As a sideshow attraction, Circassian beauties were women with big hair. Circassian ancestry was not required.
Circassian beauties were allegedly women of the Circassian people of the Caucasus mountain range in Circassia neighbouring Ukraine and Georgia. A fairly extensive literary history suggests that Circassian women were unusually beautiful, spirited and elegant, and as such were desirable as slave concubines. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Big hair is a term that can refer to hairstyles that emphasize large volume or largely styled hair. ... Circassians is a term derived from the Turkic Cherkess (Çerkes), and is not the self-designation of any people. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Caucasus Mountains. ... Circassia, also known as Cherkessia in Russian, is a region in Caucasia. ... A swampy marsh area ...
This reputation dates back to the Ottoman Empire when Circassian women living in the Sultan's Harem started to build their reputation as extremely beautiful and genteel. As a result of this reputation, American showman P. T. Barnum exhibited women whom he claimed were Circassian beauties. Motto دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1680, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299–1326) Bursa (1326–65) Edirne (1365–1453) Constantinople (Ä°stanbul, 1453–1922) Language(s) Ottoman Turkish Government Monarchy Sultans - 1281–1326 Osman I - 1918–22 Mehmed VI... Coming from the Arab tradition, the harîm Øريم (compare haram) is the part of the household forbidden to male strangers. ... Phineas Taylor Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum by Mathew Brady 1856 newspaper advertisement for Barnums American Museum Parody of Jenny Linds first American tour for P.T. Barnum, New York City, October 1850 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: P. T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5...
"The Circassians are poor, and their daughters are beautiful, and indeed it is in them they chiefly trade. They furnish with those beauties the seraglios of the Turkish Sultan, of the Persian Sophy, and of all of those who are welathy enough to purchase nd maintain such precious merchandise. These maidens are very honourably and virtuously instructed how to fondle and carress men; are taught dances of a very polite and effeminate kind; and how to heighten by the most voluptuous artifices the pleasures of their disdainful masters for whome they are designed." Letter XI, On Inoculation.</ref> Their beauty is also mentioned in Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, in which Fielding remarked, "How contemptible would the brightest Circassian beauty, drest in all the jewels of the Indies, appear to my eyes!"[1] Similar erotic claims about Circassian women appear in Lord Byron's Don Juan, in which the tale of a slave auction is told: Henry Fielding (April 22, 1707 – October 8, 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humor and satirical prowess and as the author of the novel Tom Jones. ... The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (often known simply as Tom Jones) is a comic novel by Henry Fielding. ... Lord Byron, English poet Lord Byron (1803), as painted by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, (January 22, 1788 – April 19, 1824) was the most widely read English language poet of his day. ... Don Juan with his sword in Don Giovanni, by Chopin Don Juan is a legendary fictional libertine, whose story has been told many times by different authors. ...
For one Circassian, a sweet girl, were given, Warranted virgin. Beauty’s brightest colours Had decked her out in all the hues of heaven. Her sale sent home some disappointed bawlers, Who bade on till the hundreds reached the eleven, But when the offer went beyond, they knew ‘Twas for the Sultan and at once withdrew.
- Don Juan, canto IV, verse 114
The legend of Circassian women was also repeated by Karl Marx, who in The Philosophical Manifesto of the Historical School of Law wrote that "Even beauty is more likely to be found in a Circassian slave girl than in a beggar girl", referring to the fact that even a slave has some security and safety, but a "free" beggar has none.[2]Mark Twain reported in The Innocents Abroad that "Circassian and Georgian girls are still sold in Constantinople by their parents, but not publicly."[3] In the mid nineteenth century "Circassian hair dye" was marketed to create a rich dark lustrous effect.[4] Their beauty is still known in many cultures where Circassian people immigrated and live since then. Poems and songs were written about the Beauty of Circassian women in countries such as Turkey, Jordan and Syria and the term "Circassian beauty" is still used in countries where people of Circassian origin still live.
19th century sideshow attraction
In 1856 The New York Daily Times reported that a consequence of the Russian conquest of the Caucasus was an excess of beautiful Circassian women on the Constantinopleslave market, and that this was causing prices of slaves in general to plummet.[5] The report drew on the existing idea that the region was the source of the purest Caucasian stock, producing the most beautiful white women. Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818, Trier, Germany – March 14, 1883, London) was a German philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, writer, and lecturer. ... Innocents Abroad cover The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims Progress was published by American author Mark Twain in 1869. ... Map of Constantinople. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Circassians is a term derived from the Turkic Cherkess (Çerkes), and is not the self-designation of any people. ... Map of Constantinople. ... Slave redirects here. ... The 4th edition of Meyers Konversationslexikon (1885-1890) shows the Caucasian race (in blue) as comprising Aryans, Semites and Hamites. The Caucasian race (sometimes called the Caucasoid race) is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as, relating to a broad division of humankind covering peoples from Europe, the Middle East...
The combination of the popular issues of slavery, the Orient, racial ideology and sexual titillation gave this report some notoriety at the time. Circus leader P. T. Barnum capitalized on this interest, displaying a "Circassian Beauty" at his American Museum in 1865. Barnum's Circassian beauties were young women with tall, teased hairstyles, rather like the Afro style of the 1970s. Actual Circassian hairstyles bore no resemblance to Barnum's fantasy.[1] Barnum's first "Circassian" was marketed under the name "Zalumma Agra", but was probably a local girl hired by the show, as were later "Circassians". Slave redirects here. ... The term the Orient - literally meaning sunrise, east - is traditionally used to refer to Near, Middle, and Far Eastern countries. ... The Big Top of Billy Smarts Circus Cambridge 2004. ... Phineas Taylor Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum by Mathew Brady 1856 newspaper advertisement for Barnums American Museum Parody of Jenny Linds first American tour for P.T. Barnum, New York City, October 1850 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: P. T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5... Barnums American Museum in 1858 Barnums American Museum was located at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street in New York City from 1841 to 1865. ... Woman with an afro at the Tribeca Film Festival For the Italian painter known as Afro, see Afro Basaldella. ...
The trend spread, with supposedly Circassian women featured in dime museums and travelling medicine shows, sometimes known as "Moss-haired girls". As the original fad faded, the "Circassians" started to add to their appeal by performing traditional circus tricks such as sword swallowing. Dime Museums were unique entertainment and moral education institutions that were briefly popular at the end of the 19th century in the United States. ... Clark Stanleys Snake Oil Liniment. ...
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
The Circassian women have, from time immemorial, communicated the small-pox to their children when not above six months old by making an incision in the arm, and by putting into this incision a pustule, taken carefully from the body of another child.
The Circassians are poor, and their daughters are beautiful, and indeed, it is in them they chiefly trade.
They furnish with beauties the seraglios of the Turkish Sultan, of the Persian Sophy, and of all those who are wealthy enough to purchase and maintain such precious merchandise.
During the French Mandate of Syria, some Circassians in the mostly Circassian town of Al-Quneitra tried to convince in the 1930s the French authorities to create for them a Circassian national home in the Golan Heights, but they failed in their attempt.
Their objective was to group there large numbers of Circassians already living in Turkey and in various Middle Eastern countries.
In Israel, there are also a few thousands Circassians, living mostly in Kfar-Kama and Reyhaniye, who enjoy, like Druzes, a status aparte, being voluntarily subjected to the military service in the IDF [1].
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