May 09 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2668 -

Sale 2668 - Lot 116

Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

DESIGNER UNKNOWN

RINGLING BROS AND BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS / THE GODINO SIAMESE TWINS. Circa 1930s.

141x28¼ inches, 358¼x71¾ cm. Erie Litho. & Ptg. Co., Erie.
Condition A-: minor repaired tears, creases and restoration in margins; small replaced loss in right margin.

Simplicio and Lucio Godino were conjoined twins from the island of Samar in the Philippines. They were spotted by a promoter as children and brought to the U.S. where they performed in various sideshow acts at Coney Island. After being adopted by a wealthy Filipino diplomat, they were educated and got involved in several sports including swimming, tennis, roller skating and golf. Their guardian "built a gymnasium for them on his estate and engaged the finest Eastern artists to give them musical training. They learned to play four or five musical instruments and learned to speak five languages" (Conjoined Twins, Quigley, p. 75). In 1928, the Godino brothers married twin sisters Natividad and Victorina Matos, and often performed with their brides (as pictured here). The twins died in 1936 after Lucio developed pneumonia, and Lucio did not survive for long after the emergency separation surgery. We could find no other mention of them having performed with the Ringling Bros. circus, so we are not sure whether they lived long enough to carry out this act.
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