Kap-Dwa the Two-Headed Giant
From Kook Science
Kap-Dwa 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 over eleven feet (3.35m.) to twelve feet (3.65m.) in height, but that it had two-heads. The mummy was variously claimed to be of Maori (New Zealand), Patagone (South America), or Paraguayan 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 Capuwar and Mac-a-dula.
Advertising & Press Coverage
1890s-1900s
- "M. C. Anderson & G. H. Irving's WONDERLAND! Musee and Theatre. Week Commencing Dec. 4, 1893.", Sunday News (Wilkes-Barre, PA): 2, 3 Dec. 1893, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117653622/m-c-anderson-g-h-irvings-wonderla/, "Coming in a Freight Car: KING KAP-DWA, THE WORLD'S MODEL WONDER, KNOWN AS WILD GOLIATH: Two-headed Giant, 12 feet high, exhibited in an iron-bound den. Weight enormous, height beyond belief, twice as tall as the largest living giant. A veritable counterpart of the Giant. Cannibals, Monster Man-Eaters, Mastodons of bygone ages, called by superstitious seamen, Walking Trees, whose very existence has been regarded as a mythe. Kap-Dwa the Mighty, Majestic, Mammoth Monarch of Mastodons."
- "Middle Clark St. Museum, May 1898.", Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL): 42, 8 May 1898, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117654230/the-great-maori-double-headed-giant-kin/, "The Great Maori Double-Headed Giant, KING KAP-DWA. He is Twelve Feet in Height! Caged Behind Great Bars of Solid Steel!"
- "Advert seeking engagements for Kap-Dwa, Two-Headed Giant, by owners in Liverpool, Eng., 24 Dec. 1898.", The Era (London, England): 25, 24 Dec. 1898, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117654438/advert-seeking-engagements-for-kap-dwa/
- "WANTED, to Sell, the Two-Headed Giant: Kap-Dwa Exhibition Co. of Brighton, England.", The Era (London, England): 26, 26 May 1900, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117654763/wanted-to-sell-the-two-headed-giant/
1910s
- "Advert for Museum of Wonders at 54 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., April 1911.", Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, PA): 3, 5 Apr. 1911, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117654963/advert-for-museum-of-wonders-at-54/
1970s-1990s
- "Kap-Dwa at Half-Price Marty's Super Weekend (Oct. 28-30, 1977) at Pennsauken Mart in Pennsauken, NJ", The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA): 8, 27 Oct. 1977, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117655282/half-price-martys-super-weekend-oct/
- "'Step right up, ladies and gentlemen.' (Antique Man Ltd., Baltimore, Md., 1996)", The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland): 1D, 8D, 26 Dec. 1996, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117655588/step-right-up-ladies-and-gentlemen/