c) Sideshow carnivals

Sideshow carnivals became a unique and popular form of entertainment during the Gilded Age, often featuring a range of bizarre and exotic attractions. These carnivals, part of larger traveling circuses or fairs, showcased an array of unusual performances and exhibits, including human oddities, wild animals, and various curiosities. The allure of sideshow carnivals lay in their ability to present the strange and the extraordinary, offering the public a glimpse into a world of wonder and spectacle. This form of entertainment reflected the era’s fascination with the unusual and the exotic, as well as the growing leisure time and disposable income of the American populace.