3-056-202 - The London Archives (City of London)/Heritage Images

Master Smith, The Yorkshire Giant Youth, at the Agricultural Hall in Islington, 1873. 'Now Exhibiting for a Short Time Only, the Yorkshire Giant Youth, Master Smith, 17 Years of Age, And Weighs the Enormous Weight of 35 Stone And Daily Increases in Weight and Size. He has been Examined by the Medical Faculty, and they Certify him to be The Largest and Heaviest Youth that has Ever Yet Been Exhibited'. Advertisement featuring a severely overweight teenager. There have been showmen as long as there have been crowds to profit from. They have exhibited all kinds of people, animals and objects for education and popular entertainment. Showmanship in the 19th century was a hard business. People and animals with unusual characteristics were ruthlessly exploited and there was little care for them once they lost their popularity with the audience.