San Diego Giant on display at side show
In December of 1896, a group of anatomists and anthropologists from Washington, D.C. traveled to a sideshow in Atlanta to examine a mummy known as the San Diego Giant.
By Dolly Stolze / 03.19.2018
In December of 1896, a group of anatomists and anthropologists from Washington, D.C. traveled to a sideshow in Atlanta to examine a mummy known as the San Diego Giant, purportedly the ancient desiccated corpse of one of the tallest men who ever lived.
The previous year, newspapers across the country heralded the discovery of the mummified remains of a Native American man near San Diego. What was so compelling about the find was that the body was about eight feet four inches (2.54 meters) tall-the tallest mummy ever found. The anthropologist that examined him thought he was about nine feet (2.74 meters) tall when he was alive and estimated that he lived about 250 years ago. Rather than being mummified intentionally with natron and resin like in ancient Egypt, the giant had been mummified naturally by the arid environment of Southern California. Not long afterwards the San Diego Giant was featured in the sideshow circuit and exhibited standing up in a ten-foot-long rectangular box to emphasize his towering size.