|
HAZEL FARRIS MUMMY SIDESHOW BROAD SHEET POSTER
This original poster was a gift from the late and great Captain Harvey Lee Boswell.
He had in his possession two other famous sideshow mummies, Marie O' Day and Gold
Tooth Jimmy.
The story regarding the life (and death) of Hazel Farris aka "Hazel the Mummy" began
when Hazel went on a shooting rampage near Louisville, Kentucky on August 6, 1905.
The events began when Farris wanted to buy a new hat and her husband objected, and
since both were want to embibe in the bottle on many occasion, just as they had done
that day, a terrific fight ensued and they came to blows.
Farris pulled out her six-shooter and shot her husband twice - with "steel nerve and
deadly aim." He died on the living room floor. The neighbors heard the fighting and
shots and summoned the police. Three of Louisville's finest arrived and immediately
were shot dead on the spot, with the dead accuracy. A deputy sheriff then showed up
after hearing the ruckus and when he entered the house, and ended up in a struggle
with Hazel. He stumbled over one of the dead bodies and his gun discharged which shot
off the ring finger on Hazel's right hand. Hazel broke free and grabbed her six-shooter,
whereupon the sheriff became the fifth victim of the day and fell to the floor where
the other four men lay dead.
Hazel fled through the back door as well as the state of Kentucky, along with a
bounty of $500 on her head. She ended up in Bessemer, Alabama where she supported
herself as a "soiled dove" until she fell in love with a man who also loved her.
She mistakenly told him her whole story and who she was. Shortly, the man betrayed
her to the local police and collected a nice tidy sum. Hazel got wind of the betrayal
and she ended up drinking a stiff cocktail of arsenic and alcohol and on
December 20, 1906, committed suicide.
Her body was taken to the Bessemmer furniture store (also undertaker) where her body
had mummified and she became the talk of the town. Eventually, she was purchased by a
multitude of carnies and shown at local fairs and carnivals and is rumored to have
taken up permanent residence in the Bessemer Hall of History.
In 1906 she may have been sighted in Bessemer, Alabama and It was said she took up the
life of a sedate boarding housekeeper while others said she became the madam of the
best house of prostitution in town.
According to folklore, the city of Bessemer at the time had 32 bars on one street
(among many streets that had bars) and whiskey was poured out of tank cars for
bottling by local proprietors.
Another story had Hazel turn to alcohol because of her guilt and remorse, others say
she drank heavy in secret because she was a school teacher. Her legend and its many
incarnations, retellings and statements to its absolutely truth gets even more complex.
It has also been said she fell in love with a Bessemer policeman. Wanting to start anew
she confessed to murdering her husband and the police offices. He immediately contacted
the authorities and turned her in. It was said she committed suicide by taking rat
poison before they came to arrest her.
Her body was washed with camphor and taken to a furniture store which was also a funeral
home and sold caskets. When no one claimed her, the owner put her on display and
charged 10 cents a look at her body which instead of decomposing naturally mummified.
The exhibition of human remains of notorious people was common place and continued
into the 1970s.
Now the story-legend-biography changes tone a bit. The "mummy" supposedly changed
hands several times around 1907 O.C. Brooks bought her and exhibited her mummified
remains for the next 40 years.
Exhibitions of human remains was popular and may a showmen became famous by exhibiting
mummies like Gold Tooth Jimmy or Marie O'Day and may others. By the time Brooks retired
near Baton Rouge it was was said he had earned a fortune by exhibiting Hazel around the
world.
By the time Brooks died his fortune was gone. He willed Hazel to his nephew saying that
she must never be buried and must never be exhibited again except for charity.
Brooks nephew used Hazel to raise money and build five churches in Tennessee.
Hazel was exhibited in the 1970s to raise fund for the Bessemer Hall of History.
The legend goes on and some folk say that her body still exists in a mummified state
which because of the large amount of alcohol she consumed and the poison she ingested.
She supposedly was never embalmed and it is said that she still has all her internal
organs, eyelashes and teeth.
The idea that Hazel Farris could have ingest enough alcohol and posion to embalm her is,
far- fetched. There was never any real proof that it was Hazel Farris from Kentucky or
that the fabricated legends and morbid stories in all there many versions have any
real truth in them.
For sale is an authentic Hazel Farris Poster, once owned by Captain Harvey Lee Boswell.
This poster has been glued to a white board because it is quite fragile and yellowed with
age and the cardboard itself has thumb tack holes in it.
Order by ITEM# Vintage-20
PRICE: $324.95
Free Shipping in the USA and Canada
|
Copyright © 2000-2007 BDP. All rights reserved.
|