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Auction History Result m603 SIAMESE TWINS stage poster '30s San Antonio's Daisy and Violet Hilton play the sax! Date Sold 5/1/2008 Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. An Original Vintage Unfolded Stage Play Poster (measures 28" x 42" [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. Condition: poor. The poster had lots of lots of creases, tears (some long and some short), and some tiny areas of paper loss scattered throughout the image, and many tears and areas of paper loss around the edges. It appears that the poster may have been wadded up and thrown in a trash can! Someone flattened out the poster and put at least 100 pieces of clear tape on the back of the poster, covering almost all tears. It appears they then did amateur restoration to the face of the poster, using a lot of blue paint. Obviously, this poster is in MUCH lesser condition, but I don't know that another example of it exists! If a restorer removed all of the tape from the back, and then linenbacked it, the poster would end up looking great (although it would certainly require a good deal of paint restoration in the blue background areas). Please do not bid on this poster unless you can accept its very significant defects or are willing to pay to have them properly restored! Learn More about condition grades 
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