Voyeur Town

In a previous post we reported on a village exclusively built for little people working in an airplane factory during the war. More often these temporary customized tiny towns were built for housing the small performers of amusement parks. The towns soon turned into sideshows catering to the curiosity of the general public. In some cases they sold tickets. During the 1939 New York World’s Fair the phenomenon of tiny towns was completely commodified in Little Miracle Town. Despite its name this full scale amusement park wasn’t so little. The 36,000 square foot exhibit contained a restaurant, city hall, theater, art gallery and a railroad station, every detail miniaturized to accommodate it’s 125 midget inhabitants and its thousands and thousands of dwarf watchers. Admission: 25¢.