Capuwar the Two-Headed Giant

Capuwar is the name for a manufactured mummy that was toured as a sideshow attraction, the main selling point being that it was not only was it a giant, being either around eight feet (2.44m.) or over eleven feet (3.35m.) in height, but that it had two-heads. The mummy was claimed to be of Patagone (South American) extraction, and was frequently hailed in advertising as a former king. It was similar, so far as can be ascertained, to other dicephalous giants that toured the United States of America during the same time period, including Kings Kap-Dwa and Mac-a-dula.

The Capuwar mummy was one of many complete attractions for the sideshow circuit manufactured and sold by William Nelson through his Nelson Supply House of Boston, Massachusetts.

Advertising & Press Coverage

1890s

• "Nickel Museum.", Boston Globe (Boston, MA): 10, 13 Mar. 1892, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117665549/advertising-for-the-nickel-museum-at-17/, "King Capuwar, the two-headed Patagonian giant, the tallest of tall men, measuring over 11 feet, will be exhibited..." 
• Curio from 'Patigonia.', "BIRTHPLACE OF SEA DEVILS AND OTHER WONDERS OF NATURE", Lynch Journal (Lynch, NB): 5, 19 Oct. 1898, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117665888/curio-from-patigonia/ 
  

  "King Capuwar, the Two-Headed Patigonian Giant," is another new thing in the wonders of nature that will be shown htis year in order to increase the knowledge of the farmer and the Bowery Boy. The "two-headed Patigonian Giant" is a huge bulk, about eight feet high, and is made of a material that resembles the skin of a mummy. As the manufacturer explains, it is supposed to be a dried or embalmed body found in South America, and the purchaser will be entitled to a painting of the deceased. The price of the dead "Patigonian" and his picture is only $35, certainly a low figure for any two-headed man, even if he were not also a giant and a "Patigonian."

1930s

• "King Capuwar on exhibit at Congo Jim's Junglecircus, One Day Only, Sunday, May 23.", Hugo Daily News (Hugo, OK): 3, 20 May 1937, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117667589/king-capuwar-on-exhibit-at-congo-jims/ 
• "Still Selling Factory-Made Freaks To The Public", San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, CA): 2, 3 Aug. 1939, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117668026/still-selling-factory-made-freaks-to/ 
  

  There is, for instance, King Capuwar, the two-headed Patagonian giant, eight feet tall and of ferocious appearance. "It's a winner — money-getter," according to the manufacturer's catalogue. It is further described as "a big, classy attraction. Made so legs come off at the waist so as to ship in a box 5 × 2 × 1½ feet. A body dress covers where legs come on and off."

  The lecture that accompanies this attraction recounts how the body of King Capuwar was found in a South American cave by a party of English gold prospectors.

  "It is not an embalmed body," the lecture reads," but a natural dried body preserved by the atmosphere of that country, which is high and dry . . . The body was found 14 years ago and taken to England and placed on exhibition at the Crystal Palace. It is owned by a historical society of London and no amount of money can buy it. We simply rent it."