William Henry Johnson, ‘Zip the Pinhead’
William Henry Johnson was born into poverty in New Jersey in 1857. His parents were both former slaves and were struggling to raise six children on a meager income. So, when young William started growing but his head remained the same size, they sensed an opportunity. They agreed that their son could join the circus if received a portion of the money. At first, he appeared in the local Van Emburgh’s Circus. But then its owner smelled profit too, and he sold William to P.T. Barnum.
Barnum named William ‘Zip the Pinhead’. He made up an incredible story for him too. Barnum would tell the crowds that Zip was from a remote part of South America, and that he was the sole surviving member of an Amazonian tribe. What’s more, he would make a dramatic entrance, rattling the bars of a cage he was trapped in. The audience would be told that Zip was the “missing link” and that he only ate raw meat and nuts. Over the years, however, this element of the act was toned down considerably.
Zip became one of Barnum’s biggest and most popular acts. Both men made a substantial sum of money. Though Zip wasn’t too smart, his fellow performers looked after him and ensured he was never taken advantage of, financially at least. In all, Zip performed for 67 long years and was a show business legend when he died in 1926 at the age of 83. Doctors, both then and now, concur that William was probably not microcephalic, nor was his mental capacity reduced as much as was once believed.