Frieda Pushnik; Circus’ ‘Armless, Legless Girl Wonder’

“Little Frieda Pushnik, the Armless, Legless Girl Wonder,” who spent years as a touring attraction for Ripley’s Believe It or Not and Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, has died at age 77.

Her brother, William Pushnik, said she died Sunday night at her Costa Mesa home. She had been battling bladder cancer, he said.

As a member of that group of people that newspaper cartoonist Robert Ripley called “currioddities”--living curiosities--Pushnik always maintained that, despite her handicaps, she could lead a normal life.

In a biographical pamphlet on her life, sold during her days with Ripley’s and the circus, she recounted her childhood in public school. She recalled that her mother would carry her to class in the morning and that her brother and sister carried her home in the evening.

“I learned to do practically everything that any normal person can do,” she said in the pamphlet. “I do not have to depend too much on others, as I can feed myself, apply my own makeup, write, operate a standard typewriter, use scissors, sew, crochet, embroider and many other things.”

Pushnik was born Feb. 10, 1923, in Conemaugh, Penn. Her lack of limbs was the result of surgical complications during an appendectomy on her pregnant mother, her brother said.

She nevertheless grew up happily. Her brother recalled sledding with her once--and losing her in a snowbank at one point. When she was hastily dug out, she was laughing heartily.

In 1933, Ripley, whose “Believe It or Not” drawings were based on real-life subjects, learned of Frieda Pushnik. First he drew a cartoon of her, and then he offered her a job at his first show at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago.

William Pushnik recalled that a Ripley scout visited the family home and requested that his sister, accompanied by her mother, go to the fair.

“We were kind of destitute in ‘33--everybody was--and they accepted the offer,” he said.

Ripley’s “odditorium” was the most heavily attended attraction at the fair, said Edward Meyer, archivist at the Ripley headquarters in Orlando, Fla.

“She was a big attraction,” he said. “Well-known, well-photographed, made major appearances, as opposed to . . . hicky little fairs. And that’s not just with Ripley, that’s with Barnum & Bailey too. “

The standard Ripley show featured as many as 20 displays. Frieda, then 9 or 10, was carried out on a plush pillow and would speak directly to the audience, introducing herself, explaining what her capabilities were: typing, winning a national award for penmanship, threading a needle. There sometimes were hecklers, but generally audiences were respectful and appreciative.

After numerous World’s Fair appearances and six years on the road with Ripley, Pushnik returned home for a few years. But in 1943, she was hired by Ringling Bros. for its sideshow tent, where she kept company with the bearded lady, two eight-foot giants, the doll family (four children, all little people) and others. She traveled all over the United States by train, accompanied by her mother and sister, who worked in the circus front office.

Typical of sideshow acts of that era, Foley said, Pushnik sold her biographical pamphlet for extra money. She could make still more by autographing the pamphlet, as Pushnik signed several, holding a pen or pencil between her chin and shoulder. Her standard inscription read “Best Wishes” or “Good Luck.”

Pushnik always maintained that she enjoyed the circus life and did not feel exploited, but most states finally outlawed what came to be known pejoratively as sideshows.

The circus closed its sideshow tent in June 1956, and Pushnik faded from the spotlight.

Pushkin settled in Costa Mesa several years ago, along with her mother, living in the ranch house of her sister and brother-in-law, Erma and Bennett Banks. Her mother and the Bankses had died by 1996, but Pushnik chose to remain in the house with daily aid from her assistant, Marylene Rosado.

She is survived by her brother; a sister-in-law, Rosemary Pushnik; a niece, Susan Harris; and nephews James and Michael Pushnik. Services were private.