According to "P. T. Barnum: America's Greatest Showman" by the Kunhardts (1995) the explorers who first discovered the pair thought they were kangaroos. Their publicity pamphlet referred to them as origially being "sharp-toothed cannibals" belonging to a "distinct race hitherto unknown to civilization." The authors go on to say that it was all a bunch of ballyhoo, of course, and that the two were simply severely retarded siblings from Circleville, Ohio. Another source claims they were from Warwick Co, Indiana. Their original publicity booklet refers to them as Hoomio and Iola but the same booklet reprinted in 1872 calls the Tom and Hettie. It is not clear if the same couple was referred to by both names. |