MILLIE-CHRISTINE (Millie and Christine McKoy, 1851 – 1912). The Wonderful Two-Headed Nightingale Company. London: J. W. Last & Co., [ca. 1872]. Double-sided pictorial letterpress broadside advertising appearances at the Agricultural Hall by the “two-headed nightingale,” the “famous Nova-Scotian giantess,” and the “great Kentucky giant.” Bearing wood-engraved images of royal coats of arms at top (verso and recto), a full-figure portrait image of the famed conjoined twins wearing a dress and holding a flower bouquet in one hand near center, as well as full-figure portrait images below of Anna Haining Swan (1846 – 1888) and her husband Captain Martin Van Buren Bates (1837 – 1919), each dressed in period clothing and standing next to full-grown men and women in order to show off their unusual height. Verso features “opinions of the press” regarding the performers slated to appear. 25 x 7”. Sunning to central area from previous window mat, old tape residue and chipping to edges, creases with tears affecting text.
Born into slavery outside of Whiteville, North Carolina, Millie and Christine were sold when just ten months old, and exhibited publicly by the age of two. The girls were shown widely in America, including at Barnum’s American Museum, from where they were abducted and taken to England. Freed by the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Millie and Christine went on to study music and languages, and continued their careers before the public. As dancers, singers, and musicians, they found steady work and success, eventually returning to North Carolina and the farm where they were born, which had been purchased by their father and willed to them upon his death. They lived there for over two decades, until their passing just twelve hours apart on October 8, 1912.Having both already achieved notoriety for their extraordinary stature, Canadian Anna Swan and American Martin Van Burn Bates met in Halifax and quickly became a touring sensation. They fell in love and were wed in 1871 at a highly publicized event in London. The couple settled in Seville, Ohio, where they built an appropriately large home and conceived two children. They continued to tour in circuses such as W. W. Cole’s.