read stories
This morning I stumbled on an old black and white picture that definitely caught my eye.
It’s a picture of a guy wearing a tux and a lively white afro …I know there’s a story behind this but I can’t imagine what it could be. Got any ideas??
via Sarah Hickox
I love how the look on his face is very nonchalant too, like ‘Hey no biggie I’m just a guy wearing a tux and a GIGANTIC white afro, nothing at all unusual about this. Maybe I’ll go have a coffee in a second.’.
When I saw that picture I immediately thought of Phil Spector and the surprise fro he wore to court one day:
I don’t think anybody ever figured out what his fro was all about either. Maybe the world isn’t ready to know.
HIT THE LIKE BUTTON? :)
Anita, I swear that I’ve seen that picture before. I am going to do some research and get back to you. I may be completely off base here, but I have a faint memory of this gentleman possibly working for P.T. Barnum at his museum of oddities in the late 1800’s New York. LOVE this photo, btw.
Found it! This gentlemen is “Unzie the Albino.” He was an Australian man of Aboriginal descent who has albinism. Extremely famous in his day (late 1800’s) and known for being very dapper and gentlemanly. His enormous ‘fro was of such a fine texture that he could tuck it all into his top hat. During his act, he would joke that he didn’t dare tip his hat to the ladies, lest they think they had witnessed an explosion. And there you have it.. I wish I had met Unzie. He sounds like a character.
Yes! Thank you I can’t believe you found the story behind this guy this is awesome. What a story, I’m totally going to do a blog post about Unzie and his crazy (but gentlemanly) life.
Apparently he was billed as having hair that grew so fast that it had to be cut twice a week, wonder if that’s actually true or if it was just part of a made up back story for the show. Either way that hair is definitely unforgettable.
That man is my Great Grandfather Richard P. Simmons.. He was da illest nigga sliggin gram bags back in his day
Lol but no.