Here we have a real photo postcard of a young man in a satin suit wearing three shoes. One rests on a plain wooden stool. Another sits on a carved piano stool. The third is planted on a fur rug, and every piece of furniture in the frame is there to show it off.
His name was Francesco "Frank" Lentini, billed on the midway as The Great Lentini. Asked how he shopped for shoes, he said he bought two pairs and gave the spare left one to a one-legged friend. He looks just past the lens with his hands clasped over a raised knee. Satin catches the studio light like motor oil. Souvenir cards like this sold for small change, and most did not survive the century. This one made it, and it is waiting on its next keeper.
This real photo postcard came out of a serious postcard collector’s estate in Milwaukee. Lentini was born in Rosolini, Sicily, in 1889 with a parasitic twin that gave him a third leg. His family brought him to America as a boy. Ringling Brothers put him in the sideshow, where he kicked a football across the stage with the extra leg. Lentini married Theresa Murray in 1907 and was still touring when he died in 1966.
The back credits the Commercial Photographic Company of Davenport, Iowa. Its printed line swears that the name "Bawden" assures quality and durability. A.R. Bawden was copyrighting Davenport view cards by 1911. The center divider spells KRUXO, a photo paper made by the Kilborn Photo Paper Co. of Cedar Rapids. Oddly, the MESSAGE heading appears printed in reverse. The wild postcard was produced circa 1908-1918 based on the Kruxo paper and Lentini's apparent age. The slightly soft image likely came from a copy negative of an earlier studio portrait. How it landed on Davenport card stock is unknown.
The antique freakshow RPPC measures 5 1/2” tall by 3 1/2” wide. There is a crease through the upper left of the image, with cracking and small emulsion losses along it. A shorter crack sits near the lower right corner of the image. The back shows toning and scattered foxing with light creasing. Corner softening and edge wear accompany scattered white specks in the emulsion. Contrast stays strong and the face reads sharp. Please see all pics as they are part of the description.
I ship FedEx to street addresses in the continental USA only (no PO Boxes). Free shipping on the best-shod man on the midway.
Lentini worked the midway for more than half a century. His card has outlasted him by sixty years and shows no sign of quitting.
