His mother was slightly crippled but one brother, was normal. Apparently Joseph Merrick's development was also normal until about the age of two when small growths began to be noticed on his face, the first signs of a frightful disorder which would transform him into the "Elephant Man".
By the age of seventeen Joseph Merrick, aka the Elephant Man, joined the British labor force working in a menial capacity at a workhouse and left it at twenty-one for greater opportunity with freak shows in 1883. It was here that show promoters christened him the "Elephant Man" and concocted fantastic stories of his origin to woo the public. Three years later in 1886 Joseph Merrick was discovered by doctor Frederick Treves, and through him, eventually gave up life as a sideshow.
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