The Cliffords, Sword Swallowing Act

by Science Source

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The Cliffords, Sword Swallowing Act

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Science Source

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Edith Clifford (1886 - 1942) began her career in 1899 after being trained by the veteran one-legged sword swallower Deln Ritz. She debuted with one of the Ringling Brothers' touring shows at the age of 13. Her act would change and evolve over the years, but it eventually came to include swallowing razors, scissors, bayonets, curved blades, and up to 13 swords at once, with blades up to 26 inches long. Her big finale went out with a literal bang, consisting of a full-length bayonet fired down her throat using a cannon. Her first marriage was to a human oddity, an "elastic skin" man by the name of Jim Maurice (James Morris), since she was the bigger box office draw they were billed as "the Cliffords." After he passed away in 1911, she married Karl Bauer, a trapeze artist, who grounded his own career to work as her assistant. In a career spanning over 20 years, she toured the world playing to royalty, celebrities, and sold-out crowds; risking injury or even death with each performance. She retired in 1922, moving to Canton, Ohio, and running a local grocery store with her husband. She died in 1942. Sword swallowing remains one of the world's rarest performance skills. Poster dated 1901.

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December 12th, 2017

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