Their Mother Sold Them to a Bar Owner
Skinner was convinced that her babies’ condition was punishment for her actions, so she abandoned them, selling them – yes, selling them – to a bar owner named Mary Hilton. Skinner had two more children: a son in 1910 and a daughter in 1912, but the 25-year-old died a month after her daughter was born, due to complications in childbirth.
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It was Hilton who decided to display the “freaks” in sideshows, carnivals, and fairs when they were as young as three years old. The twins referred to her as “Auntie,” and before long, she realized she could capitalize on their disability.