[Ads-l] Antedating geek

[Bill Mullins]

Carnival sense.  OED has 25 Oct 1919.

1914 01 14 _New York Clipper_ p 12 col 3

"It may be interesting to the readers of THE NEW YORK CLIPPER to know that Pollitt has disposed of his famous Pelican, and will not have the Incas Mummy on exhibition this year.  Likewise the Frog Boy, the little elephant, the Kokomo Twins, the Circassian Queen, the boa-constrictor and "the Geek" will be placed in the discard, along with a conglomeration of animate and inanimate curiosities which Pollitt has thrust upon a long suffering public during the past decade."

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