Frank Wendt captures the tallest man in the world, Capt Geo Auger (in 1905) then living in Lansing MI
Toronto. In the late 1800s, dime store museums all had so called freak shows. The people featured in these shows often frequented nearby studios. One such studio at 229 the Bowery in east New York City, was operated by Chas Eisenmann.
His story and photos were featured in the late Michael Mitchell‘s book, “Monster of a Guilded Age“. When Eisenmann called it a day in the Bowery, Frank Wendt took over his studio and practice for a few years before moving to Boonton NJ. The image shown at left was taken at his Boonton studio.
This photo was spotted by my good friend, George Dunbar, in his tireless pursuit of photographic history. George refers to this link in a blog called, “Dull Tool Dim Bulb“. The info on Wendt’s operation of the old Eisenmann’s studio is from an article here.
NB. here’s the theme from Cheers, an old TV series (1982-1993). To me it is appropriate since another Wendt (George Wendt) was one of the two ‘barflies’ at Cheers. Also Cheers was shot in a bar just down the street in Boston from the original “Cheers” (saw both the TV version and the original years ago).
