3 September, 1924
GIRL FOUND TO HAVE WINGS!
Strange but true!
Sideshow act has authentic pair of wings!
Billy Winston Smith must be very proud of his star attraction. A beautiful girl of perhaps ten, young Isabel hails from Ireland and speaks no English.
“She wandered onto our property one day and no one ever came for her. We think she got herself abandoned.”
It would certainly not be a surprise to discover that she was not treated well by the world. Her wings are enormous and a beautiful cream shade of white. She has big, expressive blue eyes, as sparkling as Clara Bow’s, and blonde hair done in ringlet curls. Though her wings are what make her so unique, it’s more difficult to forget her face.
She seems sad, perhaps overwhelmed by the attention, but is every bit as polite as any English girl would be. Smith claims she knows how to write and can do mathematics but has no understanding of money and had a fright the first time she saw a camera.
“She seems a bit wild. Maybe she was abandoned a few years ago and had to make her own way.”
Wild would not be the word to describe her. Naïve, perhaps, but curious about things as simple as a pen. Our intrepid reporter gave his to her and she immediately set about writing with it. She has a beautiful, clear voice when she sings, which Smith says might be her act in the future.
“For now she doesn’t do much more than sit and let people be impressed by her. We figure it’s smarter this way. She’s not real shy or anything, but this is new to her. We have to be very cautious.” Smart words, indeed.
Allowing us to touch her wings, anyone would know that they are unmistakably real or perhaps the most elaborate hoax of the 20th Century. Maybe even of the past two thousand years! Surely a winged girl is more impressive than discovering ancient treasures. Why look far from home when we need only look into our own back garden?
You can pay Isabel a visit at the Penny Carnival, currently sitting outside of London.
5 September, 1924
IRISH GIRL FOUND WITH WINGS
London-based sideshow’s number one act not a hoax!
Billy Winston Smith, a Londoner who has run the Penny Carnival for eight years, has never seen anything like this. “I’ve got lobster boys and dog women but I never saw a girl with wings that weren’t faked,” he said.
Smith allowed reporters to go near enough to the girl to touch and see the wings. They have taken to calling her Isabel. A sweet thing of ten years old, she has blonde hair of the whitest quality and freckles on her fair face. Smith alleges she does not speak a word of English and was abandoned by her parents, though he says she came to him so he is not exactly certain.
One thing is, however, and that is the sweetness of the child. Though she does not talk, she sings Irish tunes and has an air of sadness about her that is difficult to forget. She seemed to have no problem with so much attention and remained quiet and civil in a white pinafore while Smith answered questions.
Physically, there is nothing else wrong with the girl. She’s a beautiful creature and very petite, far smaller than the wings.
The wings are about five feet long each, perhaps longer, and covered in soft feathers. As far as anyone was able to tell, her wings are as real as the wings of a dove and look a right sight finer. Doctors are unable to explain the anomaly but have apparently been active in wishing her to come to local universities for studies. She is able to both flex and fold the wings, though whether or not she will fly remains to be seen.
The Penny Carnival is currently just outside Long Melford in Suffolk for an extended stay of one week. If you pay a few quid more, you are allowed the chance to touch the girl’s wings.
11 October, 1924
ABUSE! CARNIVAL SHOWMAN MISTREATING FAMED WINGED GIRL?
Local doctors speak out after witnessing her performance
Will anything be done to help her?
A Ludlow doctor has laid claims against Billy Watson Smith, manager of the Penny Carnival, after seeing bruises on the arms of Irish Angel Isabel during one of her routines.
“She looks far too thin for her height,” the doctor, a Mr Graham Falsmouth, told our fair paper. “It is of my professional opinion that the girl is suffering dehydration and malnutrition. She is all but skin and bones.”
Smith refused comment but police have been notified and Scotland Yard has made the case its priority.
“Freak shows are indeed a thing of England’s past. This girl may in fact have parents somewhere, even if she is perfectly healthy, and we want to ascertain that nothing of any illicit nature has occurred.”
We await word over the next few days.
16 October, 1924
BIG TOP CIRCUS OFFERS TO TAKE WINGED GIRL
Showman says ‘No!’
Substantial rewards are being offered if Billy Winston Smith sends his beloved angel to a better future. Claims of mistreatment were lobbied against him just days ago and Scotland Yard has yet to locate him.
If a discovery of abuse is brought to light, Smith could lose his carnival and the girl, who is called Isabel and speaks no English, will go to a local university.
“She would not be safe in an orphanage,” claimed a local schoolteacher. “There is nowhere for her to go if she truly has no parents.”
Police have been searching for any missing family but no one has yet come forward to claim her as their own.
27 October, 1924
CAMBRIDGE DOCTOR STUMPED BY WINGS
Winged girl ‘still unexplainable’
University study refused
A doctor, who wishes to remain nameless due to the sensitive nature of the subject, has been denied access to the famed ‘Winged Girl’ of the Penny Carnival. Isabel (no last name known) was found by Billy Winston Smith in early September and has since enjoyed fast success touring English villages with the sideshow.
All accounts thus far have proven that the wings are, in fact, real, but many in the medical field are now clamouring for a real resolution to this mystery of mysteries. Local priest, Father Hammond Darling, claims that the girl is a sign of God’s peace and an urging to unify England and Ireland before it is too late. Local doctors claim the opposite and believe there is a medical reason for her physical abnormality and wish that instead of singing songs she would visit them.
Smith has stopped allowing doctors to see the girl after one apparently tried to bribe her into his automobile. But our anonymous Cambridge physician has offered a handsome payment to Smith if he lets the girl come live with him and be studied closely at his office.
“My wife and I are very interested in her as both a subject and a child. It is clear that she has been suffering great malnutrition under Smith’s care and we wish to see her restored to proper circumstances. She needs a family.”
Police have attempted to examine the girl more closely after claims of abuse were laid against Smith earlier in the month, but the carnival has moved extensively since then.
Several women have come forward as the girl’s mother in recent weeks, but they have been unable to corroborate any information and thus it is assumed her mother, should she be living, has not yet come forward.