Princess Ann - Sideshow Performer & World's Tiniest Lady
- Nightmare Notebooks
- 16 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Back in 2022, I came across a booth at a horror convention in Florida that had a variety of oddities and antiques. I'm a sucker for old things, but especially weird old things. Most of the stuff at the booth was way out of my price range (or suitcase size range), but then I saw a little postcard with a tiny woman on the front. I took a closer look at it, and saw that she was born in Denver! What were the chances I'd be in another state and find this little post card? I decided to buy it as my souvenir for the day and tucked it neatly away in my bag.
The postcard ended up taking on a life of it's own between me and my friends. Over the last couple of years it has truly brought us a lot of joy. Weird, I know. But what do you expect from Twin Peaks fanatics? In some sort of way, it felt like we were keeping her memory alive. The only problem is that I didn't actually know anything about her, aside from what was on the postcard. One day the curiosity hit me like a ton of bricks and I locked in to try and figure out the mystery of Princess Ann.
When I scoured the internet, I initially didn't find much, but I did come across another Princess Ann postcard on E-bay for a good price and decided to order that. I have a collector's heart... so when I also found 2 more old postcards from an online source I made an offer for them too. So, I was then the proud owner of 4 (and still looking for more) Princess Ann postcards! Unfortunately, I still knew nothing about her. I started to really hyperfocus and wonder what her life was like. Were people kind to her? What was life like in a traveling side show? What was HER life like in a sideshow as a very small woman? In my mind, sideshows had more of a negative association. A place where differently abled people went to be ogled at...a place where people laughed or grimaced at them and they had to tolerate it, because what choice did they have? The modern world is still difficult for differently abled people so I can only imagine that 50+ years ago, it was surely worse. But for many, it was probably their only chance at income & independence. To be honest, it started to make me a little sad to think about. That being said, I think I may have a lot to learn.
I tried every searching every combination of words that I could think of, and eventually came across a 20+ year old forum with the below information:
"I have just found out that I am related to Margaret Ann Robinson. She was dubbed the World’s Smallest Lady. Do you have any additional information about her? I have a picture that states she is 18 inches tall at 18 years old and weighs 16 pounds. She may be my grandmother’s sister’s daughter. - Cynthia J ******- Seattle WA, USA - Monday, 14 November 2005
JM: I don't know much about Margaret Ann Robinson, other than that she appeared in the Midget Village at the World's Fair in Chicago (1933-34). However, according to ShowHistory.com, Margaret was born Margaret Ann Meek and also appeared under the name "Princess Ann". She seems to have been one of the few performing little people from that era who did not appear as a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz, but if we were all judged by what we didn't do that would be quite a long list! Hope that helps. If you do turn up any more information, please let me know.
Once I had her real name, I was able to find out a little bit more about her to go along with the information on the post cards.
World's tiniest lady.
She was born in Denver, CO to regular sized parents.
She spent nearly 50 years touring with big shows like the Hoxie Brothers Circus and the John Francis Shows.
In the 1960's she was a part of the Congress of Human Oddities.
The postcards I have found were most likely a source of income. Performers bought these "pitch cards" in bulk and sold them for profit.
Margaret travelled with her mom for nearly her whole career.
She was a savvy business woman & had a wonderful sense of humor.
In another section of the forum, I saw someone comment about Margaret named Harley Newman. I looked up this person, and it turns out he has made a whole career as a performance artist! He's done some really cool stuff. I decided to reach out to him to see if he could give me any other information about her. He was kind enough to answer me, which was a real treat as I really didn't think I'd end up hearing back. I loved getting to hear about her from someone who knew her. Below, I've copied what he said:
Hi Eryn
Roger Boyd Jr managed the sideshow on Hoxie Bros Circus for the two seasons I worked there…1976 and ’77. Margaret Ann was one of the acts. She pitched and sold postcards about herself as her act. Her pitch was basic. “Hello, my name is Margaret Ann Robinson, the world’s smallest woman. I was born to normal parents in Denver in (date). Etc” I don’t remember the price. When she was pitched from the bally, it was a bit longer, mentioning her height and weight, or numbers approximating that. The main draw for the sideshow was a gorilla called Mongo, who belonged to Bob and Mae Noell. He had a much more elaborate pitch, which was great for selling tickets…the wild jungle monster and all that. She was a delightful person with a wicked sense of humor. One of the other performers was the Baron (Bill Unks, sword-swallowing and fire-eating), who she liked to get riled up. In the ’76 season we all lived in the same travel-trailer. Margaret Ann and her mom had one end. A small batch of men lived at the other. There was a bathroom in the middle, but no water or sewage disposal. Anyway, M-A was small enough that she could slip thru a window when the door was locked, to short-sheet the Baron’s bed. M-A’s mom travelled with her all the time. She was a skinny chain-smoker. I wasn’t a sideshow performer yet, mostly did clowning.
In the end, I found the below photo by Kenfrick Photography who photographed Margaret and her mother in 1976 at the Hoxie Brothers circus. I still have a lot of questions about what her life was like, but I'm very thankful I have found out everything that I have!
We're not related. I barely knew anything about sideshows....but I feel a strange connection to this little lady. Life is full of mysteries and sometimes we are entrusted to solve them. I enjoy the idea of keeping history alive, and I'm looking forward to learning more about other performers.
Here are a few images of her over the years.
