The Howard Family

Franklin Howard Packard, and his wife, Anna Jane Morrison Packard took on full-body “suits” of hand-pricked tattoos around 1884, while living in Chicago. They soon adopted the stage names Frank and Annie Howard. The couple trouped on the carnival and dime museum circuits throughout New England and the Midwest through 1896, performing solo or in “congresses” of tattooed people. After his performances, Frank prolonged the spectacle—and supplemented his income—by tattooing volunteers from the audience.

Frank and Annie’s daughter, Carrie Minnie Frances Howard (1883–1923), joined the circuit when she was two years old, appearing with her parents as a “spotted child.” Over the years Carrie performed as a snake charmer, a trained bird handler, a cornet player in the circus band, and—under the stage name “Ivy”—as the “Moss-Haired Girl.”

Selling “pitch books,” novelty items, and souvenir photographs like these brought sideshow performers a little extra cash.