Dear Sir, - Mr. Wallace Stort's letter on show freaks reminds me of the only one-legged act I ever saw on the variety stage, and that was about 1912 at Dover. They called themselves "The Three French Poilus", and were three one-legged men. Two of them appeared in smart evening dress, on crutches and each had a leg off above the knee.
Discarding their crutches, which were of silver-coloured metal, they proceeded to do some amazing acrobatic feats.
During the whole act, which lasted about fifteen minutes, they hopped about on their single legs without ever touching a crutch. The third man was a kind of clown and wore a pin leg, which he would use to try to baulk the others' act and to give comic relief.
I also saw in one of Cochran's shows in London four or five years ago a scene with a showman exhibiting his freaks - these were in cabinets on the stage and the curtain6 were drawn in turn from each recess.
One exhibit was a one-legged woman, and when the curtain was drawn there was a beautiful woman in tights with only one leg. I rather expect that this was a fake. Perhaps some of your other readers may have seen other shows of this kind.
Yours truly,
Interested Monopede.