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Auction History Result 4h121 SIAMESE TWINS linen 28x42 stage poster 1930s San Antonio's Daisy & Violet Hilton play the sax! Date Sold 3/3/2019 Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. An Original Vintage Linenbacked Stage Play Poster (measures 28" x 42 1/4" [71 x 107 cm]) (Learn More) San Antonio's Siamese Twins, the circa 1930s stage show ("The sensation of Vaudeville"; "Born joined together") starring conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton (one of the most famous sets of conjoined twins ever, they appeared in vaudeville shows for many years, and they appeared in the 1932 movie "Freaks", and there was a film biography of them, where they naturally played themselves, called "Chained for Life", in 1951). The sisters had an incredibly depressing life! They were born in 1908, and were the daughters of an unmarried barmaid, and the bar's owner, Mary Hilton, saw the commercial prospects of the girls soon after their birth, and she effectively "bought" them from their mother, and started exhibiting them at the age of 3. As they grew older, Mary Hilton took them on a tour of the world, and in 1926, they performed an act with Bob Hope called "Dancemedians"! Mary Hilton kept all the money they earned, and fortunately for the girls, Hilton died, but they were continued to be exploited by Hilton's husband and daughter. In 1931, they sued to gain control of their own life, and they formed a vaudeville act. They appeared on stage for many years, but in the 1960s, they fell on hard times when their manager at the time abandoned them penniless in a small town, and they worked in a local grocery, and died of the Hong Kong Flu. This poster is undated, but looking at the style of printing and the artwork, I would say it is virtually sure to be from the 1930s (probably the early 1930s, because the sisters appear quite youthful in the poster). Note that both sisters are playing saxophones in the great artwork on the poster (the sisters trained to be musicians from an early age, so they would have something to do during their stage show). If anyone knows more about this, please e-mail us and we will post it here. NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography. If you know who did the art (if any), please let us know. Overall Condition and Pre-Restoration Defects with Quality of Restoration: very good. The poster was never folded. It had a tear in the upper part of the art running through the right girl's forehead and hair and then running upward through the right of the "W" of "TWINS", and continuing through the bottom right of the "M" of "SIAMESE" and slightly entering the top of the "E", and ending with paper loss below the "i" of "Antonio". There was a second long tear that started in the second "n" of "Antonio" and running diagonally across to the right border, going through the top of the "ESE" of "SIAMESE", and ending with paper loss in the right border. There were a few tears in the top border, with paper loss in the blank border, and a few other tears around the edges. Other than the above exact defects, the poster was in nice condition prior to linenbacking. A really talented restorer did an excellent job restoring the above defects, and the poster now displays wonderfully, and it has only had restoration in the areas described above, and will display wonderfully on the new owner's wall! Learn More about condition grades 
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