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| GREAT PETER THE SMALL |
| PETER ADAMSON |
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| European tour, Copenhagen, Denmark , 1896? |
| Radica-Doodica were described as "lovely and charming to look upon" |
| Having viewed many photos of little people, all claiming to be the "world's smallest," I'd have to agree that little Peter Adamson was the smallest of them all. Yet he never achieved the fame of many who were much taller. Peter was born in England probably in 1891. I don't when he began showing but it is most likely that it was in conjunction with the Orissa sisters, Radica and Doodica, as all three were managed by British impressario "Captain" Coleman, the adoptive father of the siamese twins. All three arrived for their first American tour as a trio in Spring of 1897. Previously, the Orissa sisters appeared at the famous Columbian Expo in 1893 at the ripe old age of four! I've seen neither hide nor tail of Peter after he sailed home, but it is likely that he continued to tour with the sisters till Doodica became tubercular in 1901. Perhaps with the surgical separation of the sisters the following year and lacking the management of Captain Coleman, the career of Little Peter waxed and waned and eventually eclipsed. |
| American tour, 1897. Peter was promoted to be 16yrs old but no doubt was just showman's hype |
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| (left) Also in 1897, Peter was engaged by Barnum & Bailey to appear with Ella Ewing, the Missouri Giantess. Below is an excerpt from a contemporary news account. |
| Peculiarities of Peter Near the chair on the platform where Miss Ewing sits are the chairs of Peter the Small. Peter and Miss Ewing represent the antipodes of size. Peter is said to weigh six and a half pounds. It is not necessary to have chairs made for him, for any doll's chair would be large enough. Peter is seventeen. He has the expression of a grown person, but like a child, he runs continually. He seems to have discovered the secret of perpetual motion. He is never still for a moment. "He is just like that all day long," said Miss Ewing, "and he lies awake playing for an hour or more after he has gone to bed. He boards at the same place we do, and the other night we were invited in to have tea. Peter had been put to bed, and there he lay pulling the bed clothes over his head and then putting them down again. We girls laughed, and he thought it amused us, so ke kept on playing for as much as an hour." |