Living skeleton John Coffey (5 photos)

While some people spend time, effort and money trying to get their figure in shape or in line with some ideal, others can eat whatever they want, whenever they want, while remaining wildly thin. Does being so thin bring you satisfaction?





If we talk about freaks, the so-called Living Skeleton has always been a classic participant in shows and circus performances. Living skeletons, sometimes called shadows in the business, were usually adult men suffering from some kind of illness. And their emaciated body was practically the standard in every circus, exhibition and show for over 100 years.



John Coffey was born healthy in Pike, Ohio in 1852. By 1881, Coffey had become a fine, sought-after hairdresser in Cedar Rapids, married a schoolteacher named Mary, and supported seven children. But in the same year, John Coffey began to lose weight and did not stop losing weight until his weight, with a height of 175 cm, began to be no more than 30 kilograms.





Coffey began performing in shows under the stage name "The Ohio Skeleton." He appeared before the public shirtless, causing exclamations of surprise and horror.

His ribs could be counted from across the room. His performance was standard for the time and consisted of little more than groups of onlookers passing by and Coffey standing in the corner. There was no acting, no polish or skill, and very little dignity. And John Coffey decided that something had to be done about it.

John began wearing elaborate, tailored suits. He liked smart three-piece striped suits. This design further emphasized his thin figure, and the man spared no expense on caps, hats, watches and monocles. John appeared as a confident gentleman. Coffey portrayed himself as a fastidious bachelor, a caricature of self-confidence combined with a sickly and frail figure. John Coffey went from being a sad bastard to a confident dandy.

Although thin, the wealth that Coffey possessed, coupled with his keen intelligence and charm, soon began to attract the attention of women in every city he visited. Coffey announced a bride competition, and soon hundreds of proposals poured in. Coffey carefully reviewed all applications before choosing his own legal wife, Mary, who joined him in any city where he found himself. Then the Living Skeleton moved to the next city and repeated the entire advertising stunt again. In some cities, he added to the drama by causing the bride's family to object to the union and causing disturbances at the wedding to please the spectators.



In some cases, Coffey has been known to "marry" other girls in order to attract press attention. John married fellow skeletal Miss Emma Schaller at least 20 times and at least once to professional bbw Miss Gertie Platt, weighing more than 200 kilograms.

In September 1889, John Coffey received a contract with the Barnum and Bailey Circus for their first European tour. By all accounts, John Coffey was the star of the show and charmed everyone in London. To highlight the vanity of the character he portrayed, souvenir photographs of John Coffey sold at the time focused on his good looks and twirling mustache, completely ignoring his unique physique. The photos sold like hotcakes.

In 1905, Coffey was forced to retire from business after a fall that left him with limited mobility. He tried to become a palm reader as well as a lecturer on the topic of his life. Unfortunately, the change in lifestyle led to weight gain, and John Coffey ceased to be a skeleton, and therefore no longer attract attention. That same year, a fire destroyed most of his property, and his wife Mary left him.



John Coffey died a pauper. The exact time of his death and burial place are unknown. But his influence on the industry was undeniable, since the Living Skeleton was followed by several artists of a similar role, each of whom tried to be as bright and convincing as one of the founders of the genre, the brilliant John Coffey.