10 Freaks That Inspired The New American Horror Story
8. Hilton Sisters Siamese Twins
Sarah Paulson will be portraying Bette and Dot Tattler based upon conjoined twins. A popular act that undoubtedly inspired Ryan Murphy is Daisy and Violet Hilton. They were British conjoined twins that frequented the U.S. sideshow circuit in the 1930s. Their fame was based upon their bodies, much like the current Hilton sisters, however Daisy and Violet actually had the capacity to sing and dance. They were joined at the hips and buttocks, shared a circulatory system and were fused at the pelvis. They did not, however, share any major organs. Born to an unmarried barmaid, the children were sold off to the barmaids boss who attended the birth as she saw profitability in fused pelvises. Everyone has to dream. The sisters published an autobiography that claimed their adoptive parents were abusive and demanding, but that they also taught them to sing and dance, taking a page out of Joe Jacksons handbook on parenting. Daisy and Violet toured Germany, Australia and the United States. In 1926, they joined with the Dancemedians founded by Bob Hope. When their adoptive mother died, the girls were willed to another family that also used physical punishment and harsh contracts to control them. Eventually, the sisters were able to break away from that life. They began to differentiate themselves from one another and started their own vaudeville act The Hilton Sisters Revue. After failed marriages, the fall of vaudeville and another slimy manager, the girls were abandoned at a drive-in theatre in Charlotte, North Carolina where they found work at a grocery store. Sadly, they both contracted Hong Kong flu eight years later and were found dead in their home. Bette and Dot better take some Vitamin C.
