Grace McDaniels, the Mule-Faced Woman

Years ago, a favorite gathering place for Chicago area kids was the famous old Riverview Amusement Park (now defunct). I was about 15 when my friends and I first visited the sideshow, a human gallery which oozed superlatives ... Fattest Lady, Thinnest Man, Shortest Person, Greatest Contortionist ... with a Bearded Woman, Human Tattoo and Sword Swallower thrown in for good measure.

All this wonder culminated with a "special" exhibit, costing an extra quarter. "The Amazing Man with No Face" was the victim of an explosion which had sheared off his facial features. Now he told strangers about it, in return for their quarters.

A year later, when we returned to the sideshow, everything was the same but the special exhibit was now "The Mule-Faced Woman" ("Not for the Queasy, No Pregnant Women Allowed!") Eagerly, I paid my quarter but when The Mule-faced Woman removed the cloth from her head, I nearly fainted. Her face was a massive, port-wine birthmark with pendulous nose and lips which did indeed resemble a mule's muzzle. From her muffled speech, we gleaned that her massive disfigurement was the result of a prenatal circulatory disaster ("No Pregnant Women Allowed). I was in such a state of shock that I don't even remember leaving the tent -- I suppose my friends just dragged me along with them. That was it for me as far as sideshows were concerned.

Life goes on and so did we. Riverview ultimately disappeared but I never forgot The Mule-Faced Woman. Thanks to her, I appreciated what I otherwise would have taken for granted -- shopping at Field's, eating ice cream on a bench, even commuting to work, while the Mule-Faced Woman had had to sit there in a dark place, being stared at.

Later, I read a book called "Very Special People" by Frederick Drimmer, about sideshow people. The Elephant Man was there -- and so was an old friend, the Mule-Faced Woman. Turns out her name was Grace McDaniels and she was famous. While I had worried about her being held prisoner at places like Riverview, she had used life's lemons to make lemonade and done a bang-up job of it. She was so wonderful, it was said, that if you talked to her for five minutes, you forgot her cruel deformity. Men were crazy about her and she was happily married and the mother of a normal son.

A world obsessed with attractive facades had not been enough to stop Amazing Grace, who apparently had achieved the happiness eluding many a girl who is just another pretty face. Indeed, it would appear that just another pretty face was all she lacked. In spite of everything, she had been fostered with love and returned it to others, a great testimonial to both her and the people who cherished her.

At the final judgment, it is hoped that God will call home the righteous and good, renewing them without blemish. On that great day, I hope name tags will be issued because I'm going to keep pushing through the crowd until I find Grace McDaniels. Then I will extend my hand to her and say what one of us should have said back in 1958 ...

"How do you do? It's been an honor to meet you."

Note: Grace had actually retired in 1950. She was in Chicago in 1958 because she was receiving treatment for cancer at a hospital here. She died a few days after we visited her at Riverview.