The Great Omi - one of the most famous freaks of the era (5 photos)

When you really want to stand out from the crowd, the surest and most reliable way to do this is to transform your body.





Nowadays, a huge number of cosmetic products and even the services of plastic surgeons are available to those wishing to transform themselves. And a hundred years ago, it was more difficult to fulfill spiritual needs. But whoever seeks will always find.



The Great Omi was one of the most popular tattooed people of all time. The main part of the body, including the man's head and face, was covered with patterns resembling a black and white zebra pattern. Therefore, Horace Ridler, as this hero was called in the world, was often called the Zebra Man.

Horace Ridler was born in Surrey, England, around 1892. The young man's family was wealthy. Ridler enlisted in the British army, from where he left with the rank of officer - major.

Ridler may have already gotten a few tattoos over his years of service. But the history of global changes began in 1922. Finding himself in a difficult financial situation (Horace successfully squandered his father's inheritance, squandering it on gambling), he decided that show business was the key to fame and the wealth that resulted from it. He turned to the first tattoo artist he came across and began to transform himself into an extravaganza of stripes. Early tattoos were quite crude, but Ridler managed to make a modest living in music halls and fairgrounds.



But Horace Ridler had more global plans for himself as a business project. And in 1927, he began visiting the famous London tattoo artist George Burchett with a plan that would turn him into the greatest modern tattoo attraction in the world. After much discussion and written consent from Horace and his wife Gladys, Burchett began work on Ridler.

The design of wide black stripes covered the old designs. And, according to Burchett, after 150 hours of meticulous work, Horace Ridler became the Great Omi. As soon as the work on the tattoos was completed, offers from circuses began to pour in. Everyone wanted to get such a remarkable artist in all respects. Gladys Ridler worked with her husband and became Ometta, introducing the great Omi to audiences around the world.



Paying homage to the tattooed circus workers who came before him, Omi made up an elaborate story to explain his appearance and claimed that he was forcibly tattooed by the savages of New Guinea. This story greatly increased his popularity, and he soon became one of the highest paid circus performers of his time.

Over the years, Omi's appearance became more and more freakish. And the character is becoming more and more intolerable. He began wearing lipstick and nail polish and signing his business cards “Barbarian Beauty.” Then he went even further - he pierced his nose and ears and asked a dentist he knew to file his teeth. In the 1950s, the Great Omi ended his public career and moved to a small village in Sussex, where he died in 1969.