Voting Station

Isaac W. Sprague

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Oddity

The Resume

    (May 21, 1841-January 5, 1887)
    Born in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts
    Sideshow attraction billed as ‘the living skeleton’
    Was measured by doctors at age 44; stood 5’6 tall and weighed 43 pounds

Why he might be annoying:

    No one ever figured out why he kept losing weight.
    He had to constantly take in nutrients and often wore a flask of milk around his neck so he could take a sip when he felt faint.
    He repeatedly quit the sideshow, then returned when he wound up in financial trouble.
    He reportedly had a gambling habit that kept him in debt.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was of normal weight for most of his childhood, but began losing weight irreversibly at age twelve, after feeling ill after swimming.
    He initially followed his father’s trade as a cobbler until his condition left him too weak to do so.
    He first quit the sideshow after surviving the fire that destroyed P.T. Barnum’s American Museum (1865).
    He married and had three healthy sons.
    He wrote about his happiness as a family man, ‘Life, which had at times seemed so little worth preserving, now seemed more precious.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 27 Votes: 51.85% Annoying