not even know what a "conjoined person" was, let alone saw it with their own eyes. Mary's circus was a huge success, which brought her great benefits, but Daisy and Violet's situation did not change, but was squeezed more fiercely, and the slightest disobedience would be beaten by Mary.
Later, in order to obtain more benefits, Mary even packaged Daisy and Violet as "American twins", toured around the world, and finally immigrated directly to the United States with Daisy and Violet, hoping to get greater development there.
Daisy and Violet
Mary died in 1926, but Daisy and Violet were not freed, and they were taken as Mary's private property—slaves, inherited by Mary's daughter Edith and son-in-law Meier Myers. But Edith also sees Daisy and Violet as tools to make money, rather than living people, forcing them to learn musical instruments and even learn to dance, and a little slack will usher in all kinds of inhuman torture.
Eventually free and peaceful old age
In 1931, Daisy and Violet finally found the opportunity to take the money they had secretly saved and hired lawyer Martin Arnold to file a lawsuit against the Ediths and eventually regain their freedom.
Daisy and Violet
In court, Daisy and Violet unfolded the evidence they had secretly collected over the years, from photos of the beatings and doctor's testimonies to testimonies written by witnesses who had witnessed their abuse, and to many pieces of evidence that Edith tortured the twins.
In the end, the court upheld Daisy and Violet's lawsuit, ruling that Edith and his wife could no longer interfere with their personal freedom and compensate them for $100,000 in mental and physical damages.
However, when the long-awaited freedom comes, Daisy and Violet are suddenly confused and even a little overwhelmed. After all, for them, for more than 20 years, they have been repeating between eating, performing, and resting, and they have no idea how to live in other ways.
Daisy and Violet
Under the hesitation, they had to start their old business - circus show again. However, Daisy and Violet, who have never had any business experience, are always making a loss-making business, and even though they have worked very hard, the business is still getting bleak. On many important occasions, Daisy and Violet could not enter at all, because those places, at that time, only members of the "high society" were allowed to come and go, and without the support and packaging of others, many people still regarded the Siamese as a "monster".
Slowly, Daisy and Violet's financial ability became worse and worse, and even later they almost ran out of money to start the show. They had to engage in burlesque performances that they were very reluctant to do, but this still did not save the careers of the two people, and their income was getting less and less, and they soon lost their belongings.
Daisy and Violet
Later, Daisy and Violet tried to develop into movies, but the two who had no experience in starring in movies did not make much waves in the film industry, and the two were still unable to make ends meet, struggling in life. After the blow of emotion and the failure of the second film, Daisy and Violet finally woke up, no longer relying on their strange physical characteristics to attract attention, and began a down-to-earth ordinary life.
Daisy and Violet work as cashiers and cashiers at a grocery store, where no one dislikes them or screams for them. But this dull but warm day may even be the happiest time of their lives.
Daisy and Violet
On January 4, 1969, the owner of the grocery store called the police when he found out that Daisy and Violet had not been to work for several days in a row. However, when the police arrive at Daisy and Violet's house, they find that the sisters have been dead for some time.
After a forensic examination, it was found that the two had died of the flu outbreak at that time. The first to fall ill and die was Daisy, and Violet was unable to move normally after Daisy's death because his body was connected to Daisy, plus some of the two organs were directly connected, and Violet was quickly infected by the bacteria. In the end, Violet also died after two days of living with Daisy's body.
Daisy and Violet's life was turbulent, they experienced all kinds of hardships together, and after their deaths, they were buried together in a special coffin, and perhaps this special companionship was actually the happiness that they could not obtain throughout their lives. Time flies, the world is constantly improving, and I hope that in the future, the tragedy of Lucy and Violet will not happen again, and any life can be treated well by the world.